Theology Thursday: On the Incarnation

I've met many people over  the years, and especially in the last few years, who didn't want to celebrate Christmas, even though they loved Jesus. Many of them claim that the "pagan roots" of the feast (which is another blog in itself) meant they couldn't observe it in right conscience. Fair enough, but for me to stop celebrating, you'd have to convince me that God does not redeem the lost, beginning with Pagans. Others don't celebrate because they don't see birthdays being marked with celebration in the scriptures.I don't know how they don't see that when I consider Hannah's joy, Sarah's joy, or the shepherds' joy and awe in their humble worship at the infant Jesus' bedside, for example, but... OK.
For me, Christmas is without a doubt one of the single most important times of the year. Catholics mark the rhythm of life on a liturgical calendar which highlights the passing seasons as they are depicted in the economy of salvation, and Christmas is a foundational event in that.
Reason enough to observe the annual rhythm (Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Advent.... etc) is that within each of these is contained the mystery of salvation but each takes on a specific character-- we are hopeful and faithful in Advent, patient and penitent in advent and lent, joyful, evangelical and incarnational in Christmas, joyful, glorious and victorious in Easter, filled with the spirit anew in pentecost. To walk the Church's calender each year is to take the time to examine our own lives in light of the full message of the gospel. People everywhere mark time. To mark time according to the life of Christ is amazing.
Further, I always found it really weird as a nondenominational evangelical Christian to "figure out" the significance of these things. For example, I was sure my Bible agreed that Christmas was a crucial day in understanding  Christ and drawing nearer to Him. In fact, I had received Christ on Christmas eve! But all the Churches I knew of had no service on Christmas morning, because people liked to be with their families. This confused me-- not to the point where I examined the issue and decided to observe it more "deeply," but I just found it sort of sad and felt that "it would be nice" if I could go to Church on Christmas morning.
Likewise, every year we went to a HUGE "Good Friday" church service at which we evangelized the city. It was awesome!  And of course, we had church on Easter Sunday. But both of these events were identical in essence and form, and we preached the same type of message at each. It was encouraging, but somehow I knew something was missing.
Why did we have only two days on our "liturgical calendar?" Why did we observe those and not others, like Pentecost, even though we were Charismatics? Why did we have a liturgical calendar and still poopoo them? Why did we condemn Catholics for their "religiosity" and "rigid" adherence to a liturgical year, and yet in the same breath encourage the "religiosity" of Jews and "rigid" adherence to a liturgical year, even participating in it? The Catholic liturgical year honors Christ and puts Him and His life at the center-- it is a literal walking through of the Gospel, year by year. The Jewish liturgical year, however, points to Christ. If you're  a Christian today, it's good, but it's not AS good.
Why did we embrace SOME Catholic doctrines--but then strip them of their point and observance-- and not others? Was that the "reformation" part of protestantism? It was confusing!
I still see that today-- there is a lot of talk in protestant circles about advent, about a need to remove themselves from the materialistic hustle that is this time of year and focus on Christ. So they give more, try to stress less, and try to be good stewards of their Christmas joy. Which is awesome! But none of the various ecclesial communities are teaching them to prepare their hearts for the fullness of the incarnation message as a part of their advent. They observe and revere Christmas as an important day because Christ came to earth as a man--again, which is good, but it's not the whole picture.
For Catholics, advent is about the threefold coming of Christ-- into our HEARTS, into a MANGER once 2000 years ago, and into the WORLD at the second coming. To ignore any of these aspects in our meditation on the season is to lose sight of the incarnation. If we lose sight of that, we have missed Christ, even though we may love Him and want Him near! 
Which, to a Catholic, is basically what a protestant brother or sister is doing.... though they are doing everything "right." They love Jesus and long for him, but they do not come to the source of Life to drink and eat because they don't come for the Eucharist, or if they do, they don't do what it takes to receive it (accept the authority of the Church to give it.) They do, absolutely, "come to Christ" to commune in a spiritual manner, but they miss out on the blessing of doing so spiritually AND physically.
In all of this, it is vitally important to understand that protestants repent, turn to Jesus, live changed lives, and are empowered by the same Spirit we are given. There is NOTHING wrong with that....Catholics who miss this about Protestants have lost sight of something very, very important! We are on the same journey!
However, there is one thing a protestant will NOT do and that is to become Catholic, which means to align themselves with ALL the consistent doctrines of the past 2000+ years of Christianity, come under the actual spiritual authority of the oldest Church in existence and it's appointed and annointed head, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, and by doing so receive the Eucharist, which is Christ among us until the End of Days.
The Eucharist, for the reader who doesn't know, is the literal Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, transformed on Catholic altars daily by an ordained priest with apostolic authority, under the appearance of ordinary bread and wine.It is the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, offered to the Father by our priests.
It is the literal communion of the Christian people with their God, able to save us if received worthily, for we have met the heavenly requirements for salvation: repentance and faith.  Able to condemn us if we receive unworthily, for we have tried to steal from God a gift He freely gives.
If you're a protestant today, this is the part of incarnational theology you have not embraced as "truth"-- that God loves to remain among us, literally. That is the significance of the words of Matthew 1:23: "“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)." It is the reason a Catholic Church is a special place, a Catholic tabernacle a sacred meeting between the Divine and the Human. God DOES live inside our buildings. Literally. When we don't come to Him there, we miss out on His Presence.
