Why it is ‘worship’ to slip a dragon into your nativity scene.
There is a long biblical tradition of God mocking his defeated enemies.
The filling of the CHAOS with CREATION in Genesis 1 is a victorious mocking.
So are the 12 plagues God unleashed on Egypt. Each plague was a particular humiliation of an Egyptian god or goddess. The GOOD NEWS message in the plagues was, “Yahweh is stronger than Egypt’s pantheon and we are leaving this house of slavery! Get packed and be ready…”
David, the stone-slinger, took Goliath’s armor. And head.
Elijah the prophet mocked the prophets of Baal, and Baal himself, with the sacrificial showdown in 1 Kings 18.
In Psalm 23 the Heavenly Shepherd serves his flock a feast of grace while their enemies are forced to stand around and watch, unable to disrupt it.
In all four gospels Jesus walked out of the tomb with a laugh three days after his death certificate was signed by the coroner and filed at the county registrar’s office.
If all of this feels like rough treatment from the God of LOVE and MERCY, you should know this was the way of the ancient world. It was expected that the victor in battle wins the right to gloat. That explains the language used in Colossians 2:15 – He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in [the cross] - it’s the imagery of a conquering general returning to the capital city, showered with flower petals and pulling behind his chariot the bound and vanquished enemy.
The GOSPEL in this gloating is the celebration that these enemies tried to ruin salvation and failed. Each of these enemies tried to keep us from our God, but our God answered with a SAVIOR. The strength of our enemies is overpowered by the SALVATION of our REDEEMER. This also means that the language of our HOLY GLOATING sounds a lot less like gloating, and more like REJOICING and PRAISE. It sounds like WORSHIP. But in our worship, we never lose touch with our story, that we are a saved people, and saved people have been delivered from the clutches of hateful enemies. Our story is filled with beaten enemies and rejoicing saints.
So when it comes to including a dragon figurine or cut out in our manger scenes, we are keeping the biblical tradition. Revelation 12 gives us a sweeping version of the nativity - it is not just a baby story, it is a cosmic battle. Satan was stalking Jesus from his birth, intent on devouring him. And the dragon failed. The dragon is beaten. In a rage, he is still stalking the church - if he can’t devour Jesus, he can at least prey on the saints and disciples. The dragon is still lashing and scorching and biting. He wounds us, and doles out sorrows and tears. But he is defeated. His power continues to slip, and his bite is softening as the return of Jesus nears. That is worth REJOICING over! That is worth CELEBRATING! It deserves some HOLY GLOATING in our family worship (to keep the tradition alive and vibrant with our kids and the succeeding generations!) and it is worth including in our manger scenes.
Camel + Needle Press has included the dragon’s defeat in the conclusion of Far From Home: a Family Liturgy For Advent & Christmas; and we are hosting a HOLY GLOATING contest this month –SHOW US YOUR DRAGON! Find details at https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122484297335615&set=a.100665562850822.
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