All Creation Is Waiting,” watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2004. The child is born; but that does not mean his work is done, or his mission complete. “The whole creation waits in eager expectation,” says Paul in Romans 8, for the great day of the Lord which will be, even then, only the end of the beginning. Is that Joseph in the background, bringing a donkey that he and Mary and the baby will need for their flight to Egypt? Even so we find ourselves still on this road of New Creation with our Lord.
It is Christmas Day 2022. We celebrate the anniversary of our Lord’s birth and incarnation. The Son of God has come into the world and, in his own human body, lived an entirely faithful human life. He was faithful even in the face of death; therefore, he has defeated sin, death, and the fallen powers that had disordered and misshapen human life before. And now he is risen and reigning and providing his Spirit to bring his faithful life, death, and resurrection into our lives as well; to deliver us also from all of the fallen powers that continue to try to get their grips into us and the world at large.
Week by week through Advent we have tried to remember some of the essential parts of our lives where his coming has made, and is making, a huge difference in how and why we live as we do in him. For he is still in the process of restoring these and other parts of our lives as we make our way with him toward the day of our own resurrection, the day of judgment, the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and the fulfillment of the New Creation already begun in him and in us. And so we can sing with Charles Wesley’s refrain, “Come thou long expected Jesus . . . born thy people to deliver”:
Deliver us from our “normal” fears and anxieties, as your grace and promise delivered Mary on the eve of your own human birth.
Deliver us from our worries about our status and career, our future security and prestige, as your servant Paul taught us with regard to our gifts, and as your own example showed us with regard to being a servant like you.
Deliver us from the temptation to use ethnic groups or other divisive factions to gain social or political power and to grasp at security and control of others as you and Paul refused to do.
Deliver us from the idolatry of self-absorbed eros and other fanatical appetites or passions, so we may live in the freedom of agape, kindness, gentleness, and self-control in human families and in the kind of community that you are restoring.
Saint Nicholas Praying for the Recovery of His Tradition, detail of the Spirit, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, Copyright 2005. From the time of Jesus’s baptism, the dove has been a reminder of the role of the Spirit and of the Father in all that Jesus accomplishes. He does not act on his own. He promises the Spirit will come to guide, befriend, comfort, and provide counsel. And he breathes the Spirit into his disciples after his resurrection, just as God breathed into Adam in the original creation.
“For freedom, you have set us free,” your servant Paul tells us (Galatians 5:1), and this means the freedom of life in your Spirit, the freedom to grow up in all of the fruits of your Spirit, to grow up in you:
To Love (agape) – because we are not focused only on our own needs or desires.
To know Joy – because we are no longer bound by the forces to which we once yielded power and control.
To experience Peace – because we are no longer pulled apart by rival “lords” and double-minded agendas.
To learn Patience – because we need to master smaller things before we are put in charge of larger.
To show Kindness and Gentleness – because we have moved beyond the doubts and defenses that once held us in check.
To practice Self-control – because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Yes, in you, we are free.
And so, our fellow Advent pilgrims, Deb and I find ourselves with you at the close of another Advent and Christmas season, at the turning of the year toward a new year with our Lord’s Spirit and help, in the midst of His ongoing recovery and healing of the created order, on this road of New Creation. He has begun what is yet to be fulfilled. We have the first fruits of a great approaching harvest (Romans 8:23), and we must encourage each other not to grow weary “for our work is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free
Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, Graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2011. Saint Nicholas is famous for his affirmation of marriage and for his support of young women who could not afford a dowry. In some cases, it seems, he was all that stood between them and a life on the streets.
