In the end, Church, no one has to be here. I guess I have to in order to earn my paycheck. Otherwise, we all choose to be in church. It's odd to think of this, especially at Christmas. We speak of kingdoms and royal thrones. In that kind of world people operated out of expectation and class position. Order was maintained with an iron fist and hillside dotted with crosses. Peasants worked hard, fought in wars and suffered terribly from even the mildest of ailments. Royalty lived lives of posh privilege and were expected to remain in the upper echelon unless overthrown by another royal. Choice lived in the realm of the spirit and mind...the body belonged to the Empire.

We hear the proclamations from Luke that Jesus is to be the Son of God. Multiple things are happening here. Firstly, "son of god" is a term for Caesar, the Emperor. It did not belong to mere laborers. Perhaps that's why Jesus preferred Son of Man...he moved his mind, spirit AND body in front of the people and lead from within his class position. Even though we look at the cross weekly in worship, I fear we take for granted the brutality which met those who stepped out of line. Jesus had a lot of nerve. Then again, this kind of stubbornness seemed to run through his veins.

Did you know that "Mary" means 'bitter' or 'grieved'? At first glance that points to a tragic figure. She knows the triumphs and hardships lying ahead for her son. Mary can also mean "rebellion"! We hear this in Mary's anthem with Jesus in utero: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones," Mary sings. You can almost hear the punk rock snarl in her voice. If Mary were a child of the 1980's, she'd just as likely sing "We're not going to take it anymore!" Finally, Mary hears the good news from the angel Gabriel: "...and of his kingdom there will be no end." Her response is one of stark power and assurance. "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." The phrase "the servant of the Lord" is a direct reference to Moses. Twenty times throughout the Old Testament, Moses is referred to as "the servant of the Lord".

What deep and layered meaning in the Christmas story! Those old paintings of Mary and Jesus, their mouths small and closed, do a disservice to the tenacity at play in the Christmas story. It is a story of upheaval AND restoration. Of disorder AND reordering. Of human arrogance thrown on its butt while the meek inherit the earth.

I hope that what we do here this Christmas season does justice to the story. It's cool to be in awe of stars, angels, etc. I want the same feeling on Christmas Eve. There is a hot side to the story as well. There's danger, intrigue, secrecy and turmoil. It's a divine story that is amazingly human. While we were yet sinners, Jesus--before taking our cross, sin and shame--took our disregard, our prejudice and our laziness. The scratchy, smelly manger is transformed into a cradle of goodness and everlasting peace.

As I survey my Twitter feed and all the danger, intrigue, secrecy and turmoil around the world, I sense a deep, global yearning for this very goodness and everlasting peace given to us at Christmas. I know that I am not worthy of this kind of grace. Perhaps I can begin to live in gratitude for the gift given to all of us at Christmas. Will you help me find this Prince of Peace?