The Work of Christmas Lies Ahead

As it should be, we have celebrated the birth of our Lord and savior, we sang songs to his name, we have praised God, and we have celebrated his coming into the world. We have at least two millennia of creating traditions that reminds us about the Christ that was born, lived and ministered in our midst, died, and was raised from the dead. Indeed, this month, the first of the year 2014, we are reminded that God has not only revealed God-self once, but we are reminded that God continues to reveal God-self to us still today.

During the Epiphany, we come to see how Jesus, the carpenter from Galilee, was revealed to the world among the people to whom he was sent out to reach, not the proud and powerful, not the rich and famous, but rather, the lowly and despised: “the blind…, the lame…, the lepers…, the deaf…,” and “the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:5).  Our Lord and savior was anointed for this reason: “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Jesus understood that he was sent “to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’” (Luke 4:18-19). Indeed, God’s purpose for the world was made clear through Jesus, especially on the day the Magi came to visit with him: Epiphany.

What God manifested in the visit of the Magi is the great mystery of God’s all inclusive Grace. God had intended for salvation to be for all the human race, and through God’s amazing Grace the mystery is now revealed. Through the faithfulness of Christ we have been made acceptable before God and made to be part of the family of God. This is a magnificent gift indeed. Now it is time for us to live into the grace of God: to live righteous and sanctified lives that glorify God, transforming lives, communities, and the world.

This reminds me of a poem (“The Mood of Christmas”) by the late Rev. Howard Thurman, which captures the sentiment of this message:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.

As we are starting 2014, and our Christmas celebrations have ended, we are being call to continue to manifest to the world God’s saving Grace: God’s radical hospitality. For in Christ the world has been turned up-side down, and what was valuable before is no longer valuable, what was important before is no longer relevant, for God is calling everyone regardless of status, position, power, gender, class, race, sexual orientation, or country of origin, to be part of the family. The family that God has created involves everyone on this planet, including creation itself. This is the great mystery which is revealed to us in the Epiphany (the manifestation of God to the world). Indeed, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Co. 5:19), so that we might live the way God wants us to live: loving each other (1 John 3:11), doing justice (Micah 6:8), and working for peace (Matt. 5:9 and Jer. 29:7).

Let God’s manifestation through Jesus Christ continue to transform our minds, our hearts, our communities, and the world, for, indeed, the work of Christmas lies ahead. I wish you all a blessed New Year fill with God’s mercy and love.