God With Us – God In Us

Of course, we all know that Christmas is when we celebrate the birthday of the Lord. We remember and memorialize the Incarnation’s humble beginnings with Christmas carols and manger scenes. We listen with wonder to the Christmas story and look with awe at the Christmas decorations. Though beautiful and wonder-filled, these remembrances do a disservice to the true meaning of the Holy Day. Centering our attention on a baby in a manger is much too limiting.

When we celebrate birthdays in our families and among friends, we do not center our celebration on the day the person was born. Instead, we celebrate the life the child or adult is leading. We acknowledge accomplishments and growth. We also find ways to express our love and appreciation for the one celebrating a birthday. It is most often not a love that revolves around the day of the person’s birth. Instead, it is about how our lives are better and complete because of who the person is.

Yet when we celebrate Christmas, it becomes all about a baby in a manger. In the case of Jesus, there certainly is a place for that. But often, we limit our celebration to just that. Unfortunately, the tendency to limit our celebration also limits our understanding.

The birth of Christ marks a moment in history when all of time stopped, and God touched the world. His humble birth was undoubtedly a foreshadowing of the life Jesus would lead. So it is essential to mark the moment. But perhaps, on the occasion of His birth, we need to spend less time gazing at a child and more time reflecting on the meaning of His life.  

Incarnation means God coming to be one with us. We cannot celebrate His birth unless we also acknowledge the life of Jesus. Accepting his life means remembering the teachings, miracles, healings and love lived out. Christmas is about a baby who grew to be a child. It is about a child who became a man dying on a cross. Even more than that, Christmas means remembering the words of Jesus, the words of God, who said I will be with you always, even to the end of time. Jesus promised us the continued Incarnation of God throughout all time. God incarnate among us was not about a moment on Christmas Day, nor was it only about the lifetime of the man Jesus. God incarnate is about all of us, all the time. Therefore, each of us is part of the Incarnation we celebrate on Christmas.

When someone we love dies, we don’t forget their birthday. But, in some ways, their birthday becomes even more poignant. We remember the love they brought into our lives. We recall how they influenced us and changed us. When I remember my Mom’s birthday, I am filled with a sense of loss and gratitude for how she formed and changed me. I stand in awe of how she lives in me, not just genetically but in what I value, how I live, and how I love.

The same is true for Jesus. When we celebrate His birth, we need to look at how His DNA is our DNA. His Incarnation was the beginning of God’s Incarnation in the world and all of us. God is with us (Emmanuel), not for a moment or for one man’s lifetime, but for all time in all of us.

God is made incarnate in our lives. We draw strength and courage from the Creche scene and the stories of the first Incarnation. And we remember that the story did not end in Bethlehem or Calvary. That was only the beginning of God’s promise to be with us. His was an unbreakable promise to be within us individually and as a people for all time. 

Perhaps this year, when we look at the Creche and sing Silent Night, we must remember that that was only the beginning of Emmanuel. We were not talking about two millennia ago when we sang “O Come O Come Emmanuel” during Advent. We are talking about today. We are talking about us. Emmanuel, God is with us, born in us, Incarnate in us, living through us, always one with us. God is our DNA. When we celebrate Christmas, we remember that just like Jesus, we are called to live out the legacy granted through God with us for all time.

May we see God born among us today and every day. 

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen