Birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, they are all important markers in our lives. And of course their significance changes over time. A birthday when we are 7 is not the same as one when we are 70. We may even continue to celebrate a birthday for someone after they are dead – recognizing the birthday of Lincoln or Beethoven is a way to acknowledge their importance.
So recognizing the birthday of Jesus is natural. That’s why we have Christmas every year, even if the significance of that birthday changes as we change.
But is this really a good way to think about why we celebrate Christmas? – It’s the birthday of someone important.
Viewing it this way orients us to looking backwards. Any of these events, birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, all point us towards memories of the past, what has happened, how we got to where we are now. For sure such thinking has its place in our spiritual life. As the psalmist says: “I remember the days of old; I ponder all your deeds” (Ps 143:5)
However our readings today don’t point us in that direction. They are not concerned with looking backwards, but rather with looking forwards (Mk 13:33-37). “Be watchful! Be alert!” They don’t speak to what has been, but what is to come. “You do not know when the time will come”. They are not about what is known from the past, but about what is unknown in the future.
We can fall into the trap of thinking our faith is about what has happened. One of the key features of that faith is that it’s a historical faith; it is based on things that happened in the past, that God became man as a historical fact, that we were saved by our baptism and our recognition of this fact. But our faith isn’t really about what has happened, however important that may be. It’s about what is still to come. And what is still to come is unknown. Our attitude isn’t one of comfortable reflection on what we know, but of radical uncertainty about what we don’t know. The psalmist in Psalm 143 isn’t looking back to the good old days or feeling happy about what has been achieved, he’s desperately holding on to his faith despite his current difficulties.
Uncertainty, difficulties, doubts – that’s life, that’s normal. It’s in that uncertainty that we have faith. We don’t know what the future will bring. What we do know is that He is ahead of us, He is coming, we are waiting in anticipation. We don’t know what we are waiting for, but we know he will be there, however it may be, in it all.