CHRISTMAS IS THE HEART OF CHRISTIAN FAITH [12-3-23, First Sunday of Advent]

 CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter--CHRISTMAS IS THE HEART OF CHRISTIAN FAITH [12-3-23, First Sunday of Advent]

To me, Christmas has always been the heart of Christian faith. Not Good Friday, the crucifixion [salvation]. Not Easter, the resurrection [eternal life]. No, it’s Christmas, the birth [presence].

O Come, or come, Emmanuel.  Emmanuel means “God with us.” The Presence of God is the Present of God. That’s what Christmas is about.

I don’t understand the theology of salvation. How does the death of Jesus save people? Yes, there’s the legalism, that God is holy, and we are not, so there has to be a sacrifice, and we are not worthy to sacrifice, so Jesus does it on our behalf… All that stuff maybe made sense, back in the days when folks thought in terms of Hebrew sacrifice theology, and Roman legalistic theology [Well, somebody has to be punished for sin!], and pecking order “honor” theology.

We need to give up the word, “salvation.” God does not save us from anything. God goes through it with us.

I don’t understand the theology of resurrection. Especially the part about Jesus coming again… soon… or maybe not soon, but… can we date it… oh, Jesus, how this talk about you coming again has tied the church in knots! Is there a heaven “up there,” or anyplace else, that we go to for eternal life, when this life is over? Is there a hell “down there,” where people are tormented forever by a merciful God… oh, wait, that’s not mercy.

Aren’t we supposed to live life now in God’s presence, with God’s help, and trust God for whatever comes next? Isn’t that faith? Isn’t that hope?

Resurrection at its best is simply an acknowledgement that Jesus isn’t off somewhere else. He was the love of God with us on earth, and he still is. Easter is simply an exclamation point for Christmas.

Salvation and resurrection theologies have become reasons to divide people into the okay and the not-okay, the saved and the damned, us and them. From the start of time, people thought religion was about exclusion—we are the chosen, or the saved, or the true believers, and you are not. Jesus said, “No.” Religion, faith, is about including everybody. And Christians immediately said, “Oh, that’s right, we’ve got to exclude everybody who doesn’t believe what Jesus said.”

For two thousand years faith in Jesus hasn’t been about living the Jesus life, but believing stuff about Jesus. Stuff that divides us, that keeps us away from the Presence.

Our friend, Suzanne, when she was a young woman, was kidnapped and raped, repeatedly, by a huge man. Six feet seven inches. 250 pounds. All the time he was raping her, he told her that when he was through, he would murder her. She said, “I didn’t pray for anything but God’s presence. I said, I don’t care if I die, God, as long as you don’t leave me. If you are with me, if you stay with me, I can get through this.”

Decorate a tree. Buy some presents. Sing about snow. Whatever. Kitchy, commercial, or whatever, it’s Christmas. It’s all about the presence of God with us. That’s all we need.

John Robert McFarland

Suzanne’s story is not private. She is a preacher who tells this story publicly.