The Scandal of the Incarnation

I get in trouble every year for ruining Christmas.

During one of my first Christmases at Knox, Oakville, Ont., I had the gall to preach on the magi and the fact that (1) they weren’t even at Christ’s birth, contrary to our pretty Christmas greeting cards and decorative nativity sets, and (2) they wouldn’t exactly have been welcome guests to Mary and Joseph’s home, where they were busy parenting the Son of God through his terrible twos. Instead, we prefer to picture the humble stable, Mary serene after childbirth (seriously?) receiving the exotic royals and their gifts to her glowing infant son. But the truth is much closer to a community scandal—the likes of which would grace the pages of the National Enquirer today: “Astrologers crash conservative religious community;” “Rumours of the fall of the Roman Empire;” “Is it time? Star charts point to the installation of a new child king;” and “The star charts don’t lie!” To the Jewish community, of which Mary and Joseph were devout members, “magi” were to be avoided: they were considered magicians, charlatans. Mary might likely have been gobsmacked to see them standing at her doorway (“what would the neighbours think?”). And yet, this supposed scandal is a key piece of the birth narrative of Christ. Huh?

I did something similar last year with the poor shepherds. We see the Virgin Mary, after her third – trimester journey on the back of a donkey, and the virtually unassisted labour and delivery of her firstborn child, looking peaceful and well – poised (again, seriously?) welcoming in the lowly shepherds to gaze lovingly upon the babe Emmanuel. We picture cotton ball – like sheep dotting the scene, with their quiet bleats of reverence. Once again, a pretty picture to gaze upon, but not the least bit accurate. Shepherds were the lowest of the low, pushed outside of society, disallowed from a respectable trade, considered ritually impure and prevented from celebrating religious fasts and feasts. Never mind their lack of sanitation. These were the “undesirables” of the first century, the folks among the lowest rungs of the socio – economic ladder. If that is the case, then why on earth are they at the birth of the Christ of the Cosmos?

Good question.

And the answer’s pretty awesome: The story of the Incarnation, which we often boil down to the pretty “nativity” or Christmas story, is all about the God of the universe coming to earth and getting up close and personal with the margins of society. The outcasts, the poor, the undesirables, the charlatans and ne’er – do – wells. The people we wouldn’t necessarily want in our crèche scenes. It ought to be an absolute scandal to us that the first people with whom God shares the good news of His arrival are shepherds. (Imagine if Prince William and the Duchess skipped the Buckingham Palace tradition and sent their baby announcement instead to a rundown pub on the sketchy side of town!) And the people showing up to throw the only thing resembling a baby shower for Mary and Jesus are men from a country far from our own, who belong to a different faith? Yet here it is: the scandal of the Incarnation.

If we can set aside our nostalgia for a moment and face it in its raw reality, the story of the birth of Christ is one where God is out in the fields pursuing the cast – offs of society, to welcome them to see the Good News of Jesus’ arrival. The reach of God’s grace is not stunted to a “Members Only” club; instead, God is letting all the nations in on His Good News. The magi symbolize the divine promise given to Abraham for “all peoples on earth” which culminates with John’s vision of heaven with people from “every nation, tribe, people, and language” in the Book of Revelation (7:9). I believe the magi recognized the greatness of this gift of God in Christ—and that is why they so immediately fell down and worshipped the child. They knew they weren’t worthy to be in Jesus’ presence, and yet here they were; invited by God Himself.

Okay, I’ll confess: I do get a bit of a kick out of “ruining” Christmas. But all I hope I’m ruining is the photoshopped, Hallmark card – inspired nostalgia we have attributed to the nativity scene. I don’t do it to upset anyone. I do it because I find the truth—the shocking, scandalous, messy, scary, amazing and miraculous truth of the Incarnation far more compelling: That God has broken into the fullness of human experience; that God is searching out the lost, and God desires to reconcile this whole world to Himself. The Christmas picture we should have in our minds is not simply God bringing His perfection into the world, but God welcoming our own imperfections into God’s perfect presence. Isn’t that what Jesus did over and over again throughout his ministry? Tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, liars, sinners and cheats… they were all invited to dine with Jesus. And so are we. This…this is the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God.