Wh
at could be more relevant than this? Two minutes from getting God to do what we want–who wouldn’t post this?
It’s not just misspelled memes that give huge promises–you can find all sorts of listings of all the promises that God will fulfill, and all you have to do is believe, and maybe type Amen, and God is there, just for you, performing miracles right where you need them!
In their own low-tech way, the ancient Hebrews imagined things working this way. In fairness, that’s what other gods promised: offer sacrifices to make the deities happy, and blessings would come your way. Worship done right is a transaction satisfying the needs of both worshiped and worshiper. Scripture tells the story of Israel finding out that their God wasn’t like those other gods, and he wasn’t interested in that transaction. God’s people were meant to be unique–holy–not just through ritual, but through obedience to a unique Law of justice and compassion. Obedience, disobedience and its consequences become most common scriptural themes.
But what fun is that? We may not be worshiping Santa Claus, but shouldn’t there be some rewards for being good? The good will prosper, the evil will fail, as they should. Certainly that’s the way God would want it to be, so should he set it up that way?
It doesn’t doesn’t take much observation to notice reality interfering with such faithful fantasy. Promises may be made, but there’s no straight line to their fulfillment. Why do good people suffer? Why do the evil prosper? Without a system for guaranteeing God’s blessings, the prophets of scripture found an answer by looking to the future: things don’t work the way they should now, but one day they will.
One day is when? Here’s where Christmas enters our story. Advent, our time of preparation sets us up with expectations. Hope, longing, waiting–these are Advent themes that find their completion in Christmas. So with salvation in our midst, shouldn’t all the promises work now? And why isn’t it working out this time?
In other words, if Christmas doesn’t mean getting God to fill our wish lists, how is it relevant?
The Christmas promise is Emmanuel, God with us. We want to worship Santa Claus, but God has something else in mind. Jesus brings salvation, and of course we know that, but we may be confused about salvation. Lots of words describe it, but in the end, salvation is a relationship. Salvation means moving out of our self-constructed place at the center of our universes in order to find our place in God’s agenda of reconciliation and wholeness, not just for us, but for all. In turn, through inspiration and companionship, we come to know God and are known. Jesus brings us into the presence of God, and nothing less will do.
How relevant is the relationship of salvation? Decisions are made and changes embraced based on how we interpret salvation’s promises. Inspiration, strength, belonging–in theory these make of an impact on our life than any of Santa’s presents could ever promise to do. Do they? Has Christmas changed your expectations or priorities? What do you think we really get for Christmas?