Celebrating a Special Birth

“Our birth is but a sleep, and 
a forgetting: 
The Soul that rises with us, 
our life’s Star, 
Hath had elsewhere Its setting, 
And cometh from afar: 
Not in entire forgetfulness, 
And not in utter nakedness 
But in trailing clouds of glory 
do we come from God, 
who is our home: 
Heaven lies about us in our infancy.”    
- Wordsworth.

These days, a great fuss is made on earth about a special birth!  It is what we Christians celebrate as Christmas!

Physical birth is an amazing event.  It happens nearly every second of every day - and yet, to witness a birth is nothing short of a miracle.  Think back to your own birth…that is somewhat of a hypothetical process…because none of us can remember our physical birth.  We may remember what our parents have told us about it…or we may try to envision it based on what we know and have experienced in another’s birth.  But in the inklings of the poet, there is a lot of “forgetfulness.”

In John’s Gospel, there is no mention of Jesus’ physical birth.  Either it wasn’t important or the writer did not know much about it.  Curiously, by the third chapter, John tells us of an encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in which Jesus says, 

“Very truly, I tell you, no one can 

  see the kingdom of God without 

  being born again (anew).”  

Nicodemus wonders how this can be, “Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”  And Jesus says the key is to be born anew in the spirit…that is the spirit of God.

Jesus’ birth, which we celebrate at this time of year, leads us beyond our physical birth to the importance of inner, spiritual birth.  Without such birth we cannot see God’s purpose is in our life and in the world (God’s kingdom).  Physical birth (as Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus) is a one-time event.  In a very real sense, he was saying that being alive in God is an ongoing and daily process.

Once again, this year we celebrate Jesus’s birth with great joy, and love…saying, “Happy Birthday!” and singing it with a cake at the 4 p.m. Family Service on Christmas Eve.  It has now been more than 2000 years since that first holy night when “Heaven lay about a special infant.”  Equally special is for each of us to say to one another every day, in the spirit of God, “Happy Birthday!” as being born anew is a regular and daily process.

Happy birthday Jesus and Everyone! 

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister

This piece originally appeared in The Wave on December 21, 2022.