Virtual Christmas Doesn’t Work
John PriceIf virtual really worked, wouldn’t Jesus have just Zoomed it in?
If Skype were as good as in-person, why bother with a manger and Bethlehem? Why not wait until 2020, get a really strong Wi-Fi, and never leave heaven to come to earth? That would be a much more efficient Christmas. I’ve actually thought about this a lot. It’s my big theological takeaway for 2020 — in-person meetings really, really matter to the God of the Christmas story.
This Christmas will be so different for most of the world. The economic impact of COVID-19 means fewer gifts around most trees, but I’m guessing kids will get over that. The pandemic’s distancing effect means the Macy’s Day Parade and Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting were virtual. I think people can tolerate that too. The hardest part of a “COVID Christmas?”
Being alone.
I’ve become a student of first things. Do you know the first thing that God cursed in the Bible and the Hebrew Scriptures? We’re told in the creation narrative, God created light and said it was “good.” He made animals and said they were “good.” He made humans and said we were “very good.” But then, for the first time (and even before sin enters the story), God said something wasn’t good. He said it’s not good that people be left alone.
Being alone just isn’t in our best interest.
And now we are all about to celebrate some form of virtual Christmas. Every good Hallmark movie has variances, but always around the same general theme — a plotline about people coming together. That’s what warms our hearts. I’m yet to see the Hallmark movie where the couple ends up Zooming for their whole relationship.
On a podcast recently, I was talking to a senior pastor we placed through Vanderbloemen about starting his job at a new church during the pandemic. He’s struggling. He’s been there almost nine months and hasn’t yet met his congregation, except via Zoom and FaceTime. All of the welcome events and good vibes which come at the beginning of a pastorate aren’t there. He told me, “that usual honeymoon period just isn’t the same virtually.” I thought to myself, “is there any virtual event worse than a virtual honeymoon?” Some events just need to be in person.
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I’d say one of those events is Christmas. And thankfully, the very heart of the Christmas story is about a God who would rather leave heaven and come to earth in person than have us suffer perpetual loneliness.
Most biblical experts agree that we don’t know Jesus’ birth date, but they also agree that December is the obvious time to celebrate his birth. Why? In December, there is less light available than at any time in the calendar year. We are literally at our darkest. Sort of how 2020 has been for so many. That’s precisely when we look to the hope of Christmas.
This Christmas will have to be virtual for a lot of us. Just as we have done throughout this mess, we will make it work. This year particularly, the Christmas story reminds me that dark seasons and pandemics are ultimately temporary, that virtual is not God’s permanent answer, and that loneliness doesn’t have to be anyone’s permanent reality.
Vaccines have finally arrived, and with them come a more visible hope that we will be able to gather together again one day. But even more, Christmas has arrived and because of that, I believe there is a promise of a day where we will be together, even with those we have lost. Together, even with the God who made us. Together forever, and never lonely again.
The Link LonkDecember 24, 2020 at 07:00AM
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Virtual Christmas Doesn't Work - Forbes
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