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Over the past four Sundays we have learned a lot of interesting facts about our solar system, galaxy, and the universe.  When Jesus was born, the prevailing view of the universe was that the earth was the center of everything, the most important thing, since obviously everything else revolved around it.  The science of the day fit the theology. Both helped each other out and propped each other up.  One story helped make sense of the other. One alluded to the other. The allusion mattered even if the basis was an illusion for lack of vision.  And yet, it remains a true story – a story bearing truth.

     We discovered about a century ago that our galaxy, what we call the Milky Way, was not the full universe, and not as big as we thought. Because we have the capacity to see beyond our galaxy, we suddenly found out that our big galaxy is actually just one of potentially trillions of galaxies that comprise the continually expanding universe.  Earth is just a speck within the Milky Way, which is a speck within the universe. 

     Yet for all its largess, we are continuing to discover much that we don’t know or understand, like Dark Energy, that comprises most of the space in the universe, connecting everything, providing energy and womb-like space for everything to flourish. We are discovering that there is something much fast than the speed of light at work in the universe, so that when one thing happens in one place it may have an immediate impact anywhere within the universe. This is mind blowing. What we know now impacts how we think. We draw conclusions from one and apply it to the other. The nature of the universe alludes to our sense of meaning. One day, we may know so much more than we do now that we will once again recognize that the allusion mattered even if our current vision is illusion.  Yet ours is a true story as much as our predecessors’ – a story bearing truth.

     I think the Christmas Story itself is kind of like that.  Depending how you were raised you may have a range of feelings about the story’s literal truth.  It is quite a story, after all! And yet, even if some may determine that it may be more illusion than reality, we may be wise to sit with the allusion despite the illusion. Because the allusion speaks truth beyond the story’s literal veracity.

     This is a story about God entering into the human experience in a new way.  What happens in this birth narrative foreshadows what will happen in the grown up Jesus’ ministry. The truths conveyed to the original audience are no less important or relevant today.  As distant as God may sometimes seem given the vastness of the universe, in reality, we are closer to everything, more connected to everything than we had ever imagined possible. We are not separate from the source of life, from the sustaining genesis of creation – we are in it.  It is part of us, and we are part of it.  This is at least a manifestation of the presence of what we call God, and it is everywhere. Not distant. With us.

     Sometimes it feels like God with us is unlikely.  Who are we to command such attention? Yet the Christmas Story raises our gaze toward a higher vision. Given what we know about the Big Bang as part of our origin story, we celebrate are all made from the stardust of that creation-starting Big Bang, from the same elements and essence.  We are truly connected with all of creation, and we all matter.

     More specifically, since we humans love to create categories designed to separate each other, the Christmas Story reminds us that we are ridiculous, and that our labels and groupings that place everyone in their place on the hierarchy is not just foolish, but harmful.  The birth narrative of Jesus has a bunch of societal nobodies play the lead roles, hearing from God, invited to participate, while the elites who mock them are in the dark. It’s a statement that the label makers are wrong, and everyday people like you and me have equal welcome and belonging in the unfolding story of life and God.

     Of course, this origin story was an allusion, a foreshadowing of what was to come. This baby grew into an older adult who experienced the profound presence of the Divine that set him on a mission to declare some very Good News that we are still talking about today. God is really near, really with us, all of us, and that the primary characteristic of God is nurturing of life’s flourishing, seeking wellness and wholeness for all. Harmony between people and between all elements of creation. The Hebrew language has a word for this: shalom. We might call it love at its greatest breadth, height, and depth.

     As we remember this birth, let us celebrate the great truths still being proclaimed today. God is with us. All of us. God is love, and invites us to play our role in harmony with the love that formed us, sustains us, and guides us. We are living in a true story, a story bearing truth. It happens to be a love story where we are all invited to love.