The Christmas story is the beginning of the story of Jesus. But it is the end of the story of God in the Christian Bible. The Christmas story is not just about a man named Jesus who was born into a poor Jewish family in the Roman province of Palestine two millennia ago. That is only the plot of the narrative. The Christmas story opens that last chapter of the story of God that begins with the biblical account of creation.

In the beginning, the Bible tells us, God creates all life and human life. When Adam and Eve disobey, he doesn't destroy them. That would end the story. He banishes them from paradise to live in the world, and immediately the children of the world begin to quarrel. God is often silent or absent in the story, but God intervenes unsuccessfully to try to purge the world of evildoers with a great flood. God's experience should serve as fair warning to contemporary rulers seeking to justify violence with good intentions.

God then calls a man, Abraham, to obedience, blesses his descendants, saves them from oppression in Egypt, and enters into a covenant with Moses on Mt. Sinai on their behalf. God fights for these chosen people, gives them a land, inspires David to become King of Israel, and blesses Solomon's construction of a temple in Jerusalem. Yet, just as the story seems to be achieving the pinnacle of success, Israel is wracked by civil war and the chosen people are conquered and exiled from the land God gave to them. Prophets arise in this time of dispersion and despair to speak for God about the failure of the people, and the promise God holds out if they repent.

Finally, the Persian Emperor allows exiles in Babylon to return to Jerusalem, where the temple destroyed by the Babylonians is rebuilt and the law of Israel renewed. Yet, in the five hundred years of Jewish faith centered at the second temple, God no longer walks among the people, or speaks directly to them, or even speaks through prophets. The chosen people are left on their own to discern God's purpose and presence through their scriptures, known as the law and the prophets, with the guidance of Jewish teachers called rabbis. The reflections of the rabbis on the law and the prophets are "the writings" at the end of the Jewish Bible (the Jewish story of God).

Now, for us, comes the Christmas story. The God who has been Creator, Conqueror, and King of kings, who has spoken through the law and through the prophets, now enters the life of a child in Bethlehem, the city of David, to be "God with us" (Emmanuel) in the flesh. The Jewish story of God becomes the Christian story of God. The scriptures are reinterpreted and rearranged so the plot is not law, prophets, and writings, as in the Jewish scriptures, but law, writings, prophets, and then, in the New Testament, the fulfillment of prophecy.

In the Christmas story the God, who began as Creator of the universe, is now recreated in the womb of a poor peasant women. In the Christian story the God, who conquered armies to free a people and secure them a land, is crucified by the conquering armies of the Roman Empire. In the Christian story the God, who raised up a king for Israel and was worshipped in the temple of Jerusalem, is now found teaching and healing in rural Galilee and throwing the money-changers out of the second temple in Jerusalem. In the Christian story the God, who spoke through the prophets and whose law is the subject of study by the rabbis, lives out the words of the law and the prophets as the Word made flesh (Jn. 1:14) in the world.

Christmas is a time for fantasy. Jolly old St. Nicholas is a wonderful character, and we delight in telling and acting out his story of joyous giving. It is "make believe," of course, but nonetheless wondrous. And it has its own measure of truth, for giving can be even more rewarding than receiving, as all of us know.

In contrast, the story of Jesus is read by Christian literalists simply as a factual account of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. In truth, however, the narrative is a combination of fantasy and fact. Although some scholars dispute that Jesus actually lived, the evidence is credible that there was a man named Jesus, who was born into a Jewish family living in the Roman province of Palestine, and whose life inspired others, who remembered him as the fulfillment of Israelite prophecy. But there are also elements of fantasy in the story of Jesus. For instance, the letters of Paul, which were written before the gospels, reveal no awareness of the claim to Jesus' "virgin birth," which is included in both the gospel birth stories. As no one can seriously doubt Paul's conviction, such a fantastic element in the story of Jesus is clearly unnecessary for Christian faith.

Surprisingly, the gospels of Mark and John begin without birth stories. In the first century of our era Christians did not find it necessary to tell of the birth of Jesus in order to proclaim the gospel. Moreover, the birth stories in the gospels of Matthew and Luke are different, so it is hard to see them merely as factual reports. In the gospel of Matthew the angel speaks to Joseph, and wise men from the East come to visit. In the gospel of Luke, the angel speaks to Mary, and shepherds gather around the manager. In the gospel of Matthew the birth of Jesus emphasizes the fulfillment of Israelite prophecy and Jewish expectation. In the gospel of Luke the birth of Jesus is identified with God's outreach to the Gentiles for the sake of the poor of the world.

Thus, in the telling of each story we move beyond fact and fantasy to faith. The story of the birth of Jesus is part of the faith of the church. The gospels testify to Christian faith in the stories they tell of Mary and Joseph, a manger in Bethlehem, shepherds gathering around the newborn babe, and wise men bringing gifts. Perhaps we can say that our faith is a decision about a Bible story that is both factual and fantastic. At the intersection of fact and fantasy, at the center of the cross of Christ, we are confronted with a choice: What story of life will we live?

The Christmas story begins a gospel narrative that is offered not simply as a biography or an historical account of a great man, who lived two millennia ago. The gospel story presents a way of life, to all those who hear it. As human beings, we are free to choose how we live and what we live for. All stories offer choices about living, and the gospel story presents a story calling us to live with Christian faith. Once we take up this story in our own lives, we are part of it and no longer free simply to do as we like. As Christians, we are followers of the God, who was born to poor parents in an oppressed country. So, we cannot be indifferent to all those who are poor and oppressed, for each of "the least of these" (Mt. 25:40) bears for us the face of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

Enter into this story once again with joy and wonder. Recover some of your "child-like" excitement about Christmas. Enjoy the fantastic elements of the story, and acknowledge intellectually the factual claim. But give your heart to the faith that the story represents — trust in the God, who chose to be "God with us" in the life of a poor Jewish peasant, and testify that this gift of love to us and to all humankind is cause for joy. Amen.