Born in us today
30 November 2011
Prophets don’t see a different world to the one we see; they just see it in a different way.
Jim Wallis, social activist, evangelist and advisor to President Obama is often said to be a modern-day prophet. He has recently visited the Occupy Camp outside St Paul’s. He claimed that he could imagine Christ being born in the camp.
From what we know of the birth narratives the camp could be seen as a contemporary equivalent of the stable. We have grown accustomed to believing in a Christ born in poverty, cast out from the more privileged in society. And praise God that humble voices stifled by the loudly confident are still heard; that those who cringe in the corners for fear of abuse are gently and graciously drawn in; that those whose potential has been overlooked are valued.
Simon and Garfunkel may have hit the nail on the head when they sang that the ‘words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, or on the banners of the protesters, or in the daily seminars surrounding the cathedral. But I live in the hope that the Christ may just as likely be born in the pew as well as the tent, the pulpit as well as on the protest, in the boardroom of a multi-national corporation, in the chambers of commerce, the corridors of power and on the trading floor of the city. Why? Because God is a God of Surprises, we cannot fathom the mind of God. And if incarnation means anything then it means God may be born in any of us, rich and poor, influential and weak, powerful and excruciatingly vulnerable, anywhere and at any time.
That’s the good news.
