Re-Wild Christmas

Beloved in Christ, 

Luke’s telling of the Christmas story begins with the world’s power brokers flexing their muscle by sending the desperate poor scurrying to be registered in their hometowns. The irony of almighty God being born to one of those families on the run, with the birth announcement coming to the most disreputable folk in the ancient economy, marks the unmistakable arrival of God’s revolution of love in a world ruled by fear, separation, and oppression. The God of heaven and earth always comes to and from the margins. The God of all creation always comes small and weak. The God of Abraham is always found in the forgotten and lonely places. 

Over the centuries, both the church and the culture have tamed the rough edges of Christmas. We have made it a cozy story rather than a promise to turn things upside down with a revolutionary flood of love. When the church longs to be large and relevant, at the center of power and influence, the God who comes exposed and vulnerable is a tough pill to swallow. When the church tries to maintain its position at the center, it must exchange the gospel of Jesus for the idols of nation, race, wealth, political program, or something else, as it has done and in many places continues to do today. 

This year, beloved, we are invited to re-wild Christmas in our hearts and our congregations. If we dare to go to the manger, let us commit to living from the manger. Let us commit to being a church that stands with the immigrant, the refugee, and all those targeted by the flex from the centers of power. Let us commit to being a church that lives a story of love across division instead of the story of a zero sum struggle between differing groups. Let us commit to being a church that, small and humble, always bears witness to the small and humble God who is Lord of all. 

In the dark beauty of Minnesota’s winter, may your Christmas be wild. May you feel the cold with the holy family. May you feel the fear with the shepherds. May you sit with the holy family and shepherds wherever they are today, that you may also, with them, see the heavens ablaze with the glory of God, and be set on fire to join God in God’s longing to heal the whole world with love. 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Rev. Craig Loya