Ready or not, Christmas has arrived

How will God’s children get to Bethlehem this year?

It is, perhaps, the most basic question of Christmas. R. Alan Culpepper, in the New Interpreter’s Bible, suggests that our journeys of faith will be as individual as we are.

Recalling the story of the birth of Jesus, he reminds us that the Wise Men, shepherds, and Mary and Joseph each traveled their own paths on that first Christmas and Epiphany so long ago.

The Wise Men came because of scholarly wisdom and historical investigation. They were experts and intellectuals and carried credentials of academic wisdom.

The shepherds came because of a dramatic intervention in their lives, God sending angels to split the sky and sing of God’s goodness, sending the lowly herdsmen in a dramatically new direction.

For Mary and Joseph, however, it was different.

Though God had prepared them through dreams and visions, they were involved in the ordinary business of life when the miracle occurred. They were complying with bureaucratic regulations, hoping, no doubt, to hurry home again to focus on “nesting” and preparations for their baby. Instead, God’s timing was both unexpected and frightening. In the end, all was well for them, but the ordinary became extraordinary all in the space of a few hours.

It is true that some have come to God by searching the Bible and asking intellectual and philosophical questions, finding answers that convince their minds and souls to take a bold “leap of faith” into the Creator’s arms.

Others experience God in a dramatic, momentary way, with a flash of Spirit-filled insight that turns them 180 degrees from a life of self-destruction and brokenness to one of grace and repentance. I suspect, however, that many come to Bethlehem like Jesus’ parents did: one step at a time, distracted by other thoughts, other concerns, other agendas, when gradually or suddenly the miracle that God has prepared breaks in, putting God at the center of a life that has been crowded, confused and chaotic.

One of the things that I love about Christmas is that, like the “Seeker” in the childhood game, ready or not here it comes. Some years (not most) I am patiently waiting on Christmas Eve, presents neatly wrapped, lights displayed, a scent of cinnamon in the air.

Other (most) years, I poke my head out from under a mess of wrapping paper, unfinished assignments and ragged “To Do” lists, and realize that the miracle has arrived just the same, despite my lack of preparation. In the end, Christmas is not our gift to God, brought about by frantic cookie baking, flawless ribbon curling and prodigious scarf knitting. Christmas is God’s gift to us: the good news that all are accepted, loved and forgiven and invited home by the heavenly parent who has missed us ever since we left to find our own way in a world that can be uncaring, unkind and unfair.

Mary and Joseph lived Christmas as it happened, not knowing how the story would end, not knowing whether their child would survive the stable, the violence of the insane king, the refugee flight into Egypt.

While we already know the end of the Holy family’s story, we live our own stories one day at a time, just as they did. Some of our days are spiritual; many are not; but all are holy and fit to be used by God to surprise us, challenge us and help us grow.

Thanks be to God for the miracle of Christmas. Ready or not, here it is!

The Rev. Thomas L. Blackstone, Ph.D., is a United Methodist pastor in Presque Isle and a brother in the Order of St. Luke. He may be reached through tlbphd@yahoo.com. Voices is a weekly commentary by five Maine columnists who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.