Thursday, December 23, 2004

His story (Christmas A1)

When I was little my cousins gave me a story book of fairy tales. The odd thing about this book was that I was written into it, and my dog. I had to go with mother goose to find something I think. I'm pretty sure that book is on my daughter's shelf now. If I can find it I think I'll bring it to church on Sunday.

It strikes me how, with all his use of old testament prophesies, Matthew is showing how Jesus shares in the old stories. It is like he is the thread woven into every bit of history. Every event points to Immanuel, the king, the horn of Israel.

If he is written into the stories of old it is also true that he is written into the plot of our lives as well. He shares in our sufferings, our joys, our saddnesses. In a real way he has lived my life along with me.

Chuck told us today that the corpus on the Crucifix at Gethsemani Abbey held the face of a young man who died of AIDS. He said this while we sat around a Moravian Putz, an elaborate village of nativity sets and scenes from the birth story. We listened to the scripture readings that painted each scene and meditated on the images. It was powerful to set with God and other ministers pondering this old story. And then this Christ with the face of a man dying of AIDS. He is all of us in our troubles and suffering. He embodied all of it when he became flesh.

Maybe that old storybook of mine, as a child reads a page to the church will teach all of us that truth.

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