An Intergenerational Christmas
My first class in graduate school offered a question that has stayed with me for the last twenty years. On that day the professor carried out his typical first-day-of-class check-list. He walked us through the syllabus. Then we entertained each other with that somewhat endearing name game: introduce yourself with a word that starts with the same letter as your first name. Should I go with “wise Wilson” or “wonderful Wilson”? I debated the options in my mind.
Looking back, I should have gone with “wide-eyed Wilson” as the professor launched into a captivating lecture on the value of reading Scripture. A pristine dry-erase board soon became covered in red scribbles of marker. Full of words, phrases, and dates he wanted us to capture in our notebooks. I tried to keep up, but was stunned by his depth of knowledge and passion. My eyes grew wider as I realized this class would not be like previous courses.
The memorable question came in an instant. The professor was in mid-lecture, following along with his podium outline. Then he paused. His voice caught. He stepped away from his notes and he stared at the class. He then spoke, “The most important question you will ever ask when you read Scripture is this: who is God? If you pursue that one question, then it will change your life. I know it has changed mine.”
The brief, personal confession ended as quickly as it started. He went back to scribbling on the board in red marker. I should have kept writing as well but I could not leave that question. Who is God? I had no memory of anyone ever offering that question as critical to how I read the Bible or how I live my life. Yet, the inquiry offered a kind of sacred portal that I would end up walking through that semester and in the years to come.
As decades have passed, I have grown to see the importance of that question. The question is one I turn and return to in my study, conversations, and personal experiences. Variations of it all flow from that central query. What do I think God is like? What am I learning about the nature of God in this season of my life? Who is God in this story of Scripture?
Reading through the birth accounts of Matthew and Luke reveals important perspective on this aspect of the nature of God. Central to this revelation is who God chooses to use and work through in the birth of Jesus. Angels appear in bright shining glory. Babies leap in wombs. Choirs of angels sing songs of praise. Names are declared. Angels give words of warning, encouragement, comfort, and identity. All different kinds of people are hearing and seeing things from God.
One of my favorite things to notice about God’s interaction with this cast of characters is the diversity of ages involved.
Jesus and John are newborn babies.
Elizabeth and Zechariah are both getting on in years.
Mary and Joseph are a young couple pledged to be married.
The shepherds are likely somewhere in the middle of these age extremes.
Simeon is near the end of his life, and Anna the prophet is eighty-four years old.
A variety of ages and stages of life weave together to bring about the entrance of Jesus. The story of the birth of Jesus brings together of a diversity of generations, both called together by the purposes of God and also carrying out the purposes of God.
This diversity of ages in the birth of Jesus serves as a foreshadowing of the early church. The early community of faith also reflected this variety of generations as the movement spread across the world and continues to shape who we are today. In fact, the fulfillment of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost is marked by a declaration that old and young will be participants in this new thing God is doing. All ages will be involved.
Embracing this intergenerational nature of faith is one of the ways we embrace the intergenerational nature of God. Who is God? God is a God who works through all ages of people. This incarnational insight should shape how we live as communities of faith. We should carry this conviction into our churches and look for ways we can incorporate and involve the different generations in our midst each week. Old and young. Experienced and new. Late in life and early in life. All generations can become conduits of God’s creative work if we are open.
This willingness to be open is both an ancient and a modern challenge. Can God really show up to these kinds of people? Can God really work through that age group as much as another? The resounding answer from the birth of Jesus is “Yes!” The onus ultimately lies on our willingness to be open. To be open in our communities of faith to keep believing and living into this core conviction of God’s nature in how we live, serve, and worship in our own nature as God’s people. If we are faithful to this question and the answers we receive, then it might change our lives in the best of ways.
