Have you started your Christmas decorating yet? Do you have anything on your front lawn? Perhaps a molded plastic life-size Frosty, Rudolph, or Christmas Shrek? My priest-friend Tim likes to say that, were they available, he would place a molded plastic life-size figure on his lawn of John the Baptist.

Of course, it’s no surprise why this figure is not available. John the Baptist is not the kind of character movie makers consider casting in holiday films aimed at evoking feelings of fireside warmth and family contentment. John is a troubling and disruptive figure who did not get invited to many cocktail parties. Yet he is essential to the Christmas story – and our story – because John the Baptist stands for disruption. And without disruption, there is no change. And without change, you and I are stuck.

I particularly like this Robert Campin image of John the Baptist because of the pain and uneasiness it suggests. We look like this when our marriage gets rocky, when our job is in question, when our kids get into trouble - in short, when our plans hit the skids.

When our plans go down the tubes we have two options. The first is to react like the establishment of Jesus day and deny (or kill) the messenger. The second is to take the message seriously and look inward. That’s when our face looks like John the Baptists’ – confused and anxious by the disruption.

God wants disruption because God wants change because God wants us unstuck. Unstuck from ___________________ (yes, you fill in the blank). In what ways is disruption happening in our lives? If God were doing it, what do you suppose the message might be?

Reading:

Unapologetic – Francis Spufford

A Distant Mirror – Barbara Tuchman

The Social Media Gospel – Meredith Gould