I can't hold this against any non-Catholic, as sad as it makes me that many of my dearest friends who love Jesus with their whole hearts and souls would miss out on such a great grace! No Catholic really can, since we believe and teach that each man must live according to His conscience and be "fully convinced in his own mind" that he is doing what is right." And I see that in His mercy, God has enriched and annointed many sincere protestants with a constant shower of grace from on high--for example, He has given them the grace of learning how to come to His gates with Praise, how to speak His word over a situation, and thus equipped them to see Him move in might. These things are all good and right and true, and indeed, many Catholics could stand to learn a lesson or two from the protestants I know in these departments.
However, they miss the fullness of the message of the incarnation -- the message we observe and feast about at Christmas, but which literally feeds us day by day: the Eucharist. And this is terribly sad, because it is in the Eucharist that we best learn the hardest and deepest lessons about God-- that He is there, even when He is silent. That He loves us enough to be broken by us, even when we disregard Him or even hate Him. That He chooses to manifest His grace and mercy THROUGH man. That we, the Church, are literally, one body, broken off pieces of ONE bread and poured out wine from ONE vine. Do protestants know these things? Yes, absolutely. But how better can we illustrate these lessons than with the Eucharist? It is literally perfect food. I spent so much time lamenting as a protestant that I wasn't always "fed." Now I eat the Word of God incarnate in the daily Catholic mass... I am so blessed and full to overflowing.
While I have struggled to find fellowship in my "human" interactions with Catholics since returning to the Church, nothing floods the dryness and revives me like the Eucharist.
During advent, We discipline ourselves to make Him a room in the inn of our hearts. We fast, meditate, and find sorrow for our sins. We do good works, so that the message is not "meaningless" or empty. And then we rejoice in hushed anticipation of  the joy we will experience at Christmas because CHRIST CAME AMONG US FROM HEAVEN. This is the key to celebrating Advent and Christmas in the Catholic Faith.
So why is that important? Well, first of all, if you think about our concept of Salvation, it is crucial.
Protestants will say: "I was saved on December 24th, 1998." Catholics, however, will say they WERE saved (2000 years ago by the Cross of Christ who died for all) ARE BEING SAVED daily as they cooperate with grace, turn from sin, and do the will of God, and HOPE TO BE SAVED in the future when they meet their maker. To a Catholic, accepting the fact that Christ died for one's sins is only the beginning of a very important journey for which we need grace to "finish the race." To a protestant also, but this is where theology gets interesting.
2000 years ago, Christ came to earth. Many people say He came to die, and yes, this is true. But He also came to LIVE-- to be among us. For 33 years He lived in a family, He was subject to and obeyed (think about that for a moment if you never have) the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Holy Spouse, Saint Joseph. He lived a holy life. He healed people, ministering to their needs. and THEN, He died. And rose again.
Christ's teachings centered on God's love for mankind, and that love was no where more visible than on the Cross. But if we miss that love in the incarnation, we miss a whole lot. Because He came from heaven to be among us as an infant! Not a grown man.
A dependent infant, who was at the mercy of Mary and Joseph. a humble infant, a helpless baby, lying in a bed of scratchy straw. Wow. Today, we can see and observe that same humble Jesus in Catholic Churches all across the world. He rests in the tabernacle: silent, humble, loving. Waiting for us to come and adore Him. Uncomplaining when we abuse Him, drop Him, treat Him with irreverence or even disdain, spit him out, trample Him underfoot. "My Lord and my God," we weep, when we are wrapped in adoration of our Eucharistic Jesus. It is amazing.
You see, Catholics believe that we need grace for the "being saved daily" portion of our salvation-- that we cannot do it alone, despite what many people think the Catholic Church teaches. And that grace must come from somewhere. Where did humanity's grace come from? The incarnation-- the infant Jesus. And where does our personal grace come from? the sacraments, most especially the sacrament which IS the incarnation-- the Eucharistic Jesus. At Christmas, we receive Jesus, who lived in very human Mary's pregnant belly and was brought to us as a gift for all men. This is the celebration of the incarnation. Daily, we receive the Eucharist, who comes to us from the womb of Holy Mother Church, and is brought to us as a gift for each individual man.  Just as Christ was fully man and fully God, the Sacrament on the Altar, the Eucharist, is fully bread and fully God. Just as we are saved by partaking in the mystery of the infant Jesus coming down from heaven to love us by being Emmanuel, God-with-us, so we are saved by partaking daily of the Eucharistic Jesus coming down from heaven to love us by being Emmanuel, God-with-us.
Jesus came to us in a feeding trough, in a town called Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread." Jesus comes to us daily in the Eucharist, because He is the Bread of Life. (John 6)
Incarnational theology is fascinating to me because it helps me to celebrate my faith more fully--- I receive Jesus in the Manger, and as I listen, He teaches me to receive from Him on the altar. When I accept Him, He feeds me heavenly food that sustains me forever until He returns to me. This is why, as a Christian, I could NEVER "not celebrate" Christmas.. the incarnation and birth of Our Lord is foundational to Christianity. This is why, before we go up to receive communion, we look with devotion at the bread and wine become Jesus on the altar and say: "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Grant us peace."
This Christmas, welcome the Lord who IS peace and celebrate fully His incarnation by meditating on how He manifests His presence on earth. When Jesus said: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" in Matthew 28, " the promise of Jesus' real though invisible presence echoes the name Emmanuel given to him in the infancy narrative." (NAB commentary.) Do you see and know and love  this Jesus, who is present among us? If not, why not? O Come, Let us adore Him...

Revelation 2:17: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. 

This is what happens when an incarnational God, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, comes here to meet us and be among us, wherever we are at. I thank God He opened my eyes to His Presence among us!