The Shock of the Nativity... and Kangaroos.

One of my students asked me recently, “I was working with a girl who said she thought the Eucharist was totally stupid. Like, she couldn’t possibly believe that it really is the flesh and blood of Christ.  How do I respond to that?”

“Is she a Christian?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

The Roofer:

One problem with growing up with the Christian religion in your cultural background is that you are accustomed to it.  

It’s not unlike growing up with parents who insist upon only drinking milk taken from a kangaroo that lives in the backyard.  If it’s all you’ve ever known, it will never strike you that this is truly bizarre.

The same goes with Christianity.  If it’s part of your background, it doesn’t strike you as the least bit odd that this Jesus fellow is worshiped as God incarnate. 

But think about this for a moment.  Imagine you have a contracting company come to your house to replace your roofing shingles.  You’re watching these workers on your roof plugging away when someone approaches you and says, “Hi, I’m Pete.”

“Hi, Pete.”

Pete motions to one of the workers on the roof and says, “Hey, you see that guy?” 

“Yeah?” you reply.

Then Pete says in complete seriousness, “That’s Josh.  Don’t let his appearances fool you.  He’s actually the uncreated God of the Universe.”

Fitting Reactions:

Now, there are two logical reactions to that claim. 

1) Hysterical laughter at Pete.

2) To fall on your face and worship Josh.

But there really isn’t much in between.  People like to pretend there is a neutral option, but there really isn’t.  A proposal of that sort demands one extreme reaction or another. 

This is why when Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was, I AM”, they picked up stones to kill him.  Say what you wish, but at least they were all on the same page.

We Are All Fools:

But now imagine a person who is happy to believe that this ordinary-looking roofer is really the Alpha and Omega, but finds it foolish to suggest that said roofer established a meal where people would eat his body under the guise of bread. 

I’m sorry, but after you accept the incarnation of God, you diminish your right to disbelieve things simply for being bizarre.

My student’s coworker had lost sight of just how outrageous the central Christian claim is.  It is – and should remain – the most shocking thing you’ve ever heard. 

Nativity scenes can quaint, but we should not forget that they testify to the most terrifying claim in all of human history: 

God became man.