There\u2019s just something about a good beginning\u2026<\/p>\n
If we are honest, any good preacher or speaker will tell you that with a good beginning (and\u00a0a strong ending) you can get away with\u00a0some not-so-impressive stuff in the middle. Not that one should make a habit of getting by with great intros and crummy content, but there\u2019s some grace to be found in a punchy beginning, and some weeks, that\u2019s a comfort.<\/p>\n
This is where Luke takes centerstage in the pageantry and high drama\u00a0that we bring into\u00a0late advent. The first chapters, in fact, come as such a\u00a0spectacle, that many scholars think 1:5-2:52 were a later add-on.[1]<\/a> Think of it as a prequel that some well-meaning editor whipped up in response to the best-selling frenzy that was Jesus. \u00a0I mean, if you\u2019ve got a hit on your hands, you\u2019re going to capitalize! What if JK Rowling had started with, say, The Prisoner of Azkaban<\/span>? I think it doesn\u2019t really get good until the\u00a03rd book. But had she started there, the frenzied masses would\u00a0have eventually have\u00a0cried for more. Not just more in the \u201cwhat comes next?\u201d realm, but more in the \u201cwhy is Harry who he is?\u201d department. The people want to know\u2014why does Harry hate going home to Privet Drive? How did he get that distinctive scar? Why does everyone think he is the savior?<\/p>\n In this scenario, JK would be wise to go back and write books 1 and 2, right? Not just for the capital gains, but to better give shape to the epic figure of Harry. Knowing where somebody comes from, what people and experiences shaped their development, where they traveled and what they saw\u2026all that adds up to an identifiable character. A hero with whom we can connect and relate. And really, the better the later and developed narrative, the more we want to know about the back story. Give us more Harry!<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s assume that the author of Luke heard the cries of \u201cGive us more Jesus!\u201d and went about crafting the opening narrative. He (yes, probably he) might have pieced together some oral history, some urban legend, some inspiration from earlier gospels and some stuff from the Q source<\/a>. And what we wind up with is a family of origin for Jesus, leading up to the iconic stable moment.<\/p>\n Here enters John the Baptist\u2014who we explored in Mark last week\u2014in his own family of origin, connecting him to Jesus not by blood, but also by narrative. Like Jesus, John was divinely conceived. SOMEhow or another, because his mom was old as *%&$, y\u2019all. Like Jesus, John\u2019s impending birth was announced by a heavenly being. In both narratives, the waiting parents are disbelieving, yet willing recipients of the new life to come.<\/p>\n So, a good beginning serves to set Jesus up with a network of people; a purpose; and a place, which, if you know Wendell Berry, is an important thing to have. But, why this particular beginning? When we could easily skip straight to the baptism and beginning of the adult ministry like Mark and John?<\/p>\n In Luke\u2019s case, the beginning trains your vision for the rest of the story. The appearance of an angel to a young girl of humble origin; the journey of poor shepherds to the birth; the delivery amongst livestock\u2014and at tax time, no less\u2014it all adds up to the simple yet critical truth that Jesus was born among the poor and the vulnerable. And there, by choice, he stayed.<\/p>\n Luke\u2019s is the gospel of women, of the poor, of the outcast and the underdog. Could you\u00a0 learn that by starting in book 3? Sure. But would you really get it without the greeting-card shaped prologue? Probably not. There\u2019s something about the beginning that makes the rest of it stick.<\/p>\n For all that Luke\u2019s gospel\u00a0speaks to\u00a0the poor in body and spirit, it also embodies a great joy that should fuel every ounce of our holiday energy expenditures. And the other kind of expenditures, for that matter. Because really, if we can catch hold of that kind of joy\u2014the joy of a young mother, the joy of an angel choir, the joy of the poor being lifted out of dreary hopelessness-then there\u2019s not much waiting under the tree that will hold a candle to it.<\/p>\n Think of Ralphie\u2026Ralphie of Red Rider BB Gun fame. Damn, I love that kid! Thanks to the 24-hour marathon of \u201cA Christmas Story\u201d that runs on Christmas Eve, I can spend that\u00a0most holy\u00a0day with equal parts baby Jesus and Scut Farcus (he had yellow eyes! So help me God, yellow eyes!!). <\/em>Ah\u2026Ralphie.<\/p>\n Let me interject here that I am fundamentally opposed to guns of any kind\u2014real or toy. But he is just so darned loveable, and the whole story just glows with Christmassy-good cheer and nostalgic humor.<\/p>\n When you think about it, not much happens in that movie. With the exceptions of the triple dog dare incident and the MAJOR AWARD, there\u2019s little sub-plot. No car chases, no bad language (except that implied by \u201cOh FuUUUUUdge\u2026.\u201d) no heady romance, no element of intrigue or the super natural. It is this one kid\u2019s hopeful waiting and joyful expectation that propels the whole movie. It doesn\u2019t matter how many nay-sayers taunt, \u201cyou\u2019ll shoot your eye out.