Yet another thought for us this Advent...

"The Bethlehem mystery will ever be a scandal to aspiring disciples who seek a triumphant Savior and a prosperity Gospel.  The infant Jesus was born in unimpressive circumstances, no one can exactly say where.  His parents were of no social significance whatsoever, and his chosen welcoming committee were all turkeys, losers and dirt-poor shepherds.  But in this weakness and poverty the shipwrecked at the stable would come to know the love of God. 

Sadly, Christian piety down through the centuries has prettified the Babe in Bethlehem.  Christian art has trivialized divine scandal into gingerbread creches.  Christian worship has sentimentalized the smells of the stable into dignified pageant...

Pious imagination and nostalgic music rob Christmas of its shock value, while some scholars reduce the crib to a tame theological symbol.  But the shipwrecked at the stable tremble in adoration of the Christ-child and quake at the inbreak of God Almighty.  Because all the Santa Clause and red-nosed reindeer, fifty-foot trees and thundering church bells put together create less pandemonium than the infant Jesus when, instead of remaining a statue in a crib, he comes alive and delivers us over to the fire that he came to light." (Watch for the Light, Brennan Manning 188-189)