Birth Narratives and the Risen Christ in Us

4 Advent C     December 23, 2012

Micah 5:2-4   Song of Mary     

Heb.10:5-10   Luke 1:39-56

Lectionary Link

   The Old Testament presents us with the birthing and childhood traditions of the great servants of God.  Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, David, and the prophets were memorable from birth or from their early childhood.  The biblical reason given for why some persons come to have eventful lives as leaders is that God chose them from the womb.  Before I was in the womb, God knew me…that is what the prophets and the psalmist said.

  John the Baptist and Jesus both became well-known; so they too had miraculous birth stories.  The founding personalities of the Christian tradition had their stories told using the miraculous birth template present in Hebrew Scriptures.  Elizabeth like Sarah of old was barren but conceived the baby John.  And of course, Jesus had the birth of births.  Before I was in womb God knew me….that is how the prophetic destiny was expressed in biblical terms.

  Mary and the aged and pregnant Elizabeth got together and John the Baptist became a gymnast in his mother’s womb when Mary shared the news of her conception with Elizabeth.

  So when did John the Baptist recognize the superiority of Jesus?  Even in the womb.  Certainly this story was an indication to all of the followers of John the Baptist, that John meant for all of his followers to follow Jesus.  After all, John the Baptist recognized Jesus when he was still in the womb.  And the Spirit of God inspired Elizabeth in the words that have become forever memorialized in the famous prayer:  Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.  Blessed are you among women, and blessed be the fruit of your womb Jesus.

  It is interesting to note that in the Bible, the miracle birth stories end with John the Baptist and Jesus.  Yes, the miracle birth stories are found elsewhere.  The Roman Emperors had miracle birth stories where  the mother of the Caesar conceived in a temple through the action of a deity.

  But the reason the miraculous birth stories end with John the Baptist and Jesus in the Biblical tradition was that in the Christian community, the birth of every Christian was regarded to be miraculous.

  How so?  The Christian life was called a new birth, a being born again. How was a follower of Christ born again?  The Christian was born again when his or her life was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit and the life of the risen Christ was conceived within the life of the Christian.

  St. Paul wrote, “Christ in you, is the only hope of glory.”  He also wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live, but not I for Christ lives within me.”

  So Mary became very important; she not only was the mother of Jesus, but she was also the paradigm of every Christian who has the life of Christ reproduced within their lives by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.  The stories reflect and teach a reality that has been lived by Christians for more than 2000 years.

  So as Jesus was born in Mary and was known to be such a unique person, his mother Mary and his origin could only be related in a way that befitted his unique life and ministry in our world.

  The great 13^th century mystic Meister Eckhart said, “What good is it that Christ was born many years ago if he is not born now in your heart?”

  If the birth of Christ could not be replicated as a spiritual reality throughout history, no one would ever hearken to even care about a man named Jesus of Nazareth in the first century.

  It was the spiritual reality of the risen Christ, who returned to be born in the hearts of his disciples that caused the life of Jesus to be remembered.

  The life of Jesus is remembered in a narrative way so that people would come to know the birth of the risen Christ in their hearts.

  The story of is Jesus is not something we should be arguing about because it is related in different ways in the Gospels: The significance of the Gospels are that they communicate in story form the reality that Christians lived because of their spiritual experience of the risen Christ.

  As we come again to Bethlehem on Christmas let us remember again those words of Meister Eckhart when he said, “What good is it that Christ was born many years ago if he is not born now in your and my heart?”  Amen.