But if there is near uniformity on the decision to celebrate, there is much less regarding the reasons for the celebration. Yes, we can all agree that the immediate reason is the birth of the Messiah, the Christ, a Savior. But what exactly is the point of this Messiah and Savior? What does his birth herald?
I don't know of any reliable statistics, but many of the Christians I know equate "being saved" by this Savior to mean getting into heaven. I saw a Facebook post recently which I assume hinted at this. It read, "Eternity is a long time to be wrong." The person who shared it - whom I know to be Christian - had added, "I have a good insurance policy." This was likely just meant to be humorous, but this is the good news of Jesus to many: an engraved invitation to heaven.
But if you had never heard of Jesus and sought answers to the meaning of his birth in a Bible, you might come to some very different conclusions.When Luke, the only gospel writer actually to report a birth in Bethlehem, begins the story, he starts with Jesus' mom. Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel, and she consents to be a player in God's plan. She then heads to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, already six months pregnant with a child who will become John the Baptist. There Mary launches into her "Magnificat" a song that celebrates what God is doing. That song is part of today's gospel reading.
It makes no mention of heaven. It does have a lot of details about earthly things, though. The proud are scattered, the powerful are brought down from their thrones, and the lowly are lifted up. The hungry get good things to eat, but the rich get sent away empty. And if you imagine that Mary didn't quite understand what this as yet unborn Savior was really all about, there are Jesus' own words when he begins his ministry. Jesus says that God's Spirit has anointed him "to bring good news to the poor... to proclaim release to the captives... to let the oppressed go free... (and) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (This last one refers to the year of Jubilee from Leviticus 25 which has nothing to do with heaven but is decidedly bad news for the investor class.)
Neither Jesus nor Mary say anything about getting folks into heaven, but they both say a great deal about a tumultuous, social leveling, an upheaval where those at the bottom are lifted up and those and the top are brought down. If you reprinted some of these words in a non-church setting, I would be surprised if someone didn't accuse you of encouraging "class warfare."
The good news of Jesus does include the promise of eternal life and resurrection, although neither of these necessarily has anything to do with heaven. But at the very core of Jesus' message is a new social order he calls the kingdom of God. He chooses a political term for his new day because it has huge political implications. The powerful won't give up power easily. Those with great military might have no intention of turning swords or tanks into farming tools. The fabulously wealthy seem doggedly determined to hang on to what they have and to acquire even more. And so no one should be the least bit surprised that this Savior got himself killed. He was a threat to a lot of people.
Babies in mangers are not terribly threatening, making it easy to celebrate Jesus' birth without worrying too much about why he is born. But his mother lets us know what he is all about well before the big day. So if we celebrate with nary a thought about social upheaval, lifting up the poor, or freeing the oppressed, we seem to have missed the point in some way.
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