The OST Christmas Message Board

I’m really just as fascinated by the personalities breezing across this site as the arguments and points of view being put forward. So I relish every word Ivan contributes, and others, old and new - including albannach, alario, andrew, Chris, all the Daves, Daniel Farmer, erlenmeyer, erik boehmer, john, Lathos, Mars Hill, PastorPete, paula, paulchen, Phil, pluralist, theocrat, every lower case/upper case personality and character; and, Ivan, by some inexplicable co-incidence, I logged onto the site at the very time you posted your last, rather acerbic message, ie 3.36 am GMT. Was it some subterranean magnetism? An unseen gravitational pull of the fellowship of the saints? Were we meant to reach across the void in some form of cyber-koinonia? A longing of mutual souls for cyber-solace? I am not normally padding around the house at that hour, still less poring over OST.

No, this is truly a unique assemblage of people, whose frequently larger than life personalities shine through the theological musings, one might say despite attempts at cool scholarly detachment, aiming to land the theological knock-out blow on our cyber opponents. I suspect there is not such an eclectic, diverse and richly various gathering to be found under any other common roof anywhere. Where else could there be such a world-wide community, available at the touch of a button? Maybe it could only happen on the web – we’d probably be heading for the door if we had to be part of the same church community in the inconvenient relationships of the non-cyber world. (There is a cyber door too).

Every theological strategy painstakingly developed and affirmingly countered through OST brings to mind the interacting conversation of stories in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales - where the narrators of the tales and their relationships form part of a larger tale of life itself, as the travellers make their common pilgrimage to Canterbury. And in like manner, what else are our lives but a cyber-pilgrimage to the cyber-celestial city? (Sorry - change of literary metaphor: that’s John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress). 

Will there be a special marquee in heaven set aside exclusively for the use of the emergent church, OST branch? The emergent cyber church lives. Happy Christmas, and God bless us one and all, as Tiny Tim Cratchitt said in ‘A Christmas Carol’. (Perhaps I should have stuck to Eng Lit).

Ivan, the sentiments are nicely put and much appreciated.

I have to say I am in two minds about Christmas. I dislike the crass, debasing, trivializing commercialism of it all. I dislike the banal, formulaic schmaltziness of so much of our Christmas worship. But I like the film-going, television-watching, gift-giving over-indulging hedonism of a family celebration. I like the occasional glimpses of dark transcendent mysteries in the high remote spaces of ancient churches - in our cities we have forgotten that there are stars shining above the light pollution.

But I am getting a bit tired of every year having to find the ‘true meaning’ of Christmas beneath all the sentimentality and nonsense. It’s hard work. So I still wonder if we shouldn’t take the opportunity to shift the spiritual focus, as the Armenian Church apparently does, away from Christmas to Epiphany on January 6th, from the celebration of the birth of Israel’s messiah to a celebration of the revelation of salvation to the Gentiles, which for most of us is actually more relevant (see ‘Happy Epiphany’). We could perhaps then combine it in a rather back-to-front way with the Orthodox Christmas which takes place the next day (if I’ve got my religious calendar right).

That would seem to me a very emerging church thing to do: we still get the worldly festivities but with less spiritual angst, we align ourselves more accurately with a narrative theology, and we promote a generous, other-embracing orthodoxy. What more could you ask for?

In the meantime, I wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

With seasonal ‘bon amis’ positively dripping from this series of posts, I could wait no longer to add my postscripts…

Ivan, thank you; not only for the Christmas greetings and kicking off this highly amusing (as in joyful, rather than humourous) post, but also for your wonderful candour and your traditional views. They serve several fine purposes, not least of which is reminding us of a traditional view of things, which often provides, at least for me, a refreshing simplicity, after the rigourous deconstruction, reconstruction process of "emerging." They also provide an opportunity for others to stimulatingly express some of the reasons why the emerging process is valid, necessary and potentially fruitful. I look forward to more in 2006.

Andrew, thank you; I like your ideas regarding Epiphany and the useful analogy it provides of a somewhat typical "emerging" response to Christmas - recognise that some cultural battles have been lost, leave confronting them, which is almost guaranteed to appear mean-minded and find an alternative, cultural expression in which to present a fresh look at messianic faith. And thanks for the endless work you do on presenting such an integrated, articulte and thoughtful "emerging church" theology and process, via OST, providing us with a safe space to explore and last, but not least, promoting a very civil cyber-culture in which so many of us have enjoyed so much stimulating reading, writing and cyber-conversing.

Peter, thank you; for your tireless contributions to the site, your synergetic, emphatic exchanges offering a missiologically orientated conservatism, laced with "fifth-act creativity"; they have ocassionally helped me to personally "hang in there" when feeling relatively whelmed by Andrews highly challenging NT historical-theological paradigm, as well as some of the more liberal theological deconstructions which left not only Ivan but also me "cold."

Richard, thank you; for our highly stimulating exchange regarding "social realities and persecution" (including ‘fessing up and helping me to understand why it had been so challenging!); in researching for it I have been led to obtain an extraordinary book "Confessing Christ in a Post-Holocaust World", part of a series by Holocaust scholar’s that looks absolutely fascinating in its scope and very challenging in its conclusions; I think you’d be fascinated by it too.

Everyone: yes, especially some of the ‘old gang’ like Alario and Eric etc. Happy Christmas / New Year / Epiphany!

May the year-to-come contribute to the realisation of a Christian community that emerges out of "every kind of evil" towards the fullness joyous "shalom" for which Jesus Christ, Yeshua Mesiah, gave his life.

shalom! - john

Merry Christmas from Southern California where it’s 74 degrees and the lawns are littered with giant inflatable snowmen and Santa Clauses.  I echo the praise and thanks for OST.  The last few months of spying on the site have provided an amazing opportunity to learn, stretch and grow. I’ve printed pages and pages to share  with friends and ignite passionate and good spirited disagreement.  I often pray for you all as I read your posts.  My Christmas wishes for you all are:

your socially challenged relative makes it through the evening without insulting or embarrasing anyone and if they do you somehow find it endearing. no waist-line repercussions for the second helping of pie. you spend time with a child who still believes in Santa and therefore magic. you are caught under the mistletoe with the love of your life.

Love and joy,.

The whole Farmer family

Fantastic idea, Ivan. Thanks for initiating this. I have just sent my Christmas letter to Peter, Andrew and Alex (is he still reading?), but I wish the entire OST community a Merry Christmas. Chicago is looking very Christmassy (in that there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground with bitterly cold temps keeping it in place), which only happens about 50% of the time.

Andrew, I appreciate your comments about Epiphany. We have been celebrating Advent (although our church only does half-heartedly, and that due to our own influence), and in light of your comments we make a special effort of celebrating Epiphany. We have been quite successful in separating ourselves from the consumerist mindset about Christmas, and this causes some interesting intra- and extra-family issues.

Heidi and I wish you all the best this holiday season. Let our focus be on the bright Light shining in an often incredibly and wickedly dark place(s).

Contributors, visitors, contributors again:
Had a great year in ‘05; have a great year in ‘06.

Wishing everyone all the best, Craig (mars-hill).

P.S. It’s Summer here.