12.23.06
Jesus is.. not the reason for the season..
In 2004 Craig Morton reflected,
“Jesus is NOT the reason for the season.
“.. bumper sticker sloganeering and sound bite theologizing always leaves me grumpy. So trite, almost as if there a calculation somewhere, as simple as 2+2=4. I find that slogan to fall short.
“Jesus is God and fully man. He is the alpha and omega, the Son of God, Messiah, and Immanuel. He is a person pre-existent before Creation. He is God who chose to become human to experience history and time and place, becoming vulnerable, yet being our Savior and our Lord. He is many things, but he is not a simple calculated conclusion. He is not a reason.
“In the age of science and enlightenment and the empirical method conclusions were the stock and trade of the priestly pedagogues. The enlightenment period played the empirical trump card. Conclusions were to be verifiable; they were to be reasonable, logical, repeatable. It was called the Age of Reason. But Jesus can"t be summed up as a logical, reasonable conclusion. He is more than that. But even more so, Jesus" incarnation is far from reasonable, it is a cosmic scandal, incomprehensible to the modern mind.
“That God could choose to dwell in common flesh. Unreasonable! Unfathomable!”
And irrational and dangerous.. it is obvious that the season itself is about consumption. We may find time to attend a Christmas service, and we may even have family devotions.. but the reason for this season is a cultural one. Can you imagine what would happen if Christians completely opted out of the hustle, bustle and madness of Christmas shopping? I dare say we might find a shortcut to persecution.
I know.. it’s a downer and I feel a bit like Scrooge. Yes, we do redeem something from the season with generosity and love. These things should characterize us in every season. Particularly if we can find a way to bring some light and warmth to the more needy in our neighborhoods perhaps we are coming closer to the Christmas spirit. But on the whole, I agree with Craig and I find the season disturbing.
“When Christians take the Christmas narrative seriously, the practice of gift-exchange within a closed circle of family and friends becomes problematic. If our lives are to mirror the ways of God, then we must break open the closed circle of exchange so that Christmas gifts flow outward to those with profound needs.” Miroslav Volf
Henry Frueh said,
December 23, 2006 at 12:20 pm
Wow. Great and true. Observing seasons are a shadow of the law.
Frank said,
December 24, 2006 at 6:49 am
There is another comment I detest. “Christmas is a time to help the poor.” Anyway over the last month I have come across more and more people who are quite tired of the Christmas gift giving. Last night four couples got together and talked about it. (we didn’t get together for this purpose. It just happened that the subect came up). I suggested that for next year, we as parents forego gift giving for ourselves (and cutting our kids gifts by 20%)and put 50 dollars per adult in a common fund and distribute it locally (to the poor here) and to the poor in other countries. Our goal is to get 200 + adults doing this. That would be 10,000 dollars. If this caught on we could have 20,000 people in Canada doing this and year by year more and more………. All four couples were in agreement…. we need 192 more……..
len said,
December 24, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Betty and I spent most of yesterday at a friend’s home helping to detox his mother.. who has been on heroine for the past two years.. In the end it turned into a wrestling and yelling match as she attempted to climb out the window. Sigh. The police showed up, which was helpful. We had a conversation with them and they agree to lock her up for the night. We hoped that we could then reason with her in the morning.. but sadly.. she is gone and we’ll hear from her.. if she lives that long.. in the next few weeks.
Rick said,
December 26, 2006 at 1:46 pm
You are certainly intense.
CLARICE CHEAN said,
July 29, 2008 at 12:29 am
Christmas is about Jesus. He was born to save us. He has been crucify for our sins..John 3:16
Links for December 26, 2006 | Based on a True Story said,
September 4, 2009 at 10:24 am
[...] A large list of theological websites, theologian website and heretical websites, helpful if your interested or doing research. ———————– Gay nativity scene ———————– Dave Blondel posts of a video he did for Christmas last year, we showed it at theStory on Christmas Eve cause we thought it was amazing. ———————– A women fails a gender test after winning a silver medal (ht) ———————– Jesus is not the reason for the season. ———————– House churches get written about in the frontpage in Chicago’s Daily Herald ———————– Aaron writes about the place Santa and Christmas has within his family and especially his children. [...]