Steve-o's Devos: The Presence/ts of Christmas

Are you stressed out yet? Got your Christmas baking done? How about your shopping? Been Caroling? Visited a few relatives? Trying to travel home or to visit friends? It has been a crazy week and weekend for many of us. Not having the power to get to Christmas has practically taken on a new meaning for so many of us here in New England. It is certainly a time to come together as community to care for one another, help one another, and even give thanks for the many blessings we do have even in the midst of all the ice and snow of the new winter.

You know we spend a lot of time wondering about Christmas presents. Some folks start their present shopping the day after December 25th trying to get a quick head start for the next year. Hopefully they will remember where they put these presents 11 months later when the time comes. Hiding something for a year cannot be easy.

The season of Christmas might feel like it is all about the presents we get. Some will tell you that the whole idea of buying and giving presents is what the season of Christmas means. In the midst of a difficult year for many, the idea of spending for presents is a rough one. And if we listen to the way of our own commercial culture we could get quite depressed about all this.

But Christmas is not about presents. It is about presence. Christmas is about being. It might be being with friends, with family, or discovering something deeper. It is this deeper mystery of God coming to us that is the essence of Christmas presence. Luke's story of Jesus (click the title to read the passage) is an amazing reminder about how God enters into our kingdom.

Now even if you don't know the Christmas story from the Bible, you can pick up the bare bones of it from most Holiday fare. Mary and Joe head off to Bethlehem. When they arrive, having forgotten to reserve a room through priceline.com, they discover no rooms are available throughout the town. They are invited to use a barn. Depending on how you look at it, this stable could be a good or a bad thing. The animals and their smells might be bad, but their warmth might be a welcome thing on a cold night. Hay can be pretty warm too (hopefully neither Mary or Joe had allergies!). The couple heads off to this barn for the night and it is here where the miracle of God occurs. Mary gives birth to Jesus.

And now, for something interesting.... For Luke, it was very important to help connect this story for his community in a deeper way. Luke's whole good news of Jesus is centered in the remembrance of the Last Supper....you know, the whole "end" of Jesus' public ministry when he sits at table with his disciples in the upper room. It is there where Jesus invites the disciples to share wine and bread and communicates that they share this common set of elements, this "communion," with one another often. It would be a sign and reminder of how they were all connected into the life and death of Jesus and what that grace meant for them all.

It is in Luke's telling of Jesus' nativity where we see this important story of the stable. Mary lays Jesus into a manger. Manger is just an old-fashioned word for feeding trough. The manger is central to Luke's story because it is here where all the animals would come for the grains and feed that made up their daily food. Jesus must be placed there in Luke's story, because it is a deeper symbol of who Jesus is: the bread of life. Jesus in the manger is a sign of Christmas presence. The manger is the feeding place, the "table," where all are welcome.

Jesus in the manger is a connection, subtle and intentional by Luke, to help us see Jesus as the one who will feed us. We come to him here in this simple and unusual way, and receive a life-giving connection to everyone. In Luke's good news, the signs of "communion" (or fancier word "eucharist") are present constantly from the beginning of Jesus life until the unbelievable end.

Sharing in this simple bread we remember Jesus and all he is for us as disciples. He is our Emmanuel, "God With Us." We take and eat a simple piece of this bread as a reminder of God's presence with us. Jesus is God's present....more importantly, Jesus is God's presence.

May you experience a moment of Jesus' presence in the coming week. Amen.