Some might think it odd for Deb and me to choose an old Bob Dylan song, about the challenges of getting married, to celebrate the birth of our Lord and his purpose to restore the good order of creation. But then, in the Bible, there are few things that need restoration more than God’s good gifts of marriage and sexuality. And there is something in the very structure of Dylan’s song that echoes what the Bible has to say about this—how our incarnate Lord, born at Bethlehem to be both King and Bridegroom, wants to restore the order of marriage in his kingdom. [i]
We learn from the Apostle Paul and others that Jesus is the true bridegroom of his people, the church, and that he has suffered much to make the church his bride (Ephesians5:21-32). The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that, “He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin,” and this is why “he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.” (Hebrews 4:15). Paul tells us that he was “obedient even unto death on a cross . . . and so God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every other name, Lord” (Philippians 2:8-11). And Hebrews again speaks of how “He endured the cross for the joy set before him, and then sat down by the throne of God,” (Hebrews 12:2) from whence he now reigns, “until God has put everything in order under his authority” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
This is the basic biblical narrative of the incarnate Son of God, from the time of his birth, through his faithful life and death, his resurrection and sending of his Spirit, and on now with his people, the church, toward the time when the great restoration will be fulfilled. And this is the narrative of our lives as well, if we have joined our lives to the living reality of his, by faith. For we are called to live our lives in him, and this means to follow him in the way of faithfulness and, yes, in the way of sacrifice. Paul puts it like this in Ephesians 5.
“Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it . . . so that it might be holy and without blame” (verses 25-27). “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord” (verse 22).
In this way, Paul calls wives to exemplify what every Christian, including husbands and the unmarried, are called to do (cf., Romans 12:1-2). And he calls husbands to imitate the faithfulness of Christ, so that they may encourage and strengthen their wives in the pattern of life (in Christo) to which all people are called, again including the unmarried. We are all called to imitate the greatest Bridegroom of all, in the power of his Spirit, so that our lives may become whole and strong in him.
Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, detail, Graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2011. A younger sister looks out the window where Nicholas stands, having left a bag of gold on the windowsill. (In some early accounts, he would have dropped the gold down the chimney, or secretly left it inside the house.) Her older sister dances in the background because she has hope now to marry. My drawing no doubt makes their accommodations look more convenient than they would have been.
Of course, there are ramifications that ring out into our lives from this narrative. For example, we must not make an idol of sex–that is, to give it more power in our lives than it is due–unless we want to become confused about its real purpose. The degradations that result from idolatry are what Paul has in mind in Romans 1:18ff. Also, we should recognize that marriage has several purposes—mutual help, comfort, the procreation of life, and the preservation of chastity (Genesis 1-2, 1 Corinthians 7)—not all of which are focused on sex. If we are to follow our Lord, and live in his Spirit, we must be ready to take up the larger and wider callings that come with being good wives and husbands, as well as good neighbors and members of his bride, the church. Whether in our own personal lives, or in our corporate life together as his people, eros must be governed by agape. [ii]
But what, then, does all of this have to do with an old Bob Dylan song about a prospective bridegroom who is struggling to manage his inner fears, temptations, and doubts as he anticipates the arrival of his wedding day? Will he bolt and run, for fear of failure in the challenges of married life ahead? Or will he “get his mind off of wintertime” and rejoice in the arrival of his bride? Will he listen to the siren voices of romantic wanderlust, and travel to some distant place, or will he “pick up his money and pack up his tent” and look forward to the coming of his bride? What did Jesus do? What is he doing now?
By the third verse of Dylan’s song, we discover what our protagonist has decided to do. He will stay and embrace the covenant of marriage, with all that it entails. He plants his feet on solid ground and calls for the instruments of creativity and provision (perhaps also of procreativity): “Buy me a flute and a gun that shoots, I won’t accept no substitutes.” He intends now to honor his bride, like the Bridegroom is doing. He will fight for her against the enemy’s opposing forces, even if some of his own troops are weary or lagging. [iii] And he will “climb that hill no matter how steep,” so that he may rejoice in the joy set before him.
