She continued:
In the Bible translation we just heard, verse 14 reads: “The Word became flesh and lived among us….” Another translation says that the incarnate Word “dwelt” among us, a verb that evokes the idea of a dwelling place or home. Yet only when we go back to the original Greek of the New Testament and translate the verb “eskeinesen” literally, do we begin to grasp the fullness of the image John is trying to convey: A literal translation reads, “The Word became flesh and tented among us….” Now, everyone knows that a tent is not a fixed dwelling place; it’s specifically designed for people who are on the move. So, when John declares that God “tented among us,” he’s actually saying that our God is a portable God who goes with us every step of the way on our life’s journey: Wherever we go and whatever we do, we can count on God to be “in our camp”—to be there with us and for us….
I suspect for many this is a vision of God that may, at first, be slightly less satisfying than God as "mighty fortress" and "bulwark" we sing about, Still, this is faithfully humble to my ear and recognizes a different kind of established power in the world that protects us in a way different than a government protects us in time of war, for example.
This is distinctly counter to the latest development in the mixture of American political and religious life we experienced this morning. Dan Rather captured the spirit best in his post:
I am sorry to break the Christmas spirit, but a colleague brought the issue of GOP Chairman Reince Priebus' Christmas message to my attention and, even on a holiday - news is news.
The controversial part of the message reads:
"Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King."
Many on social media reacted in outrage to what they read as an equation of Donald Trump to Jesus. A few hours later CNN reported "RNC spokesman and incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the reference had nothing to do with Trump. 'Christ is the King in the Christian faith.'"
I am just not sure how one would explain the word "new" in the quote.
I think there is an understanding how Jesus is a "king", as far as the RNC is using the term here, that Jesus, from my perspective, refutes. Remember in John 18:37 Pilate asked, "So you are a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."
Yet this may also be a time where we need to be mindful of the Advent season where we are calmly told in Luke 2:19 (next week's Gospel reading): But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Perhaps not every message needs to be assigned an assumed purpose and given a detailed reaction. Also, perhaps we all should be cautioned not to draw any strong religious parallels between the political landscape of our world and politics of early Palestine.
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Continuing with other reactions to Christmas and the stories in the news cycle this year - artist Scott Erickson posted:
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| Image by Scott Erickson |
"But this year it just feels empty. The world has always been chaotic…. but after a divisive and exhausting election, images of innocent carnage in Aleppo, the overwhelming stream of information that mostly tells us that we’re all doomed…. lights, tinsel, and Starbucks cups don’t seem to matter. The aesthetics of safe shepherds, safe stables, safe and secure stars, angels, wise men, etc…. just don’t make sense. They don’t make sense in this world on the brink of fear and despair.
Vulnerability is scary. It’s a risk and it costs.
Everything about the coming of Yahweh in the form of a fragile baby is vulnerable. The powerlessness. The chaos of not having a sanitized place to birth. The shocking biology of it all. I’ve witnessed two births and both brought me to tears. It’s a beautiful experience… but not in any safe way. The water, the blood, the body fluids.
So much comes out when a baby is born. Sometimes the mother poops when a baby is born. Nobody puts that in their baby books.
Jesus was born just like us. In all of goopy humanity. There is something overwhelming sacred this year for me to meditate on that. That he was born of blood… like we are. That he partook in the powerless vulnerability of coming into the world… like we feel. That he was born into the shit…. which we never seem to get out of."
I started my post of this worship by saying the service was intimate. I immediately went to a national / larger community perspective which, of course, were simply personal responses I could relate to written by folks outside of Creator. I stand by what I have posted as being meaningful to my understanding of today's service but, just like exploring a "fragile" dimension for the December 4th worship, I would be remiss not to remember the concern and thoughtfulness of those who gathered here today in what they expressed after worship.
Mary and I were on today's Creator prayer list. Chris, Marilyn, Linda, Eva and others went out of their way to find out more about what my family is going through and asked if they could help. Chuck wore a "Christmas" sports coat which he hoped would cheer Mary up. All their reactions were heartfelt and appreciated.
Acknowledging this individual to individual connection is not always acknowledged. Perhaps because we feel it will be viewed as too kitschy, overly sentimental, or lauding the personal connections each one of us has too much, but with more connections like this the stronger the sense of community becomes.
Pastor Michelle's whole sermon for today is linked here.
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