I'm watching all this happening and I'm thinking about the birth of Christ. And then I'm thinking about our churches... We are no stranger to the Christmas story right? An angel appears to a lowly, poor woman Mary and tells her that she will bear the Messiah even though she is a virgin. Her betrothed husband Joseph doesn't like this news, but then an angel appears to him too and tells him that it really is of God. Then there's this decree throughout the land that everyone has to go to their hometown for a census. So poor big, pregnant Mary and Joseph have to make the trek back to Bethlehem. Well unfortunately by the time they get there there is no room in the inn left and it's time for Mary to deliver. The only shelter available is the barn next door. I don't think men understand the absolute horror of this situation. Perhaps if you were in war and needed surgery in a field hospital and are in excruciating pain and had to have surgery in a tent somewhere in the middle of a dirty field- perhaps that would be about what it would be like to have to deliver your baby surrounded by the hot steaming dung of stinky animals. And what would you be thinking of God at that moment that you are supposed to be delivering his savior for the world and the only place for you is in the presence of lowly farm animals??
I have been thinking a lot of what it means to be poor. I did not grow up poor. Right now my family is not as poor as many, but we are definitely poor. There is one experience I had where I was painfully aware of what this is like. My son has therapy appointments in downtown Baltimore. One week we were on our way to the appointment when we realized we were an hour early. It was around lunchtime and I knew the delay was going to push the kids into the dangerously hungry zone and it was going to be a nightmare getting through the therapy session. I realized we were near the Inner Harbor and I came up with an impromptu plan to get everyone lunch and use the spare hour to go see the big ships at the harbor. I checked our bank balance to see if the check I had deposited had cleared. The bank said something like, balance is X which will cover credit purchases made by day Y. This to me meant we could buy something and have it covered.
We walked to Chick Fil A which was packed because it was lunchtime. We ordered and went to pay. The server said the meal was not covered by the card. All it was paying for was the $7 we had in our account and not the remaining amount from the check that I thought would cover it. So here poor, hot, hungry, thirsty John has to give back his juice box that he already had in his hand and we had to cancel our order and get out of line. At that moment we were surrounded by everyone just going about their days in their work attire and tourist outfits. It was like they were oblivious to the now loud cries of my child who has had his juice box ripped from his hands and given back. I was thinking to myself, "Surely someone here realizes we don't have money for lunch. Surely someone will step in and cover our meal. I would do that for someone else if I saw that their child could not get lunch." But they were all in their own worlds. Nobody noticed. Or if they did, they didn't care enough to help us. Thankfully Momma was prepared and had a spare bag of crackers and some water in a cup to shove in John's mouth so his screams didn't disrupt all the happily oblivious other customers. I was humiliated and sad, and hungry.
At that moment though I was given a gift. It was a gift of awareness. Suddenly rather than just going about my day with my family, pushing my one son in the stroller and watching the older walking child, I now was aware of all the poor people on the sidewalk. I was more like the poor people than I was like the happily oblivious working people. I thought about what it must feel like for those homeless people and poor mommas being in the mix of all the happily adjusted working class- just sitting or standing there watching them go about their days. To be poor is to be on the outside. While other people are buying Christmas presents and baking cookies, you are wondering if you will be able to have money to pay rent and have heat. The norm for others is capitalism. Your norm is survival.
And when God incarnate came into the world in a cold, stinky barn surrounded by lowly animals, and given to poor parents, everyone else was in the comfort of the the inn having dinner and resting in their beds. The King of Kings was welcomed by lowly shepherds. Nobody else noticed.
Until King Herod got word of course and then it got evil. Herod was threatened by the chance that this baby king was going to upset his rule so then we know all the toddler boys were slaughtered. So Christ is born into poverty and obscurity and then evil commits a horrible tragedy upon his people. Then his parents have to flee to a foreign land to narrowly escape the evil tragedy.
And in the midst of that was the joyous news of peace on earth for all mankind.
Then I think about when Jesus grew up and started his ministry and called his disciples... You had all these different folks from different walks of life and of different political affiliations. You had the uneducated fishermen with the doctor, and then there was the reviled tax collector, and then you have this random Zealot who wanted to overthrow the oppressive Roman government through violence! They all followed Jesus because he had the words of life and he healed people and miraculously fed the masses. Somehow they managed to get along because they thought they were the chosen ones who were going to lead a revolution that would finally free the Jewish nation from the oppressive Roman regime. Oh how they misunderstood the revolution! And the kingdom Jesus was always talking about!
And here we are. While we wrap presents (well you, I don't have any presents to wrap!) our very democracy is in danger. Danger from the Russians, and danger from the power hungry racist Republicans in North Carolina, and danger from the president elect and his addiction to Twitter, and all his billionaire, anti-anything for the people cabinet picks. We are watching the slaughter of thousands of innocents in the Hell that is Aleppo. While our Christmas lights twinkle on our nicely scented trees in the warmth of our houses, homeless vets and others are sleeping outside in the cold.
So where is the King of Kings right now? I think if he were here right now he would not be found in our churches. Our safe, happy, comfortable, oblivious churches where everyone is on the inside eating their dinners and sleeping in their warm beds. Do we get this from the story? Do we get this from his words when he says "Whatever you did for the least of these you did for me"? Our God was not welcomed by the establishment or even his own people! He was welcomed by prostitutes and sinners! Do we think we're that different today?
We are in dark times folks, that is no surprise. The world needs light. It needs hope. It needs truth. So where are we "truth holders" to be found? Is evil taking a break in its legislative session in North Carolina while everyone else is attending holiday parties and doing last minute shopping? Oh no... Do the refugees get a break from their living Hell? Do blacks every stop being black to get a break from police harassment?
Life is hard for us all whether you have money or not. Our children need us, family members get sick, marriage is hard. I get it. But if you are a Christian you have a calling on your life whether you realize it or accept it. That calling is not to remain in the comfort of your church, surrounded by others who look like you and believe like you. That calling is to be light to a dark world. That calling is to challenge the establishment with radical generosity and equality. That calling is not to do small acts of service throughout the year to make up for the remainder of the year that is spent only focusing on your family. It is a radical call to abandon the status quo in order to stand up for others.
Of course we can choose comfort. We can choose to ignore the cries of the rest of the world for shelter, and freedom from oppression, and justice. But don't be surprised if you don't find Jesus there.
No comments:
Post a Comment