Thus, with the scriptural narrative ringing in our ears, we know what our Lord, our Bridegroom, has done (in his faithful life, death, and resurrection) and is doing (in the presence and power of his Spirit) in anticipation of the great day when his faithfulness will be fulfilled, when we too shall rise like him from the dead, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and there shall also be a great wedding banquet for the Lamb and for us.
Can you hear, as Deb and I do, his voice echoing beyond our own as we sing about the place of our marriage in his New Creation purpose and care?
Ooo wee, ride me high, tomorrow’s the day my bride will arrive.
O Lord, are we gonna fly, down in that easy chair.
[i] Deb and I aren’t saying that Dylan intended or foresaw all of the biblical allusions that we see reflected in his imagery. But he did become a Christian later in life; and he was always deeply influenced by the Bible, as he once told Paul Stookey.
[ii] This seems to be the main point of C. S. Lewis’s reflections in The Screwtape Letters, regarding the demonic strategy that uses certain art forms to confuse people about the importance of “being in love,” that is of romantic or erotic passion, as if this were the foundation and purpose of marriage. If the demons win this battle, says Lewis, they also create an excuse for divorce when the level of excitement changes over time. But then, Lewis also portrays, in That Hideous Strength, how the affection of eros can be restored where husband and wife learn to embrace the larger pattern of servant love (agape) and obedience to God. Eros can return as a result of a more caring and wholesome way of life together, not as the goal or purpose of marriage itself.
[iii] Given the culture wars in America today, many of which turn on the definition of sex, gender, and marriage; and given the strong rhetoric of “hate speech” that has been cast against Christians for trying to uphold, much less to recommend the covenant of marriage as a source for sexual healing in our culture; Paul’s discussion of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6) just after his instructions regarding marriage (Ephesians 5) does not seem at all accidental. In any event, to promote the Christian practice of marriage in our present culture will be a spiritual battle, to be sure; but one that the church must accept with a whole heart.
Saint Nicholas Praying for the Recovery of His Tradition, Watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2008. In this painting we see people of different races and ages seeking the light of Christ which brings them together as one family of faith. This also reflects the Apostle Paul’s vision of the Messiah’s single family.
In his letters to the Christians in Galatia and in Rome, the Apostle Paul explained with great energy why the coming of the Messiah into the world, “to give himself for our sins and to deliver us from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4), leaves no room for ethnic divisions, jealousy, or strife within the single family of God’s people. Indeed, according to Paul, God’s purpose from the beginning, as in the covenant promise to Abraham, has been to make one family of his people across all national (that is, ethnic) and cultural boundaries. Jesus confirmed this promise in his “great commission” (Matthew 28:18-20). And so, Paul declares with great boldness:
“For you are all children of God, through faith, in the Messiah, Jesus. You see, every one of you who has been baptized into the Messiah has put on the Messiah. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no ‘male and female’; you are all one in the Messiah, Jesus. And if you belong to the Messiah, you are Abraham’s family. You stand to inherit the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-28)
This was radical stuff in the strictly stratified culture of ancient Rome. It is radical stuff today. The church so aligned with its Lord (then and now), like Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, rejects Satan’s temptation to seek power by exploiting the nations (the ethne, Matthew 4:8-11). And like a city set on a hill, the church thereby demonstrates the power of his resurrection, the beginning of the new creation, his victory at the cross over the fallen powers, including the power of race itself where this has become disordered and abused. But what then does it look like as we live this life of new creation in our risen Lord and in his Spirit–where he is putting everything back in order, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, where race itself literally does not divide us?
In our current culture wars in America today, there are primarily two opinions about how to deal with issues of race and ethnicity. In order to avoid using merely partisan tags and labels, we may think of these in terms of two major leaders who speak for these two views, Robert Woodson and Ibram Kendi.[i] In Kendi’s view, using the ideas of Critical Race Theory (CRT), the topic of raceitself must be the primary focus for improving race relations. We must, therefore, divide people into groups according to their skin color, and judge them as oppressors (if white) or as victims (if black or, perhaps, people of color). No room here for differences among individuals based on traits of character, moral choice, or personal behavior. Then, we should proceed by creating government programs that favor the black victims and restrict or penalize the white oppressors.
