Christmas Year B Jesus is Like a Baby
Unto us, a Child is Born!
This Advent, we used the bright colors and intricate style of John August Swanson to try to get into the world of this amazing, miraculous birth… the birth of Christ. Rolling green hills, Swirling stars in deep blue skies and luminous angels pointed our way, and whimsical animals accompanied each colorfully dressed actor in the Biblical story. In this process, we learned from the scholars at Emory University that Jesus was born into a particularly oppressive time in the life of the Jewish people, during the Roman Empire rule, and so this little baby right from the start, provided a glimmer of hope in a dark time. [1] And as the earth turns again, and again it is dark, we are reminded once more that Jesus came and brought that light into our lives.
We are reminded that Jesus is coming again. Isaiah speaks a familiar prophecy—a child is to come! A magnificent child, Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace! Again, words spoken in a very dark time in the history of those being written to—Isaiah was speaking to another embattled people.[2]
We too live in a time when we need merriment. Economic woes have gripped us. The war in Iraq has ended, and we need hope about our next steps. And we might, in the middle of all this political struggle to get to the White House, wish for a strong leader to save us, to get us all on the right track. The folks in Isaiah’s time were sure looking for a warrior leader. And the folks in Jesus’ time were looking for a kingly Messiah who would ride in and vanquish the enemy. A sort of swashbuckling David, but with more deity to him.
And God tricked us all, because as Isaiah points out, who comes, but a child! A child is born, unto us, in the city of this royal king David—he still has that lineage, but he is a child, a lowly child—the creator God says, behold, I am doing something new (to quote another part of Isaiah) or, as we hear in Ps. 96, “Sing … a new song”—the Lord sings a new song to us, a child who will be the savior of us all.
The joy of a baby fills the manger, and in the bustle of trying to get registered , this very amazing baby manages to make a still and holy place in a busy city. The hillsides ring with the joy, yet it is all so calm—Mary wrapping him, Shepherds awestruck in a field. A baby that changes everything.
As many of you may know, I have had baby on the brain a bit in the past several months—my god-daughter Inori was born in July and since then, I have been amazed by her and also struck by how this little life has so completely changed the lives of her two parents, Alene’s and my good friends from seminary, Karen and Joanna. You hear about this—the life-changing piece—but seeing it in action is something else.
Nobody brings joy like a baby. Nobody makes you re-evaluate your life and priorities, like a baby. Nobody grounds you in peace like a baby.
Which brings me to how Jesus is like a baby. Well of course, you say. He is a baby, today here in a manger. But no, I mean Jesus is like a baby all the time. Sound funny? Indulge me for a moment.
When Jesus truly breaks into our lives, just like with a newborn, we are filled with an incomprehensible joy—a sense of new life and possibility—a love that is the same melting feeling I get when I kiss my god-daughter’s head to say good night.
And yet, babies laugh at our carefully scheduled days and turn all our plans on their heads, and so does Jesus. Jesus is profoundly unreasonable at times! You know what I mean… the time when you are walking past someone on the street and Jesus nudges you to turn around and give them a meal or a dollar (or five) – or the times when your Christian faith makes you take the long route in an ethical matter even when you know that most others use the shortcuts.
And yet, babies laugh at our carefully scheduled days and turn all our plans on their heads, and so does Jesus. Jesus is profoundly unreasonable at times! You know what I mean… the time when you are walking past someone on the street and Jesus nudges you to turn around and give them a meal or a dollar (or five) – or the times when your Christian faith makes you take the long route in an ethical matter even when you know that most others use the shortcuts.
Just like a baby, Jesus can disrupt your schedule. All of a sudden, Sunday might be for worship rather than only football or reading the newspaper? Blasphemy! Oh…wait…
Just like a baby, Jesus just isn’t an easy person to live with—when we start feeding our relationship with Jesus, both with Eucharistic worship and daily prayer, he gets us on a schedule, and we may find that he makes us clear some of whatever else it is we have planned to leave time to be fed and nurtured. We need that prayer just like the baby needs her bottle.
But Jesus, like a baby will also ground us like no other could possibly do. Inori, my god-daughter, has helped all of us around her know what the real priorities are. She provides a sense of “home” to her parents; she is their sweet, calming center. Even on a day when she may have a meltdown at the store, she gathers and grounds them.
This little life just balances and grounds them like no other—and I find that Jesus does the same for me. I may get harried and lose touch with it times, but there is a center in my life that grounds me in Jesus. Jesus creates home at the center of this manger image, and Jesus makes a manger in our hearts and helps us feel grounded and at home in our own lives. [3]
Inori helps her parents feel love even when they are bone tired, and in the same way, Jesus reminds me to love first, even when I am hungry, tired and grouchy. In order to mother Jesus’ world, we must love even when we are tired. Just like the shepherds, our natural response to many things in life might be fear, but we are taught to be not afraid, and instead to love, and to see the wonder that God is birthing in creation.[4]
So, this is my prayer for us this Christmas:
Jesus, help us to hold you in our hearts, cradling you as a baby, even as we know that God holds us his loving arms. Help us to lovingly live into building your kingdom even when we are tired, and we see the darkness of our times confront our hopes. Help us to be nurtured in prayer and worship, that we need as much as baby needs her bottle. Cast away our fear, filling us with your brilliant light and love as we find ourselves grounded in you, on this Christmas day and in every moment that you are breaking into our lives, which was yesterday, is today, and will be tomorrow. Amen.
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