Christmas Eve- Star-Crossed Christmas

by John Daniel Gore

Text: Isaiah 11:6-16

“Bethlehem must be such a mystical place to spend Christmas,” a family friend commented in a recent e-mail. The tourists think so. A shop-keeper once complained to me that droves of people spewed from buses, in and out of the Nativity Church, and back onto the buses without visiting Bethlehem’s Old City area. All ‘Holy’ sites are like that. Pilgrims carry their Easter vision with them from the hotel to the Holy Sepulcher and mill for an hour in the vortex of waiting bodies to kiss a rock. At the Garden Tomb this November, where Jesus was never buried nor rose, pilgrims sang hymns of praise that grated my nerves: I was burned out this November. The Gaza conflict followed...

I see Israeli occupation daily, working by the Annexation/Apartheid Wall. At my office we like to say that the occupation would prevent Mary and Joseph from reaching Bethlehem but pregnant Mary would have stayed in Nazareth if not for Roman occupation (—matrices of control). When the wind howls past my window, I think the Holy family wished that the census was taken in balmy Jericho. Probably, relatives tucked them into a lower cavern, where the animals were kept, and Mary had a normal, wretched delivery. Giving birth sucks. I am not saying that shepherds did not make an uncanny visit nor that magi did not follow a brilliant supernova, predicting Christ’s ascension to ministry. All of that happened but so did the ugly details missing from popular imagination...

I adored the Christmas of my childhood, overflowing with the warmth of family and the promise of good things, with plenty of merry winter fun. That Christmas feeling slowly drained away as my parents divorced, my grandparents died, and I left places behind. Jesus was harder to find in the plastic faces of swaddled baby-dolls. I wanted mystical Bethlehem to revive my earliest memories of anticipation and awe. Bethlehem’s aura is different and the yuletide center of gravity is shifted Northward. Without any occupation, this place might be ‘Scandinavian wonderland meets Southern California climate’ but Palestine was unlucky, falling to the Ottoman and British Empires and now to Israel— so deftly named to commandeer Old Testament prophesies for a Manifest Destiny agenda. The Christmas I knew is shot and hung to dry...

I have kept searching, though. Isaiah is a thicket of predictions, prophesy, and blatant wishes where we can find both visions of the Messiah: the counter-conqueror versus the counter-cultural. Reading Isaiah out-loud, I came to a passage in chapter 11 that juxtaposes images of unprecedented peace with a vision of regional dominance. “Aw [expletive],” I grumbled, “this sounds SO stinking zionist.” I stopped to pray for a moment. “Could it be,” I mused, “that Isaiah had a broader vision than the translators or, further still, could it be that God had a greater vision than Isaiah could comprehend as he penned?” What if the returning exiles were refugees in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon—from enclaves around the world— exercising their right to return with equal rights? There could be space, in this text—on the land, for everyone to overcome the rash of reactive ethnocentrism that rooted itself here over seventy years ago. I can reclaim Christmas from the neo-colonialists— Independence Day, too...

Christmas in Bethlehem feels like the 4^th of July. Each Christmas procession (there are parades for each rite) conjures a wave of pomp that surges along The Star Street. Camel riders, people dressed as cartoon characters, long lines of silent monks, and band after band of bagpipe-toting scout troupes pour in from across the West Bank. I love marching bagpipes. A gargantuan, fake pine with flashing lights is erected in the middle of the square, next to the massive stage. Living a block from the square, I am treated to two weeks of rah-rah and concerts but nothing compares to the tree-lighting. A mass of Christians, streaked with curious Muslims, congeals around the tree to listen to speeches by big-wigs: the mayor, the prime minister, special guests. I cannot resist the electricity. At last, a bloom of fireworks forces the recon drones to higher altitudes. The band bursts into song and everyone croons: “Ballaaaadi! Ballaaaadi!” My country! My country! Tears trickle from my chin: my patriotism has returned from exile. In Bethlehem, at Christmas, I have a nation again as a Christian!

In successive years, Advent comes wrapped in a Palestinian statehood bid. The land groans for liberation. Imagine how early Christians must have felt when Jesus was hung to dry, rolled in spices and buried. The Star the magi followed must have seemed like a lie, all anticipation wasted. Then the good news emerged that he was risen, that they could hoist the cross at last. They remained among a sea of doubters and hostiles. Similarly, the United Nations voted overwhelmingly, 139 to 9, to grant Palestine nonmember State status. Yet those 9 have the power to close an iron noose. Herod (I mean the Knesset) is restless: there could be military crackdowns, new restrictions. False prophets across the West speculate with outdated information and armchair heuristics. Regardless, most of the world awoke as protests for Gaza dotted the globe last month: the smell of Justice, like the Magi, wafts across the desert!

