Why Christmas message matters more than ever
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” Matthew 1:23.
What a difference a year makes. None of us has ever witnessed anything like this within our lifetime. This is Christmas in COVID-tide.
Traditionally, the Christmas season brought us bright lights, bustling crowds and bountiful joy. There was shopping, decorating, baking and travel. There were office parties and family gatherings. There were extended working hours — someindustries got busier during this season, while others cleared the workload to accommodate the days offthe job.
Christmas 2020is declaring itself to be unlike any other.
In my previous seven seasons serving with the congregation at Bethlehem’s Central Moravian Church, I have enjoyed focusing on a different character in the Christmas story each year. The angels, the animals, the baby in the manger, the shepherds, the star, and so on — each receiving its own highlight for the year.
A 2,000-year-old tradition still allows for the examination of newfacets reflecting brilliant light.
This year, the story of the birth of a Savior, with the attending themes of hope, peace, joy and love, is co-opted by a new cast of characters. Enter stage left: COVID-19 vaccines, online shopping, virtual platforms and face masks.
Am I correct in detecting a revived sense of hope arising from the Food and DrugAdministrationgrantingemergency use authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine? AmI alone in expressing hope
filled anticipation as massive delivery trucks roll away for factory bays in Michigan?
I hear a clergy colleague singing in good humor, “Ocome, Ocome, vaccine.”
Howaboutacertain level of peace that comes from online shopping? According to NBC’s Chuck Todd, online spending for the fourth quarter of 2020 has increased 51% over 2019. The purchase of officefurniture for the homeisup44%. The sale of home improvement supplies is up 92%. Increases in the adoption of pandemic pets led to a 70% increase in
online receipts for pet food, pet toys and other pet supplies.
The winner is the effort we put in wanting to work off any “quarantine fifteen,” as shown by the investment in home gym equipment. Online receipts in health, fitness and nutrition climbed an astonishing 122%.
We find some degree of joy in acquiring new skills navigating the internet. A variety of online platforms make conferencing with family and friends a more pleasant experience during this time of physical distancing. Participation in important life events mayactually have a broader reach, with the pervasiveness of digital cameras.
Playing the role of “love” in this 2020 nativity drama is the ever-present facial covering. This is a wonderful gift weoffer to others. I wear my face mask to protect you and you wear yours to protect me.
Paul the Apostle puts it this way in Philippians 2:4, “Let each of you look not to your owninterests, but to the interests of others.”
There you have it. Four new actors making their debut performance in 2020.
Pandemic Players on a global stage in these most unusual days.
Maybeyouareasking whybother with Christmas this year? Maybeyoudon’tfeel like celebrating this season. Indeed, does Christmas still matter in a pandemic?
It matters morethanever. Themessage of Christmas is that the Christ born in Bethlehem joins divinity and humanity — love of Godandlabor for people. In the proclamation of The Gospel According to Matthew, the gift of Jesus to the world is the gift of Emmanuel, “God with us.”
Themessage of Christmas is not found in medical science or online shopping or new technology or protective gear, as necessary as each of these may be. It is found in rising above our current condition and helping others to rise. It is uncovered in our bearing witness to the presence of God in the world and also being God’s blessing for others in our world.
Albert H. Frank describes the carol “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” as the American social gospel Christmas hymn. Written by Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876) and set to music by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900), the message directs our thoughts heavenward with a keen sense of responsibility for what is going on around us now.
In the days of Sears and Willis, Frank writes, it was“the struggles of the United States over admitting new states allowing the spread of slavery, and the Civil War looming on the horizon.” What is it today?
May the reason for the season unite heaven and earth in us and in him. May the message of Christmas inspire us to be God’s presence in our world.