You and I (most of us, anyway) are essentially a part of the establishment.
Oh, we are not wealthy or politically powerful, but most of us have respectable incomes, significant assets, good educations, and are well respected in the community. We may not be at the top of the establishment heap, but we are in the heap and not the ones looking in from the outside.
As part of that establishment, I find it fascinating that our biggest holiday is a celebration of the birth of one of history's greatest revolutionaries to an unwed (albeit betrothed) mother in a stable among the animals.
That child grew up and turned the world upside down. He preached justice for the poor and the outcast, not comfort for the establishment. He ate with sinners and healed on the Sabbath, infuriating the "respectable" people of his time and place.
Those "respectable" people wanted to keep things just like they were. They didn't want to upset the apple cart. They didn't want this man from Nazareth stirring things up. It was too bad about the poor, the sick, and the different, but that was their own problem.
These "respectable" people didn't understand why this guy Jesus interacted so much with the less than "respectable" people. They didn't understand why he forgave sins instead of punishing people for committing them.
Now you and I - "respectable" people in our time and our place - take joy in Jesus' clashes with the establishment. We root for him against what could be ourselves. Too, isn't it ironic that we spend so much money to celebrate the humble birth of a revolutionary?
And that irony becomes even deeper when we stop to think that you and I are holding our celebrations in a nation that was not only given birth through revolution, but which has as its birth certificates two documents whose words are among the most revolutionary in history. You and I are parts of the establishment, but we have revolution in both our national and our theological DNA. Isn't that something!"
That DNA can come to the forefront as we journey together through Advent.
For, as this season's theme states, We embark on that journey to prepare the way of the Lord who will surely come:
To do justice and righteousness To refine and strengthen our relationship with God To embrace the outcast whom we so often ignore
And To plant God's peace among God's people
The sacrifices and attitudes that theme requires is more revolutionary than establishment.
If we allow this to happen, our celebration of the Christ's birth will not only tell us the story of a past event, but will also comfort and inspire us as we face the future.
Jim