There is a Catholic prayer associated with the Twelve Days of Christmas that reads, "O God, who marvelously created and yet more marvelously restored the dignity of human nature, grant that we may share the divinity of him who humbled himself to share our humanity."
In Christ, our human nature was united to God, and when Christ enters our hearts, he brings us into that union.
Today Pastor Michelle's sermon was titled "Unwrapping God's Gift". She suggested we could use this year's twelve days of Christmas to strip away the layers that generations of Christians have covered Jesus in - flags, prosperity and other ideologies. Her suggestion is to strip multiple layers in our vision of Jesus down to the cross and manager and remember his naked, God-with-us-and-for-us humanity.
Her sermon started with an observation of how thin her mother had become:
"On Monday night she assured me that it was okay for me to go home, so I went to say good-bye and hug her. The thin hospital gown had slid down her shoulders, and I could feel how thin she’s become: literally, skin and bone. Of course, I knew she’d lost weight the past couple of years, but with the usual layers of clothing stripped away, I was suddenly struck by how vulnerable she seemed…. I know some of you might be thinking, “Well, duh! She’s 93, and she’s not well, so of course she’s vulnerable! All of us are vulnerable when we’re not feeling well!…”
Her words and insight were personally all-too-familiar.. They echoed in me all the thoughts and feelings I recently expressed in my blog entry on December 4th about my wife's diabetic ketoacidosis incident together with the vulnerability explored in the latest blog post (see below).
After talking about these layers we put on ourselves and others getting in the way of our relationship to others and to God she preached:
Jesus saves us by calling us to strip off the armor and trappings of this world and come back to our true identity as naked, newborn children of God who love as God loves: without condition and without end….
Stripping off the armor, trappings and identities of this world is not easy and the sermon went on to observe how the church historically has added layers of divinity to Jesus and "set him on a golden throne". Jesus is more than an earthly King. I am drawn to Pastor Michelle's portrayal of the other Jesus - the Jesus that embodies the vulnerable and resists being crowned or put on a throne. So often there is an implicit assumption that the gospel promises prosperity and power even though this assumption is completely at odds with how Jesus lived life.
Pastor Michelle announced 2017 was the Reformation's 500th year anniversary commemorating that on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed a copy of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Castle church door. I thought about this during Communion. There is a book I am reading about the Reformation that my wife gave me for Christmas that details all the doctrinal divisions and perspectives the different church denominations detailed in the sacrament of communion.
Each was absolutely sure their vision was what God wanted for the world and most prevent those who don't share their perspective from taking communion. I have not been immune to this kind of "righteousness". Pastor Michelle encouraged us to make a New Year's resolution to strip away the layers that separate us from God and from each other. Tackling my "righteousness" of the past will be my start to change my beliefs and behavior.
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