New life awaits at the foot of the Manger
December 8, 2013 | Anita Retzlaff

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." This is Paul's greeting to the Christians in Galatia almost 2000 years ago. As you know I use a part of this apostolic greeting at the outset of every Sunday morning meditation. For me this is an acknowledgment that the Word of God has gone before us for many generations and that we are included, tied to a long line of discipleship connecting us all to God in Christ through the Spirit. It is fitting that in this advent season we hear the greeting of Paul to the Christians in one of the many communities that he brought to faith in Jesus. For we continue to be brought to faith ourselves. We wait for clearer understanding and ever new expressions of faithful action for peace on earth.

There is a part of the greeting from Galatians that I do not repeat on Sunday mornings: the part that speaks about Jesus giving “himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age…” Paul is mightily upset with the Christian community in Galatia because, very simply, they have allowed the gatekeepers of the old order to infiltrate their new Christian fellowship and reintroduce old membership rules that no longer apply because of the gospel. Paul goes on a rant as to why new Christians who are not Jews need not be circumcised in accordance with Jewish custom. In other words Gentiles do not need to become Jews before they are “allowed” to become Christians.

“You foolish Galatians!” Paul sputters. “Who told you that there is only one way to God through circumcision and the law? You have seen the life of Jesus and the way in which he changed lives. All that you have to do is believe that the Spirit of God through Jesus is moving and guiding the world. There is no longer any need to keep track of the number of minutes that you work on the Sabbath day or that you be circumcised or that you make distinctions between Jews and non-Jews when it comes to belonging to Jesus’ Way. You have been freed from all of that. This is a new life.”

So that is the deal in the book of Galatians. Old membership rules do not apply to a new life in Christ. What does it mean to be a member? Who belongs? The bulk of the Book of Galatians is taken up with Paul’s response to these questions. And ironically as we sit together today in this Mennonite Church sanctuary on a Sunday in advent in the 14th year of the 21st century we ask similar questions. What does it mean to be a member? Who belongs? The implications of our answers will determine whether or not we will continue to exist into the future – as a Mennonite congregation, as a national Mennonite Church and as a Christian presence in this community. What answers do we find at the foot of the manger?

Paul reminds his friends, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts…” (4:6) We await, this second Sunday of Advent, the coming of God into the very fleshy realities of life. Jesus enters our world as a baby. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman…” (4:4) Another name for this is “incarnation” – taking on a human body. The Divine Will takes human form, walks the earth, bringing us closer and sets us on the right path. Now, who gets to join this experience? Who is included in the advent vigil? Do we need credentials to wait and watch? There is a promise of new life in Christ – who qualifies?

Well certainly not just anyone!! The manger has not been the clarion call to inclusion in the lives of most Christians. Quite the opposite, as history attests. Early on within the history of the Christian community, within a few years of the end of Jesus’ ministry, the tendency toward exclusion is alive and well and demonstrated dramatically in Paul’s pleas to the Galatians to clean up their act. Old rules, racial divisions, proper piety: these no longer apply and they dare not be used to keep people out!

And that is the reality in which we find ourselves today too, here at Nutana Park Mennonite Church. We say that all are welcome to join us but is that true? We are working on it but there are always conditions. The church over many generations has set up rites of passage events that when properly navigated lead to full inclusion. The expectation has been that children are schooled in stories of the faith through years of Sunday School followed by catechism or membership classes after which a commitment is made on the part of an individual. Not unlike the vows taken in marriage, a candidate promises to remain steadfast to God forever. Under those circumstances we have given entry into our membership. This has been a faithful process for many of us over many years.

By now, most of us know that the old tradition which I described ever so briefly is no longer building our Christian community here as effectively as it once did. For some, this pattern works and for many others it creates distance. If all we need as Paul lays it out, is to believe that we have been given the Spirit of God in our very selves, what else is there to do in order to be included? If we believe, we are children and heirs to God’s promise.

Our Sunday School system is breaking down because the Sunday morning classroom situation no longer works well for many young families. That is not the end of the world; it may be the end of a particular way to teach. It does not spell the end of the working of the Holy Spirit but rather the diminishing effectiveness of a system of knowledge transference. We have a message to share. We will need new ways of doing this; of sharing faith in our communities.

Do we trust that this can happen? Do we trust God enough to believe, along with Abraham in the old, old story, that we are blessed by God in a new and evolving reality? This Christmas tree could be a sign for us: a reminder. The hundreds of tiny lights make me think of God’s word to Abraham back in the Genesis stories. God hauls Abraham outside under the night sky and says to him, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:5-6) Paul uses this story to illustrate to the Christians in Galatia that trusting God’s promise is the point of entry into the Spirit not any number of rules or schools or qualifications or credentials. These tiny lights, the proliferation of stars in the sky remind us of the promise of God’s love for the whole world.

Our ways of incorporating people into the church are going to have to become more flexible, based first and foremost on the desire to love God and to work together as God’s servants. Learning can happen along the way. Baptism will come - along with a deeper maturity in the faith - maybe much farther down the path of one’s spiritual journey. Actual membership in this congregation may only happen well down the road and for some of our friends and family, it may never happen. Who knows for sure? But count the stars in the sky and within that great multitude of galaxies we find an image for all the children of God; your children, my children. God cares for every human being; every son and every daughter regardless of race, ability and all those other criteria which tend to cause division and trouble among us.

And so what we experience when we believe that God is for us, that we are children of God through Christ’s Spirit, is freedom. My life is free. You are free, liberated from the strictures that bind us to old categories. We come to the foot of the manger expecting a new life in Christ that is not about belonging to the right friendship group or having a perfect marriage or the most prestigious job or a particular kind of spiritual vocabulary. We come to worship today awaiting the birth of Jesus because we have been included by God believing that we serve together and that we serve each other. Hierarchies and cliques and qualifications can become the opposite of the freedom that we have in Jesus. We confess that we could use a change of heart and a second chance because we live by rules or in today’s lingo, we “make policies” that can be deceiving. We are impressed with power. We like to have well-defined categories and qualifications in place so that we know who is “deserving” and who is not. Freedom is often lost in our organizing and structuring. Yet freedom is the gift of the manger.

“You can’t be free if you are burdened by anger,” Bill Clinton said of the life of Nelson Mandela this past week. We have all been challenged to consider the legacy of “Madiba” the name of respect that South Africans use when speaking of Mandela. “You can’t be free if you are burdened by anger.” The manner in which Nelson Mandela conducted himself after almost 3 decades in prison is an example of true freedom. He was not a pacifist in the early years and he made some pretty detrimental decisions in his lifetime both privately and politically. He was not a perfect man but he became an inspiration to most of us and to the world. He didn’t become burdened with anger instead he worked tirelessly for unity among tribes and races. He was free to work for freedom. I think that is an example of what it means to be free in Christ. Or as Paul reminds us: “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves/servants to one another.” (6:13)

We have new life in Christ. We belong at the foot of the manger. On this second Sunday of Advent we have been reminded of the promise given us a long time ago: “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” (3:26) Freedom is ours to be servants in the world.

Prayer – Lord God of light, your Spirit frees us to be people of peace and action. We trust your promise and extend it in small ways in the ordinariness of our days. Help us be a sign of your love. May we be light to all nations and hope to any in need. We await the coming of your light - in this season and in all our days. AMEN