December 17, 2006

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Christmas and Creation

Luke 1:46-55

            Last week we read the prayer of Zechariah as he praised God for his faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham.  This week we are looking at the prayer of Mary, often called the Magnificat.  Mary also connects the birth of her son with the covenant God made with Abraham, thousands of years before.  She says, “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers” (Luke 1:54-55).  The birth of Jesus is connected to God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  This birth will also have future blessings.  She says, “From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.  His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:48-50). 

            But the story was even bigger than Mary was able to see.  The connection did not just go back to God’s promises to Abraham, they go back to the beginning of the world.  The Bible, in talking of Jesus, says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).  That is a powerful scripture, and one that stretches our minds beyond our ability to understand, for what it means is that Christmas is not only tied to history, it is tied to creation, for the world was created through Christ. 

            As we think about Christmas and creation, the first thing we will see is: Christmas proclaims a mystery.  The mystery is that the God who created the universe has now come to be born into the world.  The Creator who made Mary is now carried in the womb of Mary.  The One who inhabited the universe, is now confined to a stall.  He who owns the world now finds no room in the Inn.  St. Augustine echoed this thought centuries ago in his beautiful poem entitled “Incarnation”:

Maker of the sun, 
He is made under the sun. 
In the Father he remains, 
From his mother he goes forth.
Creator of heaven and earth,
He was born on earth under heaven.
Unspeakably wise,
He is wisely speechless.
Filling the world,
He lies in a manger.
Ruler of the stars,
He nurses at his mother’s bosom.
He is both great in the nature of God,
and small in the form of a servant. 
 

            The Gospel of John also proclaims this mystery as it describes Jesus as the Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:1-5).  Part of the mystery is that the world did not recognize God or what he was doing.  John writes: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him” (John 1:10).

            Part of our problem is that we are uncomfortable with mystery.  A mystery is not always something we can figure out on our own.  Sometimes it simply has to be held in suspension without explanation or complete understanding.  This is the way it is with the birth of Christ.  We understand it, but we will not ever completely comprehend it.  It is beyond our ability to understand in its completeness and complexity.  We believe it, in fact that is the only thing we can do with it.  We read the words of Paul which say: “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:6).  We accept that truth and believe it by faith, but the full reality of it is beyond comprehension. 

            What we do understand is that God has invaded the world he made.  This act of God in bringing Christ into the world is connected inseparably to the creation.  For centuries no one really knew what God was doing, or how he was going to do it.  It became more clear as Jesus began to teach and minister in the world.  The author of Hebrews says: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). 

            We should not be frustrated by mysteries; we should delight in them.  We don’t have to figure everything out.  In an essay titled “Meditation in a Toolshed,” C. S. Lewis describes an experience he had inside a dark toolshed.  The sun was brilliantly shining outside, but inside the shed only a small sunbeam could be seen through a crack at the top of the door.  As he looked at the beam of light, he could see flecks of dust and dirt floating about.  Lewis said: “I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it.  Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes.  Instantly the whole previous picture vanished.  I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam.  Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving in the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, 90 odd million miles away, the sun.  Looking along the beam, and looking at the beam are very different experiences.”  Looking at the beam made everything else darker by comparison, but when he moved into the light and looked along it, out the crack above the door, he saw leaves and blue sky, and beyond that the blinding sun itself.  He no longer saw the beam because he was in it.  Looking at the beam of light he saw one thing.  Looking with it he saw something else.  Looking at the beam made things look darker.  But looking with the beam, the object of his vision became blinding — not because of the absence of light, but because of the intense presence of it.  Faith is not scientifically studying the beam of light, it is stepping into it. 

            As we think about Christmas and Creation, the second thing we will see is: Christmas promises redemption.  So often our view of Christmas is so narrow.  We think of Jesus coming into the world to save sinners, and certainly that is a part of it.  But the larger story of Christmas is that Christ came into the world to accomplish God’s intention since the beginning of time to save the Cosmos and redeem the world.  God will not only save sinners, he will redeem all of creation.  He will restore the world to its original design.  He will carry out his original plan to create a world where peace, justice and harmony will reign.  In that day, justice will roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24).  Peter wrote: “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). 

            The writer of Revelation gives us this astounding promise: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’  He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’  Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:1-5). 

            The interesting thing about this scripture is that it seems to say that we do not go “up” to heaven, but heaven comes down to us.  And Jesus will say: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).  We will be given new bodies to live on a new earth, under new heavens, where the kingdom of God will come and his will shall be done.  It is not just our souls which are saved, but our bodies and our world as well.  The promise of Scripture is this: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).  I am thinking of putting that scripture over the nursery: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” 

            Isaiah prophesied, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17).  Jesus talked about the time he called “the renewal of all things” (Matthew 19:28).  How I wish I could plumb the depths of all he meant by that simple phrase.  God did not create the world to destroy the world, but to save the world.  He has not given up on his creation, or his original plan for a glorified creation.  God will not lose the battle with evil.  He loves the world and will redeem it.  The salvation spoken of in Scripture is more than a salvation from sins, it is a salvation from ruin.  Not just individuals will be saved — the cosmos will be saved.  Jesus’ atonement affects all of creation. 

            The third thing about Christmas and creation is that it tells us: Christmas promulgates meaning.  If God created the world, he did it for a reason.  Christmas makes the grand announcement that there is meaning to all of life.  Creation tells us that there is a Creator.  The design of the world tells us that there is a Designer.  The beauty of the world tells us that there is a divine Artist.  All of this means that there is order, beauty, joy and meaning built into the universe.  The meaning of the universe culminates in Christmas, and the message is that God has come into our world to redeem and restore it.  History is headed somewhere, and life has purpose and meaning.  The world belongs to God and he has a great and wonderful plan in mind for it.  That is why the Bible can say, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

            Paul wrote about the greater meaning of the world saying, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10-11).  We are promised by the Word of God: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). 

            There is meaning, because God has always had a plan.  The Bible speaks of Christ saying, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:20).  This means that God put his plan of redemption in place before the world began.  This plan of God to save the world is bigger than we think.  Christmas is bigger than we can imagine.  It is as big as the cosmos.  It includes the renewal of all things.  There is mystery and wonder in the words which say, “What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32). 

            G. K. Chesterton, in his book Orthodoxy, writes about creation and the creative enthusiasm of God.  He says: “A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life.  Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  They always say, ‘Do it again,’ and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.  It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon.  It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never become tired of making them.  It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.  The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE.” 

            That encore will be at the renewal of all things where he says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).  And we say, “Come Lord Jesus.  Do it again!” 

Rodney J. Buchanan

December 17, 2006

Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org