The newborn Jesus was our statehood bid, Christians, but not the state that was envisioned. I believe that having a Messiah was a terrible, human idea that God purloined for the good of all humanity. God pirated the Messianic prophesies using the census, angels, and even the stars to put the boy from Nazareth in the right place at the right time. What a huge save! Jesus did come to balmy Jericho and, on the Mount of Temptation, Satan painted him a picture of supremacy. Jesus had an immaculate conception: to forego domination for Salvation. The budding anticipation flowered that day and the Advent of Salvation, his ministry and passage into the Earth as The seed of Love, and everything that followed was clinched. Hallelujah!

Like the first Christmas, little has changed ‘on the ground’. I keep returning to the magi, those people who came from afar because they knew (inexplicably?) that Victory was imminent. The solidarity workers are all magi and the local NGO-workers are our shepherds. We seem like crazy optimists. The rest of the world thinks we celebrate prematurely. Bethlehem shows us the first, shining face of Christmas. It is a brazen demonstration of Faith in things to come: an end to oppression, the beginning of a people. When our lives are torn apart and we feel rootless, Christmas is a time to conceive what God will do to restore Unity with Dignity. As for the warm Christmas I knew as a child, I understand now that this is the glow of Victory remembered. Someday, I will see it again.

رجاء, مبادرة, و سلام إليكم. [Hope, Initiative, and Peace to you all]  

***

John Daniel Gore is a young adult missionary through the United Methodist Church serving at the Wi'am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center. He was born and educated in Michigan before departing for Bethlehem, Palestine, to begin what he hopes is a career in peace and conflict. He describes himself as a writer, a hack musician, and a lover of insects, lakes, and star-lit nights. He blogs at Reverse Exiled.

Advent 4- Rejoicing in Our Calling

by Kara Crawford

“My soul proclaims your greatness, O God,
and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior.
For you have looked with favor
upon your lowly servant,
and from this day forward
all generations will call me blessed.
For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
and holy is your Name.
Your mercy reaches from age to age
for those who fear you.
For you have shown strength with your arm;
you have scattered the proud in their conceit;
you have deposed the mighty from their thrones
and raised the lowly to high places.
You have filled the hungry with good things,
while you have sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the aid of Israel your servant,
mindful of your mercy -
the promise you made to our ancestors -
to Sarah and Abraham
and their descendants forever.”
(Luke 1:46-55, The Inclusive Bible)

I have never quite understood how Mary found the strength within her to bear such a heavy burden. I can hardly imagine being so young – barely a teenager, an unmarried girl – and finding out that I was pregnant with the son of God. Quite a bit of pressure, right?

Even more amazing to me is her response. After a moment of shocked hesitance, she says to the angel, “I am a servant of God. Let it be done to me as you say.” As such a young woman, living in her cultural, political, and personal context, this was a very brave decision on her part to accept God's call, quite literally risking life and fiancee to carry out her call.

What is most striking for me, though, is her song of praise which follows the initial events of her call, most commonly called the Magnificat. Many of us, when we receive our calls, try to avoid it, saying “isn't there someone more qualified? More worthy? More...not me?”

Mary, on the other hand, does something quite different. Instead of asking God “why didn't you choose a queen for this noble task?” she rejoices in a God who exalts the lowly and fills the hungry, a God who casts out the powerful and proud from their high places. A God who turns the system on its head and empowers the marginalized to hold the most important places in the processes of liberation.

In her moment of call, Mary discovered that she would not only play a role in God's liberating process, but that she would bear the seed of liberation, the Christ, the Messiah. In the Magnificat, Mary spoke the prophetic truth of kingdom come – the kingdom of God will not come about by means of the rich and powerful, but rather when the humble and lowly are lifted up and the high and mighty are brought down from their thrones.

Often we allow the Gospel narrative to disappear between the bookends of the idyllic birth scene, the “holy infant so tender and mild” and the triumphant victory of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over death. When we do this, though, we forget the most liberating elements of the narrative. Looking at the Magnificat rather than the birth as the beginning of the story gives us a whole new perspective.

From his origins, Jesus brought with him liberation. By giving birth to the son of God, Mary was liberated from her marginalization, becoming one that all generations would call blessed. Likewise, she brought liberation to those future generations in the form of her son.

The Magnificat as a song of praise reminds us to rejoice in our call to be part of God's liberating process, bringing us forth from our humble and sometimes marginalized and seemingly underqualified origins to play that part. The Magnificat as a reminder of God's goodness, we are reminded that liberation is coming, that liberation is here, should we choose to humble ourselves and accept the call.

This Christmas, rather than celebrating solely with idyllic pictures of the nativity and consumption galore, we should learn from the example of Mary, taking time to listen for our calls, rejoicing in them, and humbly accepting them.