In other words, according to Kendi’s view, we must follow a strategy that is exactly opposite of Paul’s view, as well as being opposed to the practices of Martin Luther King, Jr., who called Americans to judge one another “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Kendi, by contrast, regards the principle of “colorblindness” itself as a pillar of racism because it does not force the collective pre-judgement (what I would call the racial profiling!) demanded by CRT and the concept of “systemic racism.”
From the other side, Robert Woodson warns America that Kendi’s approach only creates division, envy, animosity, victim mentality, and lust for power. Indeed, Woodson regards CRT as a form of racism more insidious than the old-fashioned type of the KKK which was obvious on the face of it. Moreover, by focusing on race as an end in itself (as the CRT, DEI, ESG, and other government and corporate programs are now doing), we only make matters worse for the very people we say we are trying to help. The “race hustle,” as Woodson calls it, has a terrible history of failure. In the fifty years or so since the welfare state was created by LBJ’s “Great Society” programs, some 42 trillion dollars have been spent. Seventy percent of this went to operating costs for the government’s own overhead, not to recipients. And the inner cities have only gotten worse in every area of basic measurement (single-parent families, illegitimate birth rates [now 70%, up from 20% in the mid 1960s], educational outcomes, low income, neighborhood blight, violence, etc.).
Saint Nicholas Praying for the Recovery of His Tradition (Detail), watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2008. The title of this painting refers to the tradition (the “handing on”) of St. Nicholas. But Nicholas himself stood, as he knew, in the tradition of Jesus, born to Mary and Joseph, who kneel together in the background. And all of this reminds us that our Lord has chosen to mediate his new creation purpose through the ministry and participation of his pilgrim people, of which we too are a part.
By contrast, says Woodson, we should follow the guidance of Scripture, and focus instead on three basic things: 1. the grace of God extended to all people, all of whom are sinful, 2. the gifts and purpose that God has for every individual person, and 3. the goal of unity in a colorblind congregation, community, and society. Thus, Woodson champions leaders of every color, especially in the black community, who have become mentors for the people in their own neighborhoods. Such local, grass roots leaders demonstrate how to be responsible for one’s own life, and to succeed with discipline and dignity, even when there are still others around (including the CRT group and the white supremacists, strange bedfellows!) who insist on pre-judging people by the color of their skin. He calls these mentoring exemplars “Josephs,” for the role they play in leading the whole country toward healing, wholeness, and “a more perfect union.” As a result, the Woodson Center, in contrast to the welfare state, has a long history of major and sometimes miraculous success participating in the transformation of individuals, neighborhoods, and communities.[ii]
The difference between these two visions could not be more pronounced.[iii] One is highly idealistic, self-righteous, and brooks no dissent from its agenda, requiring a kind of “group think” from everyone, and ready to cancel or censor those who don’t toe the line. The other is realistic, recognizing that people are not perfect, that we are in fact sinful; but that we make progress by taking measured steps grounded in faith and moral tradition as we make our way toward “a more perfect union.” And only one of these visions is consistent with Paul’s vision of how the incarnate, crucified, and risen King, Jesus the Messiah, is restoring his people, even now, by the power of his Spirit, putting everything back into the proper order of creation, and building the new creation that is yet to be fulfilled.
