Christmas Message from Bishop Jon V. Anderson 

JESUS MAFA. The birth of Jesus with shepherds, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the
anderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.  [retrieved December 22, 2015].
Christmas - The Scandal and Gospel of Particularity

God chose to send Jesus into a particular point in history and into a particular place.

During this Christmas season we will puzzle about many elements of our Christian Story.  In this season we will wonder at the hard news and good news inside the Christmas lessons.  God chooses to act in ways that we have a hard time comprehending.  Christmas reminds you of that.

I love this painting from Cameroon because of the joy in Mary's face.  This is a season for joy and remembering that God chooses to come and work in all of our lives, communities and cultures.   

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" [15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.    -Luke 2  

There is a scandal of particularity that is a part of Christmas.  We cannot help but experience a blizzard of "Why?" questions as we listen to the Christmas story.  "God, why would you choose to engage in your decisive work of saving humanity through a little child born to people from Palestine, two thousand years ago?  Why would you work in this way and not in some grand or more universal way?  Why Jewish peasants?  God, what does it mean that you chose to become so vulnerable in sending your Son? Did you need to experience human life as much as we know we need a savior?"

Let your questions come as you journey through this Christmas season, as you sing hymns, attend worship, enjoy the feasts with your family (whatever family means for you), as you sit quietly alone late at night or early in the morning.  Your questions about the first Christmas will get you thinking about more personal and important questions "God, what are you up to this Christmas? In my life, my family, my communities, our world?"  The great news in the particularity of Jesus' birth, is that God cares about your life, our time, and can see from the inside out our broken world and the fragility of life.  

In a year where I have held my first grandson in my arms, I am stuck in the wonder of life and the audacity of God's way of engaging in the work of redeeming this broken and troubled world.

I take great comfort in knowing that as "our culture thrashes its way deeper into societal regression and deepening polarization" God knows us and loves us in ways that are beyond skin deep.

We are creatures of time and space. God works in the midst of history. The Christmas Story reminds us of that. The scandal of particularity is also a Gospel of particularity.  God is with us and for us. God is with you and for you. We know this through the Story of Jesus which begins with his birth in Bethlehem, lying in a feed-box, with parents lost in joy and anxiety about the health of their son. It is good news for people like you and me living through our times of joy and in our times of anxiety.

While we wonder about where and how God is working in our lives and in our world, the simple facts of Jesus' birth reminds us that God is...with us and for us.  

Like Mary labored and suffered to bring Jesus into this world, God is laboring to bring our world and our lives into God's preferred future for us all. With the love and care of a mother looking at a newborn, God looks at us and longs for our lives to be whole. 

La Tour, Georges du Mesnil de, 1593-1652. Birth of Christ, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved December 21, 2015].
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.       - Luke 2 



Have a blessed celebration of Jesus' birth.  Our whole staff gives thanks for the many gifts of God, including you!  

+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
Southwestern Minnesota Synod  


Top Row: Rev. Larry Strenge, Tammy Sather, Carla Klawitter, Kristin Bakeberg. Caitlin Kodet and Sarah Hausken. Bottom Row: Rev. Kathryn Skoglund, Gwen Arneson (Synod Vice-President), Rev. Joyce Piper, Bp. Jon Anderson and Rev. Linda Pedersen.