Welcoming the Christ

It’s early Christmas Eve as I write this article while sitting in my recliner in the living room. My home smells of butter and cinnamon, the altar is set for Christmas Eve mass this evening, music plays from my TV monitor, and the house is quiet and peaceful. I look forward to tomorrow when I will be entertaining five guests for dinner. All is well in my peaceful and solitary home, but the world is not all peaceful and quiet. Far from it.

Indeed, every year during the Christmas season we talk about peace and goodwill but come January the world returns to business as usual. Wars will continue, the rich and powerful will negotiate profitable deals behind closed doors while the poor struggle. This may not seem like a cheery holiday message, and it’s not, but reality doesn’t take a break for much of the world’s population. But the message of the Christ continues to bring hope to humanity, not just during this season, but 365 days a year. The truth is, the baby in the manger grew up and wants us to mature in our faith as well.

How do we welcome the Christ into a world that rejects him? The message of the Christ isn’t necessarily unique to Jesus but is one that has been proclaimed by the ancient Jewish prophets, taught by those who follow the way of the Buddha, observed by the followers of Islam, and is even found in the ancient beliefs of indigenous peoples. The Christ, who is manifested in Jesus, seeks to dwell amongst all humanity, but are we willing to welcome the Christ into our lives? Are we willing to lay aside our fears, prejudices, nationalism, xenophobia, religious tribalism, racism, classism – anything that divides people – to embrace the inclusive, revolutionary, transformative, life-giving message that the Christ declares? All too often we say, “Yes!”, but our actions say something very different.

Welcoming the Christ isn’t about accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. That’s egocentric. Welcoming the Christ is coming to see God in our fellow human beings. It is seeking to serve the Christ in all people, especially those whom Jesus calls “the least of these”, the poor and homeless, the hungry and naked, the oppressed and marginalized, the immigrant and refugee, the orphan and widow, children and aged. All means ALL, not just those who look like us, believe like us, worship like us. The message of the Christ is antithetical to that of the world. It challenges economics systems that perpetuate social inequality and inequity, marginalizes people, and concentrates wealth into the hands of just a few. It calls into account the powerful and the rich who ignore the cries of those who languish in poverty and despair. The message of the Christ calls us to a new way of life, a new world view, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Come January and the end of Christmastide, will we commit ourselves to welcoming the Christ every day? Will we embrace those whom Jesus embraces? Will we seek to be transformed and renewed to become the Christ the world needs today? That is the essence of walking in faith, to become transformed and to embrace the Divine Nature of God in whose image we’ve all been created. It starts with the person in the mirror and extends to each person with whom we make contact in our daily lives. May the Christ be with you as we continue our journey.