Gospel: John 1: 1-18
In the Christmas stories we find three groups of people find their way to Bethlehem. The shepherds are led to the manger by the angels announcing the birth of Jesus. The wise men from the east come to the stable having been led by a star to this place. And wicked Herod finds his way through the scriptures and theologians of the day.
The shepherds and wise men are led by their experiences and encounters with the divine in their ordinary lives and cultures. They come to encounter God and to be transformed by the experience. By contrast, Herod and the professional religious class come to destroy the experience and the encounter. They come to control it so that they may maintain their own power and status.
Christmas is about God taking flesh among us. It is about encountering God in our lived experiences of our daily lives. It is not just about one event in time, but it is about every moment of every day where God is enfleshed among us in the people and events of our lives. So we come to the manger to meet God in our daily life, to have God dwell within us and to experience this blessing - this communion and blessing theology would deprive from us.
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