Jesus Was an Undocumented Immigrant

No sooner had Herod heard of a possible usurper to his power than he sent his “men of might” to take care of business.

The Holy Family, having been warned, according to tradition, set out for Egypt where they would find refuge from Herod’s wrath.  Much as Haitians are presently fleeing gangs and their corrupt police collaborators.

Utterly vulnerable.  Not speaking the language.  No shelter.  No source of income.  Cold, frightened and so very much exposed.

In our country we now find ourselves at the tender mercies of oligarchs and plutocrats who will assume power in 2025.  Gazillionaires who have no more concern for us than Herod most likely had for those living in far off Nazareth.  Vulnerable, exposed.

Even if never having been a refugee, we’ve most likely had moments of such vulnerability.

Peter Marty recounts such moments when going to an outpatient surgical center for a minor procedure.[1]

“…a nurse hands you some nonslip socks and one of those open-in-the-back hospital gowns.  They then instruct you to head to a changing room, take off your clothes, and place them in a tiny locker.  The locker key you’ll be given will look about as sophisticated as a screwdriver.  Once you manage to tie the neck cords of your gown into a bow, a task that always challenges me, you’ll step into a large room.

“The instant you look around that room, some version of four uncomfortable words will rattle in your psyche.  I feel extremely vulnerable.  Six or eight other patients, facing you from their own bays (with their privacy curtains half-drawn or not drawn at all) sit in recliners just like the one assigned to you.  Aware that your own backless gown resembles your health insurance plan in a conspicuous way—every time you turn around you discover something that’s not covered—you’re eager to have a seat.

We’ve all been there.  What I’ve discovered when recently in the hospital and then at our Pilgrim Place skilled nursing facility, is that any pretense to modesty is out the window.  Any attempt to maintain some modicum of control over my vulnerability was futile.  Utterly.

Exposed as much as undergoing a colonoscopy.

Such vulnerability is the essence of the Christmas story.  God dares precisely that vulnerability. 

Quoting Frederick Buechner, Peter “calls the divine descent into the ‘ludicrous depths of self-humiliation.’”  This is the “nakedness of the incarnation.”  God in God’s birthday suit!

The Miracle of Christmas is not about Santa, elves and reindeer, not about who gets the most goodies under the tree.  Not about bloated waistlines from too much turkey, mashed potatoes and wine.

Christmas is about an invitation to join this tiny Christchild in his vulnerability, to be born anew into a new way of life.  No safety net.  Yes, radically outside your comfort zone.

It’s about being in solidarity with those who are homeless, stateless, cold and unsheltered — the very Christ we encounter daily on our city streets and at our food banks.

Even if the most you can do is to drop a pittance in that kettle where the volunteer rings a tinkling bell to get your attention.  Or serving in the Christmas dinner line at a local shelter.  Visiting a shut-in at a nursing home, or simply by acknowledging the presence of a homeless person at their tent on the sidewalk with a hello and maybe a small donation.  A fiver will buy a hamburger at most fast-food joints.

Remember the Jewish proverb, “To have saved one life is to have saved all of humanity.”  Maybe, beginning with the humanity in yourself.

But more than such small acts of charity and mercy, Christmas is the invitation to be in solidarity with the vulnerable, no matter how it shows itself: hunger, loneliness, sickness, political estrangement.   It is developing a new mindset.  It’s about “not conforming your mind to the standards of this world, but letting God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.”  Then you, like Dickens’ fictional Scrooge, will burst forth, Christmas incarnate.  Indeed, it will be most merry.  Joy to the World and the Angels from on High will sing you from slumber.

   God, in all God’s nakedness will find rebirth in your heart, and may you in your being radiate Christmas blessings your whole life long.  That’s the Christmas present awaiting you under the tree.  Merry Christmas.  And God bless us everyone!  Amen.

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[1] Peter Marty, “Sheer Vulnerability,” Christian Century, December 2024.

December 24, 2024
Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96;
Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

“Jesus Was an Undocumented Immigrant”