CHRISTMAS EVE 2009
Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14
Contemporary scholars have brought to light for us who do not have the time, opportunity or expertise to comb through archeological finds and ancient texts, that "There was a human being in the first century who was called ‘Divine’, ‘Son of God’, ‘God’, and ‘God from God’, whose titles were ‘Lord’, ‘Redeemer’, ‘Liberator’, and Savior of the World.’ (Crossan, "God and Empire", p. 28) About this human being, his own generation and generations to follow, told stories of a miraculous birth that involved God impregnating his mother through means unavailable to other humans. This human being was Octavian whose lineage could be traced back through his uncle Julius, the first Caesar, to the mythical beginnings of Rome with the survivors of the Trojan War, and who would be called "Augustus" – "the Divine One". Through him, every Roman citizen could proclaim that they lived in a state of peaceful order and moral certitude, divinely ordained as the future for humanity.
All of this catches many a devoted follower of Jesus by surprise, especially on Christmas Eve when we are busy celebrating the miraculous birth of our Lord, the one to whom we have given the names: Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Most of us have willingly forgotten our Grade Ten ancient history. The Roman Empire is nothing more than broken down marbles lying about the countryside across Mediterranean Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. In the memory loss that comes with what my doctor euphemistically calls "over time", we frequently disregard that the story around which we gather this night represents a monumental conflict of theology and human political construct that has yet to be resolved. The stories we tell, the carols we sing, represent a fundamental choice among some human beings about the authority that will rule and shape their lives in the present and the future hope for all the Earth.
The CBC News show, "The National", did a seasonal piece the other night about Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. It began as a piece on a carpenter who makes his living working in the olive wood of the region. Then it moved by focusing on the crosses that he makes – the large "Life-size" ones that cost $800. - to the pilgrims who carry this carpenter’s olive wood crosses along the Via Dolorosa (the purported route of Jesus to his execution). Pilgrims can rent a cross for $50.; if they agree to purchase the photographs that are taken of them along the route. The reporter interviewed a few of these pilgrims who, of course, were sincere in their statements of devotion and spiritual ecstasy brought on by being in this place and doing "what Jesus did". It was hard to watch. As the various pilgrims struck a pose for the photographers with the cross positioned on their shoulders, it was difficult not to think of other celebrity shrines like Graceland where devoted fans pose with Elvis memorabilia, or the more recent images, on the death of Michael Jackson, of hordes of people dressed like Michael and moving to dance rhythms just like him. The fans of Jesus wanted to be where he was and be seen doing what they supposed to be what he did with a cross on their shoulders, like they would of any Superstar. It brought all of the excitement of being a part of the Superstar so that a little of him might rub off on them in some mystical way. But in truth, how many of us can really carry the Cross that Jesus carried? Can we die as he did? Fewer still seem to be ready to live as generously as he did. As famous and miraculous as these superstars are, we cannot be them or re-create the larger than life illusion of celebrity. Augustus was proclaimed Saviour of the World because through his supreme control and leadership, through the strength of loyalty in his legions and through the potential violence that the mere sight of them represented in the far reaches of Empire, he was able to impose a way of life with structure and uniformity that brought stability and a certain peace. He was a Superstar. What he achieved could not be duplicated by others. Subsequent Caesars with smaller characters would let out the secrets of the Roman Peace brought by Augustus. It was an illusion based on tyranny, violence and injustice. Despite all of the benefits of technology, political structure and culture that would be its legacy, it sucked the humanity and individual worth and dignity and, finally, hope for the future out of people. Its fall would be inevitable.
Jesus, whose birth we wish to proclaim tonight, is not (apart from Lloyd Webber and Rice’s excellent musical) a Superstar; though many would treat him like one. The revelation that many of the titles ascribed to him by his later followers were the same as those ascribed to the greatest of the Roman Emperors suggest that his life began to reveal a revolutionary alternative to such a sovereignty. And the story of his birth is a proclamation that this One is Saviour of the World not because of the special effects contained in the story, there to counterbalance the Divine claims of so many Caesars and rulers of Empire then and now. Jesus is Saviour – Christ – primarily because of being born - of a woman, in the messy circumstances of humanity surrounded by injustice and poverty and the not very regal ordinary, smelly reality of shepherds. The story of Jesus’ birth is an announcement of meaning for the life which was lived and of a choice for all of the humanity whose birth he shares. God at work in the holiness of human birth – the common denominator of the human experience – is a radical contradiction to salvation brought by the effects of a celebrity Superstar. As a contrast to another Sovereignty, this One who was one of us through such a birth, gathers us through our own birth into a Sovereignty of a Peace for the Earth which comes through justice, compassion, dignity, and a common birthright as children of God.
The Christmas card of this holy night is not an invitation to join a fan club. It is an invitation to embrace our birth - our humanity – as the place where God acts… our human lives reflected back to us through Jesus, as the place where God is bringing about the future for all humanity, for the Earth and, perhaps, for the Cosmos. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…" "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all…" "..for a child has been born for us, a son given to us.."