And The Soul Felt Its Worth

A very Merry Christmas Eve, church! It is good to be with you on this very special evening. I know it’s not like times before, and this might be causing some anxiety. So let us pray:

“Holy One, may the meditations of our hearts, and the words from my lips be acceptable to you, our God, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.”

Sometimes our familiarity with the Christmas story can cause us to forget what it really means. Sometimes, when we read the old texts, we get a bit removed.

When we read the old words “Mary, [Joseph’s] espoused wife, being great with child”[1] it sounds different. We say Mary is great with child and we say that everyone else is pregnant. But that’s what Mary was. She was pregnant. Just like every mother has been or is.

Some believe Jesus was an only child. That Mary was forever a virgin. Yet we read in verse 7 that “She brought forth her firstborn son…” That means that there are likely more children. Firstborn. Can you imagine being Jesus’ sister or brother? Growing up with him in the same house? You’d show your parents a picture you drew but they’re too busy fawning over your brother Jesus who just raised a neighbor from the dead.

We read that Jesus was laid in a manger. That’d be a feed trough that animals slobber and eat out of.

We prefer the Rembrandt depictions of this night. All soft focus and clean. When in reality it was visceral, dirty, and all-too-real.

I think we can have too much distance from the actual story that it doesn’t really make an impact on our lives. One wise person once said that we have just enough Christianity in our culture to vaccinate us against getting the real thing.

I know I need periodic reminders of what the Christmas story actually is. Sometimes I can’t see through the hazy of holiday traditions, and movies, and songs say about the day. I need stark reminders.

I recently had a great reminder of what Christmas means from the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is one of my favorite modern-day theologians! This tattooed Lutheran pastor set up the Christmas story in this way:

“I was speaking somewhere in the Midwest once when a middle-school kid raised their hand during a Q & A. I called on her and in her anxious bravery she asked ‘Pastor Nadia, what advice do you have for someone my age who might be bullied and not have many friends and is maybe someone who other kids make fun of?’

“I looked directly into her eyes and said:  ‘Look kid. I totally get it because I’ve been there. But as horrible as it is right now…just do whatever you can to get through it because I promise you one thing: grown ups who were bullied in Middle School and survive it are like, 10 times cooler and more interesting as adults than the ones who were doing the bullying. You get through this and you’re gonna be amazing. I promise you. Those kids will be nothing but a footnote later on. I mean, come on…who wants to peak in middle school?’

“Her whole face changed like I just told her some combination of ‘the cancer is treatable and you’re stunningly beautiful’

“I remember that time in life all too well. I remember the psychological body armor I had to gear up with every single day to endure it.  The social Darwinism, the powers and principalities of middle school felt absolute and the anxiety it created, totally inescapable.

But like you, I survived it and regardless of how powerful those people seemed to me at the time… for the most part I can’t even remember the names of those kids anymore (except that one girl Debbie Quackenbush…)”[2]

She goes on to explain how there’s a list of all the bullies in the Gospel of Luke.

It came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus… who was a great guy to know if you were Roman…. Not so much if you were anybody else. That name would have had you quaking in fear because Rome controlled everything–70-90% of your income went to taxes.

One bully was governor of Syria. Other bullies were Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, and Herod, ruler of Galilee, and his brother over in this other part and these other guys who were high priests… and the word of God didn’t come to a single one of them.

The word first came to an unwed teen and her espoused husband. Then it came to John the Baptist. And we know all about him. John knows just who he is. He’s not the messiah. He’s the voice in the wilderness.[3]

Cut to Sam and Eve: Sam dressed as John with crazy hair and clothes.

Sam (scratching his hair): Prepare the way for the Lord!

Eve (in the background): What are you wearing, John?! Is that camel’s hair?!  What are you, some sort of Elijah rip-off?!

(Sam goes to eat a locust and honey)

Eve: Are you eating a bug with honey?! EEWWWW!!!!

Sam turns and chases Eve away: BUNCH OF SNAKES! WHO WARNED YOU TO FLEE THE COMING WRATH?!

Yeah… The word of God came to that guy.

He got the word of God. He had the faith to perceive what God was doing in his midst. And sometimes we don’t have that. Our faith can become clouded by what we see.

By bullies. By anxieties. By our traditions and rituals and other well-meaning things.

As the Rev. Nadia states, “John the Baptist ate bugs and wore weird clothes so you know [he] was bullied in middle school. The word of God, came to THAT guy.”

Thanks be to God! This story is filled with nobodies. Mary and Joseph were nobodies. The shepherds were nobodies. They were men of dubious character who were sent out to be with the sheep. Yet they get a feature role. They get the heavenly hosts and the angelic chorus!  The only reason who was governor of Syria and Galilee and who was king of Judea in that time is because they were footnotes in Jesus’ story.

History is flipped right on its head. No court biographers or historians were following this crowd that came together this night in Bethlehem so long ago. But because they did, we have the Gospels. We have church. We have St. Nicholas, Hallmark movies, and the Grinch, and Santa, and elves on the shelves.

This night is unlike any other. It is a magical night where we even believe that reindeer really know how to fly. It’s magical because history has been changed forever because of these nobodies that history would have overlooked if God had not intervened. If God came to those nobodies, then God might just be still speaking to us! And the soul feels its worth! Whenever you feel overwhelmed by anxiety. By the powers and principalities. By the inescapable forces of rulers, the Debbie Quackenbushes of the world, your own sin, whatever it is… Name them. Then say, like the Rev. Nadia suggests: “Footnote.” The bullies and extra noise are all footnotes.

Pontius Pilate? Footnoote. King Herod? Footnote. Neo-Nazis? Footnote.
Social media trolls? Footnote. Your debt? Footnote. Pathetic narcissists of every variety? Footnote.

They don’t have the last word. This story is not about them. For unto us, a child is born. A child that history normally would have ignored and focused on all the wrong people.  Instead, we have a child who grew in knowledge and wisdom and valued each and every one of us. Who calls us by name. Who says, “Your sins have been forgiven. Go and sin no more.” Who calls us lovingly to be our best selves for our God and for our neighbor. Who welcomes us. Loves us. And serves us. And we are called to do the same for others.

The weary world rejoices! This is good news! And the soul felt its worth.

You matter. To me. To God. To the world.
That is the message of Christmas.
Everything else is just a footnote.

Works Cited

[1][1] Luke 2:5, KJV

[2][2] “Bullies, John the Baptists, and Narcissists as Nothin’ but a Footnote: A revived sermon for managing our anxiety today.” Nadia Bolz-Weber. Posted on 11/11/2020 at https://nadiabolzweber.substack.com/p/bullies-john-the-baptist-and-narcissists Video from her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sarcasticlutheran

[3][3] Before I Heard the Prophet, 12/13/2020: https://www.uccmedina.org/sermons/before-i-heard-the-prophet/

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