HAVE YOURSLEF A MERRY CHRISTMAS

My Lovely Brother and Sister

Over Two Thousand years ago, Heaven invaded Earth in the form of a baby boy. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, surrounded by animals; little did the parents know that they were holding God of the very God in their hands. Little did they know that the creator of Heaven and Earth, who was before time began; had made himself of no consequence and lay in their arms innocent and vulnerable. So was the humanity of Christ throughout his life that it took special revelation from the Father himself to know that this man was the Son of God.

Jesus drank, ate, slept and laughed with people. He went to the feasts and parties and enjoyed friendships like we all do. Heck!! His first miracle was at a wedding, where he turned water into some good alcoholic (yes, alcoholic) wine. At one time he makes a very telling statement,  

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”  Matthew 11: 18-19

When he says he was ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ I don’t think he was talking diet foods and sparkling water. (He says they slanderously called him a Drunkard, obviously he was never drunk but that should give you some insight)

Why did God dwell among us in such a fashion? Why did he live such a human life? How come he did not just go around floating in the air, radiating light and having the energy flow of the earth as food? How come this man who displayed perfect union with God; who never did anything except he saw the Father doing it, lived such a Human life?

This Christmas you’ll be bombarded with blogs and sermons (some good and some bad) about the mystery of incarnation and about the reasons Jesus came into the earth, (for a very good blog on this topic, click this link), so I’m not going to get into it. What I do want to point out is that apart from the carols and the church service and all the politics and “spiritual” stuff that will occur this season, I will be spending this season with my wife, my siblings, and my brothers and sisters in our fellowship. We will eat, drink, sing, dance, watch movies, laugh at old jokes and make new ones. We will sleep over at each other’s houses and maybe even start a new quarrel while squashing an old one. In other words, we will be utterly human.

Jesus showed us that Divine life and Human life are completely compatible. He showed us that the reason we turned things upside down and life’s pleasures like parties for instance became drunken orgies was because we had lost our connection with the Divine. Well, he restored that connection. In him we are perfectly united with God, we do not need to deprive ourselves and engage in Gnostic fasts or New Age meditation to attain that union or even feel it. If you want to feel God’s life in you, play with your child, laugh with friends, eat a fantastic meal, kiss your wife, read a great book. You know that joy, that tingling sensation running down your spine? It is God expressing himself through you. At any rate, we do not live by our feelings, we live by what we know and believe; our feelings then follow that belief.

This Christmas, don’t be a Grinch, don’t be grumpy and seal yourself in the house. Don’t think you’re being spiritual by refusing to have clean, wholesome fun on this ‘pagan holiday’. Loosen up a bit knowing that every time you engage with people you love; you are expressing the Divine Life we have been given through the incarnation of Christ Jesus.

Grace and peace be with you

(This post is dedicated to my beloved father, who will be thousands of miles away from us on Christmas day. Till we meet again, my heart is always with you. Thank you for all the wonderful Christmases)

December 12, 2011