The song that Deb and I are sharing this week, Some Children See Him, also follows Paul’s vision of the Messiah’s single family–making our way together in him on the road of new creation. Each verse of the song portrays children who imagine the baby Jesus as a member of their own ethnic group (though of course, historically, Jesus was not a member of any of the groups mentioned). Each verse shows, moreover, how our Lord’s life, his love, and his power, nonetheless, reach children (and people) in every group. And then, still ringing with Paul’s vision, the emphasis on groups stops, and we stand individually before Christ himself. In the light of his holy Light, we affirm our ethnic and racial heritages, to be sure; but we do not let them become an idol, separating us from him or from each other. Rather, we hear his own invitation through the music of jazz musician, Alfred Burt, and the words of Wihla Hutson:
[i] Robert Woodson is a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, who pulled away from that movement when he saw it turning into what he came to call the “race hustle” of the welfare state. He saw black and white elites growing wealthy by creating expensive programs that signaled their own virtue but did little to change conditions for the people they were supposed to help. In this assessment, Woodson is the protégé of Thomas Sowell. For further reading, see Robert Woodson, The Triumphs of Joseph: How Todays Community Healers Are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods. Ibram Kendi is one of the more prominent academic teachers of contemporary neo-Marxist ideas about race, based on the concept of “systemic racism” and the methods of Critical Race Theory. For further reading, see Ibram Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.
[ii] Woodson’s vision, following Paul and the Bible, does not ignore or demean our different ethnic heritages—the things that make us ethnically and culturally different from each other: for example, food, fashion, music, and even many of the elements that shape the way we worship God. But neither does he see why different groups should be forced by an academic or a government program to adopt the same cultural style, customs, congregation, or neighborhood. Rather, Woodson affirms the approach of Paul in Romans 14. We should leave room for our cultural differences (Paul’s word is adiaphora, that is, non-essentials). We should in fact honor these in our own and in each other’s lives. But we don’t have to force everyone into a single style. Thus, we may be different in our ethnic heritages without shame or guilt, and also united in our love for the living God who knows each of us from our mother’s womb and has a unique plan for each of us in his new creation.
[iii] The mention of two visions invites a further reference to the work of Thomas Sowell. Sowell has done as much as anyone on the planet to document with hard empirical evidence the ideas and actual results of the two visions we are examining. See Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, and The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Public Policy.
[iv] I take Hutson’s reference to “earthly things” here to mean precisely the ethnic and racial differences (adiaphora) that distinguish us culturally from one another in comparison to the unity that we have in Christ our Lord as fellow sinners made alive in the Spirit and making our way together with the single family of God toward the fulfillment of the new creation.
Saint Nicholas of the Oranges, Watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2009. This painting reminds us that St. Nicholas, following in the Spirit of his Lord, was renowned for his servant ministry to others, including his effort to provide citrus fruit for the sailors of Myra who suffered from scurvy as a result of long Mediterranean voyages. In the Bleak Midwinter, original poem by Christina Rosetti (1872), melody by Gustav Holst (1906), arrangement for guitar and cello by Craig and Deborah Gallaway (2021) based on the arrangement of the song for James Taylor’s album, At Christmas (2006).
As we prepare for the Christmas holidays during this Advent season, and some of us plan perhaps to take some time off from our regular schedule of life and work, are we also aware how our Lord’s incarnation has redefined the world in which we live and work?
The Apostle Paul addresses this question when he describes Jesus’s incarnation as the complete reversal of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. When the Son of God came into the world, unlike our first parents, Adam and Eve, he “did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but he emptied himself and became a servant, and was born in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-11). Likewise, later on in his ministry with his disciples, Jesus took a towel and a bowl of water and, in the manner of a common servant, he washed their feet, calling them to be servants as well (John 13:1-20).
And so, the incarnate Word came into the world to reverse the whole history of false pride, jealousy, envy, and vanity that ruled from Adam, to Cain and Abel, to Joseph and his brothers, right down to Jesus’s own disciples, who vied with each other for places of status and prestige, and also of course in our world today. “He was obedient even unto death on the cross,” Paul says, and so “God has exalted him and given him the name that is above every name . . . Lord.” The result is that our lives can be restored in him. Paul says simply, “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
But what does it look like in practice when our lives are restored in the image and power of the Son of God? Surely part of the answer must be that there is no job too “small” or “menial” for us to do. In a world that is habitually conscious of status and rank, we are called to serve in any and every way that is needed. This has perhaps a special relevance during the holiday season, when it can be all too easy to leave some tasks to others. But Paul calls us “not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think,” and to bring our gifts (whatever they may be: shepherd or wise man, doctor or dishwasher) into the service of the Lord; and above all to “offer him our hearts,” as Christina Rosetti’s poem expresses it. These are themes that Paul went over again and again in nearly every one of his letters, suggesting just how important and challenging this kind of restoration can be (Romans 12:5-21; compare 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4).
