Wonderfully Created
Christmas 2C
Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84:1-8; Matthew 2:1-12
1/3/10
Lorraine Ljunggren

        The Collect of the Day today, the prayer we use at the beginning of worship in the years there are two Sundays within the twelve days of the Christmas season, is a prayer worthy of our attention all the year long. But I find this prayer compelling, chiefly in this season on which we focus our attention on the coming of Jesus – this season in which we acknowledge that out of love for us, God reveals God's self in a particular human being.

        “O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (BCP 214)

        “O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may we share the divine life of….Jesus Christ…” (ibid.)

        Christmas is about making connections – especially connecting all the ups and downs, all the losses and gains, all the sorrows and joys of our everyday lives – connecting them to the divine life of God we know in and through Jesus. Christmas is about God's desire to reaffirm how wonderfully created are we human beings. Christmas is about God reaching out through time and space, across realms of mystery so vast we cannot fully comprehend them. Christmas is about God choosing to wonderfully restore the shattered bits of our lives, to make good again our dignity so often devastated by the poor choices we humans can make, including the poor choices of those around us which can change our lives.

        The scripture readings today shine a light on how much God always longs to restore us to our full dignity as creatures made in God's own image. The prophet Jeremiah speaks words of immense comfort – that is, words of strength – to the people of Israel whose lives are turned upside down by exile, who lose their sacred place of worship, whose hope is dim. Through the prophet God reassures the people that God will bring the people home – that, whatever their past, God will redeem them – will restore them to the people they are meant to be. The prophet proclaims the people will be able to return to their homeland and, upon doing so, will rejoice in gladness and joy. Whatever their condition, they will be able to make the journey because God will prepare the way for them. The mistakes of their past will be forgiven. Out of love God will restore their dignity; the people will again believe themselves to be wonderfully made.

        The joy they will experience is echoed in the psalmist's poetry, “How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. … Happy are they who dwell in your house! they will always be praising you. Happy are the people whose strength is in you! whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.” (Ps. 84:1, 3-4)

        It may seem strange to engage Jeremiah's words to a people in exile, the psalmist's poetry of praise, and then leap into the story in the Gospel of Matthew. But, if the Collect of the Day reflects well some of what Christmas is all about, then we have landed in the right place. For the stories surrounding Jesus' birth as told by Matthew have much to do with restoring the shattered bits of our lives and making good again the dignity of our humanity.

        Matthew is clear from the beginning that Jesus' coming will reveal the unmistakable contrast between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. Early in the story Matthew sets the stage for the contrast between the person Jesus will grow to be and the likes of persons such as King Herod, some of the Judean leadership, and the Roman occupying forces.

        While Herod is famous for expanding the Temple and other architectural projects, his 'kingly' position is dependent on his relationship with Rome. While Herod is technically Jewish and therefore acknowledged as a king by his people, he owes his wealth and position to a form of rule which, in turn, oppresses his own people!

        From the beginning the writer of Matthew also wants us to know that Jesus will fulfill the prophetic tradition which says the Anointed One, the Messiah, will bring all nations into relationship with the one, holy, and living God. So, it makes sense that the wise men, astrologers from the East, will follow the pilgrim's way to Jerusalem and on to Bethlehem. They are the first gentiles to acknowledge Jesus' birth as special and Jesus himself as worthy of worship. The gifts brought by the wise men are gifts fit for a king, yet are bestowed upon a baby whose house is not a palace and whose future rule will work to overcome oppression in all its forms.

        It makes perfect sense that Herod is threatened by Jesus' birth, especially since Jesus was born so near Jerusalem and yet Herod had no knowledge of it prior to this part of the story. For wealthy foreign-born individuals to be the bearer of this news more than shakes up Herod and those whose own fortunes or positions are linked to his. This news will ultimately spur Herod to acts of violence.

        Yet, the Gospel tells us the wise men are overwhelmed with joy at being in the presence of Jesus. Wise, indeed, are the visitors from the East for paying attention to their dreams, realizing that Herod falsely says he, too, wishes to worship the baby king, and so return to their own country by-passing the holy city Jerusalem.

        The Christmas story told once again, we are now ready to watch Jesus grow to adulthood, to see the ways in which he grows in grace and favor with God. We are poised to learn from him that God's love is a more powerful force than any modern Herod might wield. From his coming Baptism in the Jordan River we are
set to follow Jesus along the dusty roads of Palestine, to hear him teach us in parable and story, to learn from him how to bring healing to those in need and to feed those who are hungry.

        We are now ready to make the connections, to restore the shattered bits of human lives, to share in the divine life of Jesus Christ, and, as Howard Thurman puts it so well, to do “The Work of Christmas:

When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds
are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.”

        There is, my friends, much work for us to do. But as we look forward into this year of 2010, let us be people who make real the unmistakable contrasts between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. Let us be among the ones who keep hope alive amidst all challenges. Let us be among those who keep the love of God in Christ Jesus alive at Christmas and all the year long. Amen.

©2010 Lorraine Ljunggren