***

Kara Johansen Crawford is a graduate of DePaul University, with a BA in International Studies and Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies. Kara has been involved in activism and community service for much of her life and is particularly passionate about labor justice, queer issues and engaging faith communities on social issues. Kara is currently serving as a Mission Intern with The United Methodist Church at the Centro Popular para América Latina de Comunicación, based in Bogotá, Colombia. Follow Kara on Twitter @revolUMCionaria and on her blog.

Advent 3- Mud on My Boots

by Betty L. Gannon

Luke 2:6-7
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Entering into the neighborhood in Staten Island NY where I was going to be spending the day cleaning up was like something out of the Twilight Zone. The houses from the outside looked fine, but it was so silent. Utility companies on the street working and dump trucks created some noise but it did not cut the silence. Walking into the houses the silence got even louder. Houses that must have been the dreams of many people where covered in mud, water stained and molding. The stories of the people who lived in here in this neighborhood molding away, as the mud leached up the walls as well. But the mud was truly the one hallmark that covered everything it was everywhere. On the street itself, in the front yards, on the floors, on the people working to restore there lives. Thinking of most of the pictures of the Nativity that come to my mind, I can’t help but to think just how clean they are. Mary without a sweat drop on her brow, the shepherds in clean tunics, and the animals looking in from clean straw underfoot. Now I did not grow up on a farm but I spent enough time around animals to know that animals in general are not always the picture perfect image we have in our Christmas cards. Same thing about human birth, that’s messy too, without going into to details.

Life is messy. But the mess is central to our lives as Christians. God proves that to us by coming to dwell with us. Making sure to make a grand entrance in the world in the muck, the dirt, and the mud of the earth and of our lives. Not exactly the Hollywood version of a savior. The group of people I was working with was tasked to demo a house. It’s messy and yucky and potentially very dangerous. Whacking down dry wall that has been soaked through makes it twice as hard to clean up then regular dry wall. The mold spots black and fuzzy serve as a very real reminder of just what we are doing. Plaster dust that is bad enough on its own has become crusted to our pants and to the bottom of our boots because of the dampness. It is a mess. But here’s the thing, the houses in Staten Island and other storm-damaged areas from Sandy are going to be a mess for a long time. But think of the lives of the people affected by Sandy let alone the other storms that where in their lives before the storm. Imagine the mud left in their lives right now. Covered like the roads and the stoops.

Life is messy; we as humans are created from the mud, formed into the images of God. Most of us reading this where unlikely born into mud, but plenty of people still are born into mud today. But we, unlike God, can’t always shape the mud into something good.

But there are opportunities for us to make the mud go away, to shape it into something. I encourage everyone who is United Methodist to go get an ERT (early responder training) badge, so that you can be among the second wave of people to go to a disaster site and help clean up. You can also donate money and flood buckets to United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), make it a project for your youth group, ladies group, get the entire community involved maybe hold a drive at your local grocery store to get the items.

Additionally if you have people going to help commission them for the important work of Christian presence that they are providing. But most importantly continue to pray for the survivors of the storm, the utility workers, the police, the EMTs, the linemen, the Red Cross workers, the construction managers, and the volunteers that are on the ground working to try and create something out of the mud.

For more information about Hurricane Sandy Disaster Response, visit the New York Annual Conference's website.

***

Betty L. Gannon is a third year seminarian at Drew Theological School in Madison NJ. She is in the ordination process in the New York Annual Conference of The UMC, her interests include disability theology, social work, pastoral counseling and care, and working to meet people ‘where they are’ to help them meet the goals they have for themselves. When she is not hitting the books she knits, reads, and watches Law and Order SVU just a little too much! She blogs at Itinerant Camper.

Advent 2- Anticipating the birth of Christ with all the Earth

by Tyler Sit 

Romans 8:18-24
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?"

I know Jesus never wore snowpants, but Christmas is certainly the time when my mind is on cold weather.

I think about the street lamps of Minnesota, padded with the bluster of blizzards, shining onto glossy streets. I think of icicles, hanging like the pipes of an organ along every rooftop. How much warmer fireplaces and friends feel in this season; how much cleaner do our hallelujahs ring across the plates of ice. It’s not exactly Bethlehem, but winter in the Twin Cities gives me the thrill of hope that Advent is all about.

Perhaps your ecological memories are different than mine, but we have all encountered God during some brush with nature—whether it was at a mountain top, during a thunderstorm, or in the middle of a bird song in the morning. As Christians, we have to honor these sites of divine encounter, not in a romanticized way but in honor of the real difference nature makes in our spiritual lives.

Romans 8 says that the earth’s flourishing is a sign that human beings are living rightly; destruction of the planet (“bondage and decay”) directly correlates to human rejection of God’s will.

