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What I really think of Jesus is that He would not be interested at all in our efforts to make Christmas special by badgering people about saying “Merry Christmas.” He would be much more interested in how much our heart feels the sweet meaning of His birth in a stable and being laid in a cattle feeding trough. He would want to know how much significance that has for us. He would wonder if it caused us to attach more value to being humble and not trying to impress people with how big and powerful we are. He wouldn’t care if the store where we shop has a sign saying “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” He would be more interested in how much of our time went into shopping for “things” compared to how much time we spent meditating on the wonder of His appearance among us. He would want to know if we welcome him into the humble place in our own heart or if “things” are the centerpiece of our celebration. Frankly, I don’t think He would be impressed by that big mega-church we attend where some preacher is building a monument to his ego. He would want to know if we hold regular services in our own heart or if some false prophet has convinced us He can only be found in his church or contacted through a “decision for Christ” card. He wouldn’t care a hoot how much we raised for that new building on our sprawling church but He would want to know how much we have raised for the homeless. He wouldn’t care as much about how many times a week we go to church as much as how many times a week we visit a jail or nursing home or soup kitchen. I think He would be shocked to know there was a need for soup kitchens in a land that claims to be Christian. He would wonder why anyone is without a home. He would be grieved that one person is hungry. He said his teachings were like leaven that spreads throughout the whole loaf. He would look at the loaf (America) and wonder what happened to His leaven. He would wonder why we have “God bless America” stickers instead of “God bless everyone on Earth.” He would see all our big crosses signifying knowledge of His death but showing no knowledge of His life and teachings. He would care less about how many politicians we support over posting the Ten Commandments than how many we supported who voted for justice and mercy for the handicapped, mentally ill, unemployed and the children of the poor. He would not care one whit for your sermons about free enterprise until your practice of free enterprise enabled the least among you to enterprise at all. Our talk of people needing to raise themselves by their own bootstraps would be met with a cold stare and the simple questions: What if they have no shoes? What if they have no straps? Until every deserving person gets mercy and help, he wouldn’t be listening to our moralistic, immoral philosophy of greed, bias and bigotry. He would wonder how the world made Christianity into a judgmental, powerful political army of heavy-booted holier-than-thou killers of hope and haters of the weak. He would wonder if anyone ever read the Sermon on the Mount. What I really believe about Jesus is that the religious would want to kill him again if he came back and lived and preached the same way he lived and taught when He came before. The good news is that anyone who wants to get out of their theology and into the simplicity of His words and His heart can still have Christmas with Him. They can still have a happy holiday and a merry, merry Christmas. They can feel the leaven He talked about and if they ever feel it, they will never have another Christmas without Him.
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