Tuesday’s Advent reflection from the “5 Minutes with the Word” pamphlet struck a chord with me. The author wrote to the effect that there are some prayers that are downright scary to pray. “Not my will but yours” probably ranks the highest. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done” if we were really serious about it, would rank right up there in my opinion. And then there is the Advent refrain: “Come, Lord Jesus.” That should raise a few eyebrows, the author said.
If we really took seriously the full depth of Jesus’ life, and not just His birth, then to ask Him to come does be-come a scary kind of prayer. The holiday season wants to seduce us, even when it is pointing to Jesus, into some-thing that is less than the whole gospel. The cards you find stacking the shelves are nice piety, but lack a bit on the realistic side. What we see are romanticized scenes of the nativity, with Mary without a hair out of place; Joseph hovering, and the cattle and oxen without smells and sounds and grunts – all ‘adoring’ peacefully in a roomy, well cleaned stable.
The reality is that Joseph probably could barely stand, he was so wiped out from the stress and fatigue of the journey. Mary was saddle sore and exhausted, and hurting from the birth. The cows and sheep stunk; there was dung and the smells of the stable and stale feed, with flies buzzing about. All in all, it was an inauspicious beginning. And if this was how his story began, then somehow, it is not hard to think that His life would probably be ‘messy’ as well.
And it was. Hanging out with sinners, speaking truth to power, challenging rich and poor alike to ‘repent’ for the kingdom of God is at hand. THAT is the Jesus we call to when we say that scary prayer: Come Lord Jesus! The one who rubbed elbows with the downtrodden, who was not embarrassed to reach out to a pesky beggar who did not take no for an answer (Bartimaeus), who eventually walked every painful step up the hill of Calvary, bearing our sins – that Jesus is something scary altogether. Because if He, the Son of God, chose to live that way and die that way, then what is in store for us?
Ricky Bobby, the main character in the movie Talladega Nights may have prayed the most honestly when he said: “I like the infant Jesus best. When you are leading the prayer, you can pray to whomever you want. But I am praying to the Baby Jesus.” Because we know how to control infants. (sort of…) Feed ‘em, burp ‘em, hold ‘em, and let them sleep and they are pretty much good to go. Infant Jesus in the cradle – no problem! Sing a few hymns, attend church, carve some time to prayer, and we’re pretty much good to go.
Which is why, on Christmas day this year, we are going to give each family a copy of the book: “The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic.” And then we will kind of work our way through it together over the course of the year. The hope is that each of us will meet the Risen Lord in a way that changes everything for us.
So, we have a choice when we pray, don’t we. We can invite the infant or the adult. We can honor the wood of the stable or the wood of the cross. Will you pray not the comfortable prayer this Advent, but the truly scary one – with all that it will mean for you? “Come, Lord Jesus!”