Playing with Fire at Christmas

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In the summer of 2008 the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston mounted an exhibit entitled “El Greco to Velazquez – Art During the Reign of Philip, III.” I went because I wanted to see El Greco’s “Vista de Toledo,” and I was not disappointed—the brilliant luminance of the work is beyond words. But it was another of El Greco’s works, “Annunciation,” unknown to me before I saw it, that has left a profound mark on my understanding of what God has done at Christmas.

Depicting the encounter between Mary and the Archangel Gabriel, El Greco departs from traditional orthodoxy at several important points: a dove descends from a band of musical angels, and, centered between Mary and Gabriel, is a burning bush. As I stared at this artistic insight, I could feel my theology shift and deepen, and I knew then that my understanding of Christmas would never be the same.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God.” [Luke 1:35] What I had missed in this Annunciation is the eternal truth that God sings the Christ Child to life at Christmas, just as God sang the heavens and the earth to life at the very beginning.

“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.” “God said to Moses, ‘I Am Who I Am’ [I Will Be What I Will Be]. Say to the people of Israel, ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.’” [Exodus 3:2,14] What I had missed in this Annunciation is the eternal truth that, in the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas, God has again cast fire upon the earth!

In a dove descending within the song of God over a burning bush, El Greco’s “Annunciation” portrays a powerful insight: Creation and Exodus and Incarnation and Pentecost are one!

It is no coincidence that the first words of the Gospel of John echo the first words of the Book of Genesis. Wherever there is life, God is involved. The Apostle Paul understood that when he wrote: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” At the sight of a burning bush, Moses was warned that he was standing on holy ground. Hereafter, things would be different, for God would be leading the people to the promised land. At Pentecost, with the rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire bestowed, God poured out the Holy Spirit that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” At the Annunciation Mary was told: “You have found favor with God. And ... you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High.”

I love the traditions of our Christmas celebrations - they reconnect me to childlike wonder, and they put me in touch with the mystery of the eternal. They call forth treasured and bittersweet memories. They deepen me and invite me to catch a vision of the rich opportunities and possibilities that present themselves when God gets involved in our lives.

When we light a candle at Christmas, we are playing with fire: the fires of creation that bring light and life to be, a burning bush that leads to an Exodus, an incarnation that brings God’s Anointed One to life, and the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost! There’s more to Christmas than beautiful music, flickering candles, and the embrace of loving relationships, important as they may be. God is playing with fire at Christmas, giving light and life for people who walk in darkness, sending an empowering Spirit to a people who would soon turn the world upside down, setting people free to claim the home of their salvation, sending a child in whom would be embodied grace and truth. Hail, O favored ones, the Lord is with you!

The Rev. F. Richard Garland is a retired clergy member of the New England Annual Conference. This post is republished with permission from his Facebook page. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author via Facebook.