When I say I am a Christian...

 

Let us pray that we shall be able to welcome Jesus at Christmastime not in the cold manger of our hearts, but in a heart full of love and humility, a heart warm with love for one another.  Mother Teresa.

 

I love the image of not just receiving God, who is born in a manger, but every person we encounter.  This sounds so good on paper (or your computer screen), but is difficult/demanding to live in these days.  Love is a great theory or ideal for people we agree and whose affection affirms us, but for those people who push our buttons?  Not so much!  Who lives life with such radical love anyway?  Okay, Jesus, but who else?  Too often we put people like Mother Teresa, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, leaders who we admire on a pedestal and convince ourselves we could never live the way they did!  We turn humans into superheroes and super-she-heroes of faith that we admire as they glimmer behind the protective plexiglass of our belief that they are holier than we could ever be.  But, Mother Teresa was honest about her doubts and even anger at God.  Dr. King had moments of fear in the face of hatred that threatened his life and wasn’t sure he could keep on keeping on.  Maya Angelou famously said she was surprised when people would say to her, they were a Christian and would think, “Already?”  Christianity is not an identity we put on like a protective suit of armor, Christianity is a way of life ~ a process where there is no finish line.  Christianity is a commitment to letting hope, peace, joy, and love author our stories and be embodied in our hearts.  Christianity is not a philosophy to study, but a covenant we live with God every day.  Christianity shapes us, even as the world’s gospels seek to sink their demands and decrees into our hearts.  They will, as the Spiritual sings to our souls, know we are Christians (followers of the Way of Jesus) by our love.

 

Here is a beautiful poem/prayer by Maya Angelou

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I’m not shouting, “I’m clean living.”
I’m whispering, “I was lost,
Now I’m found and forgiven.”

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
And need Christ to be my guide.

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
And need his strength to carry on.

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

 

When I say…”I am a Christian.”
I’m not holier than thou.
I’m just a simple sinner
Who received God’s grace somehow.

 

May the unceasing grace and unconditional (which is to say unearned) love of God light your way this day.