If there is one thing that is consistent about the portrayal of God in the sweep of Judaeo-Christian time, it is that God constantly surprises, reverses human expectations, changes the plot. In that context, God is seen as loving all his children but having a "preferential option" for the poor, the downtrodden, the mistreated, the oppressed, or as sometimes said, "the least, the last and the lost."
We see that principle strongly in the two great festivals which, this year, converge on this night: the feast of Chanukah and the feast of Christmas. The former harks back to the year 200 BCE, when a Seleucid Greek Emperor Antiochus III defeated Ptolemy V of Egypt in battle, and Judah was part of the prize. After a while, Antiochus tried to hellenize the Jews, that is, to convince them to give up practice of the Jewish faith, and also to make the temple in Jerusalem "open" like other temples to a variety of worship systems. When Jews reacted negatively, the Emperor opened their Temple for them. In response, Judas Maccabaeus and a ragtag band of revolutionaries declared war and soon defeated the greatest army in the world. Then they cleansed and re-dedicated the Temple. [Chanukah means 'dedication.'] If you want to think of a modern corollary, consider how in Cuba in 1959 the late Doctor Castro and a relatively tiny band of men defeated the Mafia-backed, well-equipped and trained, and much larger, professional army of the cruel dictator Fulgenico Batista. In a similarly mysterious way, Judas Maccabaeus overthrew oppression and evil, against all odds. You can read that story in your Old Testament in the books of First and Second Maccabees.
About six generations later, another story of liberation emerges, which we call Christmas. Again, God surprises us by sending the One we awaited to be conceived in a confused, frightened, unmarried teenager, born in a stable, reared in a backwater country town by a poor family who became refugees. Unfortunately much of professional Christianity shortchanges this festival. Consider that often Handel's Messiah is a favourite Christmas offering. Excuse me! Messiah is about the death and destiny of Jesus. And then this week a gent was promoting the idea of hanging nails on Christmas trees, so as to take our attention directly to the crucifixion. It seems to be a big thing to skip the life and teachings of Jesus and hustle to Calvary as though there were no understanding of him except as the one whom God arranged to have tortured and killed, to appease Himself and let us off the hook. However one understands "atonement," it is not an excuse to dismiss the life and teachings of Jesus, but shifting the emphasis is apparently a handy way to prevent people encountering the real Jesus.
So let's shift our minds from Calvary back to Bethlehem. What is going on in this special night? In our understanding, the Incarnation means that in the Christ Child, God got "under our skin" to be immersed in the human drama, to experience human life first-hand. The author becomes actor. Then he lived out that life in the person of Jesus to show us what a perfect life looks like, to see in a human being how God cares, loves, serves and suffers with and for us. Then, in turn, we respond to God's surprising, amazing Gift by being Christ to others, by building the Kingdom of God, a world where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
Let's ask ourselves how that mission is coming along. By and large, we have failed for almost two thousand years. Maybe that is why we celebrate Christmas every year -- until we get it! There is a new year ahead. Let's get on with Jesus' agenda.
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