The reason is obvious: nature is our friend in finding God—it inspires us, calms us, and accompanies us. The degradation of the planet, its subjection to “futility,” is not something to be taken lightly.

Furthermore, our abuse of the planet is accessory to injustices against human beings—think of refugees created by climate change, environmental health risks to children from pollution, and increasing amounts of famine.

The vision of Romans 8, however, offers more: it gives earth a voice. The planet literally groans (v22) for the time when it must shoulder the weight of human recklessness no longer. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is not a melody for human voices alone.

Celebrate this Advent season, then, with more than just your family or church. Anticipate the birth of Christ with all of the Earth, ever-mindful of the destruction humans have wrought and ever-grateful in the Spirit that abides with us despite it all.

It is a shallow practice indeed—to place a star on a tree without noticing deforestation, to break bread without caring about desolation of agricultural systems, to celebrate a virgin birth without considering the future world of our children.

God offers us more hope that that. Humans and earth alike deserve care and freedom from violence.

Let us begin now.

3 Ideas for Making Your Christmas Greener

• Agree with friends and family to exchange gifts that make a difference—donations to charity, microloans to end poverty (see kiva.org), or organic and fair trade gifts
• Pray with your faith community for the renewal of the planet and the healing of human actions that have harmed it
• It’s never too early to start planning your next vegetable garden!

***

Tyler Sit is in the Master of Divinity program at the Candler School of Theology and pursuing ordination in The United Methodist Church. He is an organizer for the World Student Christian Federation (North America), and is constantly seeking creative ways to combine his passions for environmentalism, contemplation, feminism, and social justice. In his spare time, he enjoys going on adventures.

Advent 1 - Waiting on God

Text: Luke 21:25-35

I am out there. Way out there. No, really, I am way out there in rural Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii. I am the pastor of the westernmost United Methodist Church in the United States. This church is teaching me how to “do” or “be” this call to pastoral ministry. I have much to learn.

Then again many of us on this blog are “out there.” You know, in the world that Wesley called his parish--committed to movement(s) of justice wherever we may be. We are just your typical rabble rousers speaking truth to systems of power. We respond to the realities of global climate change. We refuse to accept institutionalized forms of racism, sexism, homophobia, and the ignorance that haunts our classrooms, places of business, and sadly, even our homes. We raise our voices in opposition of belligerent, derailed/ing political-economic systems that maintain structures of inequality. Wherever we find ourselves we must know our context.

Indeed, we walk dusty roads in worn “slippers,” our sneakers smell because we have walked the streets time and again, and our hearts are sometimes full and other times not.

The Advent 1 lectionary text portrays Jesus as a prophetic rabbi who preached in the temple of the coming reign of God. He was out there. Jesus spoke of the signs of nature, the distress of nations, the fainting masses, and the shaking heavens. It sounds mildly reminiscent of the “Left Behind” book series. Then, only, will we see the Son of Man return in triumphant victory.

What did Jesus mean? Did he mean that the temple would be destroyed or was he directing our consciousness toward the end times? Is this an apocalyptic judgment or an eschatological promise? In an article, Walter Wink wrote that “apocalyptic [thought] has a foreshortened sense of time. It anticipates a final war between the powers of Good and Evil...Eschatology, by contrast, regards the future as open, undetermined and capable of being changed if people alter their behavior in time.” [1]

In other words, Jesus offered a word of hope--we still have time. Do not despair but stand up and raise your heads. We continue to build, create, and hope in the transformative work of the kin-dom of God. Advent reminds us that we do not do this work alone. We need each other.

Most importantly, we wait on God. For a city boy appointed to the beautiful beaches of rural Kauai this season of Advent challenges me to pause, to be present where God is already at work. We wait on God who became human to dwell with humans in our messy, chaotic world.

The answer lies in a fig tree.

The fig tree, an ancient symbol of blessing and hope, often requires three to five years of tending, fertilizing, and cultivating to bear fruit. The ancients knew this when they sat under the tree for shade and learning. Jesus taught his disciples that the work of kin-dom necessitates patience. We have much work to do. Do it. But the good news is that God is already present, God is the one who moves within and amidst us, as we await the coming of the Messiah.

Prayer

Holy God, give us grace to cast away the darkness of despair, that we might embrace the light of justice, now in this present life in which Christ came to live and die; and on that day, when Christ shall come again may we share in the life to come through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (adapted from The Book of Common Prayer)

[Practice]

Check out this video and reclaim the Advent season.

Reclaim Christmas 

Joshua Clough is the pastor at West Kauai United Methodist Church on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii and a candidate for elders orders in the California-Pacific Annual Conference. A native of the Seattle, Washington area he enjoys running, politics, reading, writing, and walking on the beach at sunset with his dog “Cassie.”

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[1] The Christian Century, October 17, 2001, pp. 16-19.