Live nativity scene at Daylesford Uniting Church Christmas 2009

The Word became flesh and lived among us.

The strange beautiful belief at the heart of Christianity, as eloquently expressed by the author of John’s Gospel: The Word became flesh and lived among us (John Chapter 1).

This is what we celebrate at Christmas.

That in mystery the Divine actually breaks into our reality, in person, in Jesus – The Word – the Wisdom of God.

Debates rage in some circles about whether there was a miraculous birth, whether a particularly special star graced the sky, whether hated sheep farmers (shepherds were mistrusted and despised in this culture) were the first to hear of the news of Jesus’ birth from angels.

However when we get hooked into these debates, arguing for these things or arguing against them, we can miss something of the profundity that is being pointed to here in these strange events recorded in the accounts of Jesus’ birth.

These events, that are rich in symbolism and resonance, reveal something of the nature of the Divine – as embodied in Jesus.

The Divine comes to us in Christ in utter humility – born homeless.

The Divine comes to us in Christ in extravagant inclusiveness – welcoming the outcasts.

The Divine comes to us in Christ in tender vulnerability – born to an unmarried woman in a strict patriarchal culture.

This is what Christians celebrate at Christmas: this humble, inclusive, vulnerable God who graces our earth in Jesus the Christ.

And this is the Divine who continues to grace our lives – continuing to heal us and ever calling us to be more and more Christ like: humble, radically welcoming and gently open.

Blessings on you at this time of celebrating the humble Word who comes among us.

Rev. Sally Douglas