Now what, with this process of incarnation?

Rev. Peter E. Bauer

Church of Christ Minister

Christmas Day has occurred for the world again. Some of you may be trying to recycle all the wrapping paper from the presents; maybe continuing to consume leftovers from Christmas dinner, sampling many Christmas cookies. 

Then there are those who are inventorying what presents they received this Christmas and determining what they want to keep, what they want to return and what they want to regift.

The celebration of the birth of Jesus is a huge celebration of exuberant capitalism and marketing.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts that Americans will spend a record $902 per person on the winter holidays in 2024, which includes gifts, food, decorations, and other seasonal items. This is about $25 more per person than in 2023. 

Gift spending

Gallup found that Americans will spend an average of $1,012 on gifts in 2024, which is up from $975 in 2023. 

Holiday sales

Salesforce predicts that global sales will grow by 2 percent in November and December 2024, totaling $1.19 trillion. In the U.S., sales are expected to reach $277 billion, which is also up 2 percent from 2023. 

Debt

According to Bankrate, 27 percent of holiday shoppers plan to go into debt this season by using a buy now, pay later service or carrying a credit card balance. 

Holiday spending has been growing year-over-year since 2008, even during the pandemic. 

Why are we so moved to do all this frantic spending during this holiday season? The observation of the birth concerning the poor itinerant peasant preacher and teacher from Galilee ends up becoming a financial free for all, bordering on excess.

Now, I know that I might be channeling a little bit of “bah humbug!” But I really wonder if this is a wise choice in which to spend this amount of money?

This is especially true when you look at what is happening with the deterioration of education, health care and the environment here in the United States. 

But again, I appreciate the sentiment of the opposing argument.

 Jackson Browne observes:

“In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
“We have need for anything that frees us
“So I bid you pleasure
“And I bid you cheer
“From a heathen and a pagan
“On the side of the rebel Jesus.” (The Rebel Jesus)”

Jesus certainly engaged and interacted with the heathens and the pagans of his day as did Paul and others in the Early Church. Their mission was to engage people where they were and to argue that the message of Jesus, the teaching, the Kerygma had transformative power for their lives.

So, in the aftermath of this ebullient celebration of Christmas, it might be fair to ask, “Now what? “

What do we do with this whole process of Incarnation, of God becoming human, of God becoming one of us?

Samuel is introduced as being a young boy who is doing the work of the Lord. All around him there are others who are about doing other things including some unseemly behavior. But Samuel appears to have a clear focus. 

“And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with all people. (I Samuel 2: 20).

A relationship with God, with the divine is something that will clearly challenge the values of the secular society.

Samuel stands out. He clearly is not like all the young dudes of his age. He is in the archetype image of the “boy king,” someone who is destined to be holy.

This theme resurfaces again with the young boy Jesus accompanying his parents Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem. Here we learn that the family goes up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Passover.

After the feast has ended, Mary and Joseph depart to go home. But Jesus decides to hang back and stay in Jerusalem.

If you are a parent and you’ve been with your child in a store. One minute your child is there and the next minute they are gone, you know the feeling of fear and desperation. You want your child to be safe. You want your child back with you.

Then you hear some giggling, and you discover that your child has been hiding in a clothes rack.

The feelings of fear and desperation may melt into exasperation and irritation. You have been “punked” by your child.

You then can probably appreciate Mary and Joseph’s astonishment when after three days of searching they find Jesus, the precocious 12-year-old, sitting in the Temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions.

Mary says to Jesus: “Son why have you treated us like this? Your father, and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

You then can also appreciate their incredulous surprise when Jesus replies “Why are you searching for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s House?” (Luke 2: 48-49)

Like Art Linkletter used to say:

“Kids say the darndest things”

They are the truth tellers.

Maybe that’s why Jesus loved children so much. They don’t have their filters developed yet. They don’t developmentally have the skills yet for compartmentalization and self-censure and being able to present oneself in an acceptable manner for any given circumstance.

Luke tells us, that after this incident in the Temple, Mary treasured all these things in her heart. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people. (Luke 2:52)

The symmetry from I Samuel 2:20 continues, Jesus is another “Boy King”, someone who will astound others by his wisdom and understanding.

So again, we ask ourselves “Now what?”

What does the emergence and revelation of this “Boy King” mean in our lives? What does it mean to experience being in the presence of a “holy one “and experiencing transcendence?

Our Christian faith claims that the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus is life-transforming.

So, what are the life transforming miracles that are occurring in your life, in my life?

Has there been recovered health after a scary illness, a restored relationship after a severe rupture, glimpses of hope and support after you have suffered a broken heart due to the death of a loved one. Has your lost child been found, and have you been amazed by the wisdom that you hear?

Now what really invited us to consider how we can live out the Incarnation of God with us, being one of us in meaningful ways through normal human interactions.

Just maybe Christmastide can be a time in which we really consider what Jesus being born in our lives and in our world really means? “

Maybe joy, maybe gratitude, maybe service to others.

May it be so.

Amen, Shalom, Salaam, Be Blessed.

Rev. Peter E. Bauer is a United Church of Christ minister. He has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Medium.Com.

He currently serves as the Intentional Interim Minister of Touchstone Community Church (United Church of Christ) in Boerne.