First Church Redwood City

In 1999, author Fleming Rutledge wrote an insightful article in Christian Century entitled “God’s Entrance.”

The angel Gabriel, according to St. Luke, burst into the life of an ordinary young woman without permission, terrifying her. Every angelic appearance in scripture causes fear, because the angel mediates the searing intrusion of the living God. But the angel said, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Is this literary truth? mythological truth? historical truth? or no truth at all? What really happened, and does that matter?

The one thing that matters, I think, is that we ask ourselves about the single most fundamental affirmation in the story. Did God act? That question has two facets: Did God act? and did God act ? Do we see here an event set in motion by spiritually precocious human beings with divine aspirations, or do we see the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And second, do we see a God at a remove, watching over events as they transpire, or do we see here the definitive entrance of God upon the world stage as he reclaims lost human nature for himself? If a stele were to be found in Bethlehem saying, “Here was born Jesus bar-Joseph,” would that make a difference? Wouldn’t most of us still want to convert thestory into a pretty, painterly scene of an angel and a maiden, suitable for ornament?

Karl Barth wrote that the church’s creedal affirmation of the virginal conception is “the doctrine on guard at the door of the mystery of Christmas.” Matthew and Luke have both posted guards at the entrances to their Gospels: “Danger, God at work.” Are these purely literary devices? Did it “really happen”? If not, what do we need to know?

And the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. For with God nothing will be impossible.” As the millennium turns, this Christmastide will be another blessed opportunity for bearing witness unashamedly to the church’s ancient faith that very God of very God really happened here. “The Incarnation is like a dagger thrust into the weft of human history.” (Edwyn Hoskyns). Let not the celebrated literary power of the stories themselves obscure this truth: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the God, full of grace and truth.”

Blessings,

Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

My grandfather, a man of few words and fewer wants, was about to receive shoes for Christmas.  According to his 5 year old daughter (later on my mother), they were the ugliest shoes in the world: they had square toes.  Square toes!  She tried to talk her mother out of buying them, but to no avail, and there they were, wrapped up, stored in the back of the closet, just waiting to be placed under the tree.  As with most depression era Christmases, he was getting just the one wrapped present, and it contained a pair of horrible, square toed shoes. 

After stewing about the shoes for several days, she waited until her mother went out one evening, and taking her father by the hand, she led him to the closet.  She pointed out the box, placed on the shelf above her head, and explained the problem.  Listening patiently, he removed the box, took off the wrapping paper, and solemnly agreed that the shoes really were ugly.  The two, father and daughter, made a plan:  they would take the box of shoes back to the store, exchange them for a different pair (with pointier toes), re-wrap the box, slip it back onto the shelf in the closet, and when he opened them on Christmas morning, all would be well. 

And so it went as planned.  Jodie and her dad made the switch, planted the shoes, and waited for Christmas.  When the morning finally arrived, he unwrapped his present and was absolutely delighted with the fine pair of shoes he received! A good looking pair of black, pointy toed shoes.  What a gift!  His enthusiasm and his daughter’s deep satisfaction almost made up for my grandmother’s confusion – until she realized what had happened.  She had a choice: be mad for the rest of the day or accept that, in spite of all her good intentions and efficient planning, something unexpected had occurred.   She chose the latter, and the gift of the transformed shoes went down in family history.

Gifts don’t always turn out the way we plan them, do they?  Sometimes we hold them too tightly, expecting perfection and feeling that lingering disappointment that comes because nothing is ever completely perfect.  Sometimes we stress that we haven’t given enough, or that we’ve given more than we can afford.  Gift giving can be a form of obligation or competition, even, and stir up resentment.  It can be complicated, indeed.

As Christians, our saving grace (quite literally) is the reminder that every gift we give, great and small, is a reflection of the first gift:  God’s love.  When God’s love became incarnate in a human being, the small and powerless baby didn’t look all that impressive, I’m sure.  We hear that angels and shepherds and even Kings came to the stable, and who knows what xpectations they had to shake loose before they could receive the gift that was being offered.

This year, may every gift you give and every gift you receive lift you out of your expectations.  May each interaction be an opportunity to be surprised by the goodness and love that are in your life.  It doesn’t always look the way we anticipate, but God’s love is always there.  Search for it, listen for it, and let yourself be touched by the unexpected blessings all around you. 

Thanks be to God!  

 Kim