\u201d He BELIEVES, and in his choosing belief and joy, we have a story, folks.<\/p>\n Something about that kind of joy tends to evade us as adults. After all, we are past wanting a BB gun. If we want actual stuff, we usually but if for ourselves. Or deem it frivolous and unnecessary. Though Lord knows,\u00a0any merchant in the free world will tell you that they have this year\u2019s IT-thing, the must-have gadget or gismo. (or these days, the must have APP for last year\u2019s must have gismo). Victoria\u2019s Secret does an annual fantasy bra to the tune of $2-$5 million dollars. It is encrusted with actual diamonds and other jewels\u2013for the woman whose breasts are just too spectacular for a cotton-poly blend.<\/p>\n And this year, a Swiss designer named Ueli has dreamed up a gold-and ruby-crusted (really) Mercedes. To the tune of $11 million.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t find much joy attached to either of those items. I mean, a million-dollar bra had better work some literal dang miracles on my boobs, is all I\u2019m saying. And a several-million dollar car is just begging to be wrecked or stolen. Not to mention that neither of these things has a snow-ball\u2019s chance in Arizona of actually showing up under my tree. I mean, the whole point of joyful anticipation is, it\u2019s got to be something that could actually HAPPEN. And I\u2019d say there\u2019s more chance of an angel showing up at my breakfast table than somebody buying me a gajillion dollar car.<\/p>\n And not to mention\u2026well, yes, I\u2019ll mention\u2014it is gross consumption. And by gross, I mean grotesque. The joy we are invited to this season is the joy of the poor being lifted up; the joy of finding that God will use the meek and humble among us for spectacular purpose; the joy of believing that something will happen in the world that is far bigger than one\u2019s little self, BUT, that by the grace of God, one\u2019s little self might be a blessed part of it.<\/p>\n Can a kid learn all that in giddy anticipation of the possibility of a BB gun? Absolutely!\u00a0 Is a grown-up going to get all that from coveting a mega-million dollar undergarment? \u00a0[insert rhetorical silent crickets here]\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing new to say that the real meaning of Christmas is not wrapped up in material gift-giving. However, i think that too often leaves us thinking that Christmas joy has got to be symbolic, and that we are not to hope for anything too big, too real, or too tangible.<\/p>\n Garrison Keillor forgive this poor, wayward English major who does dearly love a metaphor\u2013even in scripture\u2013but for Christmas to come, something pretty doggone literal has got to happen in our midst, or it really is just a Hallmark commercial, and lots of us are out of a job.\u00a0Luke says the transformation Jesus brings is REAL. It will be power-shifting and order-breaking. And it will start with somebody small. So yeah, we might know that nothing under the tree come Christmas morning will bring us real joy. But, do we still dare to hope that joy is coming for us? Or that we, our very selves, might give shape to that joy in the world?<\/p>\n For all the miraculous underwire\u2014I mean undertone\u2014ringing through Luke\u2019s prologue, perhaps the most joyful noise of the whole episode is not in the angel\u2019s song, but in Mary\u2019s humble response\u2014\u201cHere am I, a servant of the Lord.\u201d As one preacher put it, \u201cher yes has transfigured the story, for now it hinges on her word, her participation and presence in the drama.\u201d[2]<\/a> Presence<\/em>. Participation. The power of our simple YES to carry us into the divine drama, and take part in all the joy of knowing that this\u00a0 new life is coming for US. Even us.<\/p>\n And yes, maybe we learned that kind of joy, flipping through a toy cataloug by the glow of the Christmas tree. Maybe that is the beginning of joy. But, it is not joy\u2019s end.\u00a0Even if\u00a0we\u2019ve long given up on \u2018getting\u2019 anything as epic as a A Red Ryder BB gun<\/em> with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time. But that doesn\u2019t mean\u00a0we give\u00a0up on the joyful wonder of it all.\u00a0 This unfolding drama can still enamor and transform us all. Go back to the beginning and hear it again. It is your beginning too, and it\u2019s your turn to say yes to your place in all this drama.<\/p>\n Questions for Discussion and Reflection<\/em><\/p>\n -Read Mary\u2019s magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). What does her song tell us about the God she knows? What does it tell us about Mary\u2019s own beginning?<\/p>\n -What\u2019s your favorite Christmas movie? How does it embody the joy of Luke\u2019s good news?<\/p>\n -How might we read the gospel differently had Jesus been born to a royal family? Or if Mary had been an unwilling participant in the divine advent?<\/p>\n -The angel tells Mary that she will be \u201covershadowed by the Holy Spirit.\u201d How cool is that?! What does that mean to the story? Can Mary be \u201covershadowed\u201d and still be an empowered character in this drama?<\/p>\n