There is much, no doubt, that many of us are still learning about serving in this transforming way of humility as we seek to live truly in the power of the risen Christ and in the fruits of his Spirit. But there is a second, and perhaps even more difficult implication of the incarnation for our lives and work.
Snow Dance, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2010. Based on C. S. Lewis’s Narnia Tales, The Silver Chair. The children were held captive in a cave below ground until they escaped into the open air to join the dance of creation with the other free peoples of Narnia.
Our Lord’s servant ministry also sets us free from the need to base our identities on what we do. Because we live our lives in him, we are not defined by which gifts we are given, or what job we have. Our work should never become an idol, vying to control our life when our true Lord would free us for the life of new creation. This is especially significant in this day and time. It is a “bleak midwinter” indeed, when companies in every sector of our economy are requiring their workers to embrace ideas and actions that do not honor the Lord of all creation. But being a servant does not mean agreeing to do whatever anyone asks us to do. We have only one Lord; and he is the one who sets the terms of our service (Romans 12:11).
I realize that I am raising what must be for some of us a very difficult set of problems. Deb and I understand this difficulty personally because, though we are retired now, we had to deal with this at one point in Craig’s career as the editorial director of a major religious publisher. But Paul seems to know and understand this territory as well. For, after describing the gifts in Romans 12:3-6, he goes on to describe in more detail how we are to use them. “Love must be genuine,” he says. “Hate what is evil; stick fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). Perhaps some of us will have to sever ties with a particular job or company because they demand that we “conform to the pattern of this fallen world.” But Paul also says that we should do good to everyone, even to our enemies, because this sometimes has the effect of winning them over (Romans 12:10-18). Therefore, some of us may be able to stay at a compromised job because the Lord is using us to change things.
And then Paul goes on to call us to use the “ruling authorities” who are given by God to restrain evil (Romans 13:1-5). The court system in America today is often serving as a last bastion of protection for our freedom of religious and moral conscience under God. Above all, Paul keeps his own mind grounded in the presence of the risen Christ (who, he says, is even now “praying for us,” Romans 8:34), and in the power of the Spirit (who “intercedes” for us, 8:26), and on the goal of new creation itself. This is what gives him (and us) a calm confidence, no matter what difficulties arise, that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:22-39).
And so, as strange as it might seem to a secular observer of “Xmas,” we celebrate Advent and Christmas by rejoicing in the freedom that our Lord brings into our lives to serve him openly, generously, and without pride, envy, or fear of losing our position in a dark and embattled world. For he has broken the power of those fears and passions, first in his own faithful life and death, and then in his resurrection and the sending of his Spirit to work powerfully among us.
Heaven could not hold him, while the earth was stained.
Heaven and earth will shine again, when he comes to reign.[1]
Some readers may notice that Deb and I have changed the words to Christina Rosetti’s original second stanza. This is because the original words–“Heaven and earth will flee away when he comes to reign”–do not reflect the full scriptural promise of new creation. Was this a slip by Rosetti into the artistic idealism of the romantic movement of which she was part? Did she not realize that Jesus was born physically, and suffered physically, and was raised physically, in order to be the first born from the dead (Col. 1:18) and to restore the material world? Or was she referring only to the cleansing stage of judgement day, to which both Paul and Peter refer (1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2nd Peter 3:4-13).
Faith and the Arts 