Christmas is what makes God possible.
Today Cring takes us on a backstage tour of the Bethlehem cast–what really happened when they collided together to create everlasting theater.
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If it weren’t for Christmas, I’d be an atheist
Religion has always left me cold. The insipid Christ that is presented, promoted and advertised by the religious system is not only a ploy, but he’s an insult to the real Jesus who lived on this planet.
The Christian church is so busy trying to prove that it’s linked with Judaism—attempting to fulfill prophecies of men who’ve been dead for thousands of years—that it fails to realize that the only beauty on this Earth that carries the message of God is Jesus.
The only time they come close to letting him be Jesus is Christmas—and lots of churches still preach the crucifixion and death of Christ when we’re supposed to be birthing him.
- Christmas is what makes God sensible.
- Christmas is what makes God seem wise.
- Christmas is when God takes the efforts of human beings who think they’re really smart and scoffs, leaving them holding their doctrines and theories in their cold, dying hands.
Let’s have fun.
MARY AND JOSEPH WERE NOT IN LOVE
When we say that Mary and Joseph were a couple, it’s very misleading. That was not the tradition of the day. People didn’t fall in love. Boys reached the age of thirteen, were dubbed “men,” took their place in the community, worked and built up a trade until they were ready to take a wife.
Young girls barely in their teens were paraded in front of these “men,” and a negotiation was made to more or less acquire these virgins as wives, so they could bear children, cook, clean and take care of the house. That was the tradition.
A girl of fourteen years of age in Nazareth of Galilee had NO POWER. Powerless. She was already betrothed to a man (that she may or may not have ever seen) and she was waiting for the day he would take her into his home and they would consummate their marriage—shortly after their first kiss.
But here is where the story changes: God looks down and says, “This sucks.” He doesn’t check with Nazareth, he doesn’t check with the Jews, he doesn’t check with Joseph and his family. No. He talks to a little girl—through the Angel. That’s what the story says. And He tells this little girl that she is going to be impregnated by the Spirit and bear a son, and that this Son would be the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords.
God found the powerless and He empowered it. The least powerful person in this story—Mary of Nazareth—was given the most power by God.
Wrap your mind around that.
Every other character in the Nativity Tale is more prominent, more wealthy, more involved—more powerful. All of them are made subject to Mary of Nazareth. A village of believers with a Rabbi who studies the Holy Scrolls were forced to either accept or deny that a little girl got pregnant…spiritually.
Where do you think you would land if you were a Nazarene? And let us understand that since this is not a love story, Mary and Joseph have not been dating.
What was required of Joseph in his manhood, his religion and his social structure, was for him to send her away to another land—where she would never be seen again because she had dared to become pregnant. That’s what he was supposed to do.
And I know we want to believe that Joseph is in love with Mary, but it does not say that, and it was not the custom for love to have anything to do with marriage, procreation and family.
Therefore, a powerless Joseph who was under pressure by his family, his community and his religion to follow the traditions, stepped away from that threat and insisted that an angel told him to join Mary in her solitary mission.
What I have told you so far is completely impossible—UNLESS you happen to land on the right set of human beings.
Mary was tired of just being a girl, and Joseph was sick of being a carpenter. They yearned for personal purpose and adventure.
You will never find the heart of God if you walk around wanting to be part of the masses, or attending Mass.
God found the powerless, Mary, and empowered her. God found a powerless Joseph, subject to his community, and empowered him to become part of the process.
And then it seems like the whole “sheik” hits the fan.
Because Caesar decides he’s going to tax the world, and therefore Mary and Joseph are tossed back into the heap of the poverty-stricken Jewish state, to go to Bethlehem and give all their 
sustenance to some overwrought, over-egotistical Emperor in Rome.
Once again, it seems that power has been removed from God and placed back into the hands of the powerful. Matter of fact, arriving in Bethlehem, Mary’s water breaks, she goes into labor and there’s no place for them to go.
Now, keep in mind—this is not what Mary and Joseph thought God meant by birthing the King of Kings. In their peasant minds, they probably felt they were going to be elevated to some type of royalty, which might include castles and servants.
