CREEDE HINSHAW: Allowing the Christmas mystery to continue

The worst Christmas sermon I ever preached was to my first congregation, a little country chuch of three dozen humble farmers, blue-collar workers and retirees — few with much education.

I was still in seminary reading theology books so obtuse I kept my dictionary beside me to half-comprehend what I was reading. That first Christmas I believed it was my mission to explain the incarnation to country folk.

The longer I intellectualized, the heavier became their eyes, the glassier their stares. By the benediction I had sucked the Christmas joy from those good people. I knew just enough to know that I was failing miserably, but not enough to make a mid-course sermon correction, so I just kept thrashing.

I’m currently plowing my way through Henry Chadwick’s 300-page “History of the Early Church,” a book I bought at a used book store, apparently unopened. I can understand why. In chapter after dreary chapter, Chadwick introduces theologians most people have never heard of (and are none the worse for the ignorance) and describes theological disputes between Eastern and Western church leaders over the incarnation that hinged on the meaning of a single word. These bitter centuries-long struggles produced intrigue, jealousy and violence.

If any good emerges from this reading, it is remembering that the church has struggled for 2,000 years to understand how Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man.

Is Jesus fully human? Is he fully divine? Is he both? When did Jesus understand his divinity? Did he always grasp it? Is Mary the Mother of God? Did Jesus suffer human pain or did his divinity protect him from pain? Was Jesus of one nature or two natures?

I have a deep appreciation for the questions and for the intellectual approach through which deep Christian thinkers tried to resolve this question. Further, I appreciate the church’s efforts to solidify and define faith through various creeds and statements of faith, therefore providing benchmarks regarding the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

But these are not the approaches to take during Advent and Christmas. These seasons are clothed in wondrous mystery. Dry expositions of theology will come across very unsatisfying at Christmas. Christmas is about a mysterious star, a multitude of the heavenly host, a manger and cloths of swaddling, Magi from the Orient and Mary the virgin. There’s enough awe-filled mystery and breathtaking majesty to inspire all.

A week or so ago, I sat in my side yard in front of my fire pit, enjoying the onrushing December dusk, feeding my fire and musing on the blessings of the day. Suddenly, through the woods lilted “O Come, All Ye Faithful” from the electronic carillon bells of a nearby church.

As flames illuminating the gathering darkness I listened in hushed surprise. It was a holy moment, unexpected and unplanned. It was at once holy and awesome. Those few minutes of impromptu worship called me to a deep reality. Understanding the incarnation can wait. Christmas cannot.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].