Instead, they find themselves in a stinky barn, feeling…powerless.
At this point, if you were Mary and Joseph, you’re thinking, “What the fudge-go-round-cookies is going on?”
Now, you didn’t say it because you’re a good Jewish boy and girl, but you’ve gotta be thinking it.
But they were so busy trying to get a baby out of Mary that they forgot themselves and went back to being people working together.
Meanwhile…
Your name is Sam the Shepherd (I’m not talking about the actor and writer). No. Sam the Shepherd. May I explain to you that being a shepherd was not a great job? Matter of fact, when they described David, they said that he was just a “little shepherd boy.” It was not a job given to the most intelligent. Not an occupation for the up and coming.
No. All you had to do was sit there and make sure nothing ate the sheep—like a wolf. It did require that you stay awake, which I am sure Sam the Shepherd failed to do on occasion. Sam the Shepherd was an immigrant—looked down on by the other people in town because of his lack of ability and lack of status.
He was powerless. To this powerless individual God sent a host of angels.
There was no reason for it except for God to mock a religious system which had become so greedy, selfish and uncaring of the masses that they resembled the Roman captors.
Sam and Shepherd and his friends, Ben and Jerry (not the ice cream brothers) were visited by angels.
They never expected to be visited by angels. Their lives were so down and out they thought their next visit would be from leprosy.
But once again, God establishing His sense of humor His means of justice and His complete disdain for superiority, chose shepherds, who were powerless. They abandoned their powerless sheep to go see a powerless couple in a powerless manger, birthing what certainly appeared to be a powerless child, which angels had just said were all-powerful.
Oh…and I almost forgot:
Many, many, many miles away, there were star-gazers. Astrologers. We are led to believe these are people of means because they later show up with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Knowing the nature of human beings, I would imagine there was more incense than gold, but that’s just my guess.
These were people dubbed “wise,” who were used to having things brought to them. Their servants brought them dates and wine. Their women brought their bodies. Their families brought accolades. Their enemies brought them gifts to keep them from killing them.
But it was the damned star—a BIG one. For some reason or another, these wise people believed it was located over one particular area of the world. I don’t know quite why they felt that. But for some reason, they sensed that the star was far from them. They got off their asses. Or was it onto their asses? One or the other—and followed the star.
Once again, the powerful coming to that which seemed powerless, to acknowledge that God is not impressed with our wheeling and dealing and lifting up one another above this one over there. And when they came, they worshipped.
Religion sucks because religion believes that we are in a hunt for God. We’re “studying” God. Religion insists that we “worship” God.
Religion leads its followers to believe that gold, sanctuaries and even, for some of our ministers, supersonic jets need to be purchased for the work of God to be authorized, legitimized and given its true worth. But God began His work with humans on a Christmas night in a barn with animals, a bucket of water, some straw, a bloody vagina, and two frightened kids who felt powerless.
This is why Christmas is so important. It is the only time that we actually understand that God is about love—and God is about giving power, choice and purpose to the powerless.
What should you and I do at Christmas? How can we become the Virgin Mary, the bewildered Joseph and Sam the Shepherd? Here’s the plan. Are you ready?
- Find the light.
You’ll recognize it because it’s the thing that’s not dark.
- Get thrilled in your heart.
Rejoicing is associated with Christmas.
- Find the part you can do.
I can get pregnant.
I can support that pregnancy.
I can come and celebrate the baby that came forth from it.
- Do it
You don’t have to wait for an angel to move your ass. Do what you can do.
- Get results.
Would you look at that? A baby in a manger, and some angel told me he’s rather important.
- Find the light again.
Once again, it’s that illumination, off by itself in the bleakness.
- And finally, repeat process.
You are not powerless. It is God that gives us power, not humans. Not appreciation. Not praise. God empowers.
That’s what Christmas is about.
So, the good news is, if you’re feeling down and out, get ready. You just might be touched by the Spirit and get pregnant with a new idea.
And the better news is, if you don’t give up on the new idea, you will birth an answer—maybe one that can change the whole world.
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