“Even now we simply do not expect to find deity in a stable.
Somehow the setting is all wrong:
the swaddling clothes too plain,
the manger too common for the likes of a Savior,
the straw inelegant, the animals, reeking and noisy,
the whole scene too ordinary for our taste.
And the cast of characters is no better.
With the possible exception of the kings,
who among them is fit for this night?
The shepherds? Certainly too crude,
the carpenter too rough,
the girl too young.
And the baby!
Whoever expected the advent of God in a helpless child?
Had the Messiah arrived in the blazing light of the glory of a legion of angels wielding golden swords,
the whole world could have been conquered for Christ right then and there
and we in the church – to say nothing of the world! – wouldn’t have so much trouble today.
Even now we simply do not expect to face the world armed with love!”
(Unexpected by Ann Weems from her collection, Kneeling in Bethlehem.)
The Church tries to help us prepare for this most unlikely birth, by setting aside four weeks as the season of advent to anticipate the coming of the Christ child. We light one candle each week, hold back on decorations as we try to imagine a time before the birth, a time of oppression for the “chosen people” and a time of difficult circumstances for many, especially for Mary, Joseph, their families, in a culture of shame and blame. What the law and prophets could not fully expect was that the Messiah would come as an infant, small, vulnerable, to a young couple, not yet married, because God found receptive faith in Mary and Joseph. Willing to accept God’s divine intervention in their lives, they trusted God, surrendered to the Spirit and became theotokos – God-bearers.
On that night, in a bare stable, without the comfort of friends or family, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Joseph paced around waiting for the cry of the newborn, the universal sign of new life. Wrapping the small infant in cloth, soothing his cry, holding him tightly to share her warmth, Mary looked into the face of God as Joseph leaned over to share the joy. It was the quintessential NOW of GOD: God with Us, in the form of a child, the most vulnerable of all human beings. Jesus, Son of God and son of man, shares the natures of both human beings and God. Miracle? Yes!
In this biological age, a virgin birth and a host of angels singing Glory to God in the highest, requires a new way of knowing. We have no instruments to measure the divine spirit in a person, but we who gather in this holy place this night know that everything real is not quantifiable. Let the skeptics take a night off. Let the scientists pause in their frantic pace to explain nature and let the world be still tonight while we take a moment to look into the manger and see this child and try to get our minds to comprehend the miracle of love.
Christmas Eve is like a time machine, taking us back to every Christmas we have ever known. As a small child, I found it hard to sleep, waiting and hoping to get a glimpse of Santa. As a young parent, there was so much to do, that my ability to worship was interrupted by stray thoughts, did I remember Aunt Beth, how long should the turkey bake, will everything be ready on time. In midlife, Christmas was defined by large extended family gatherings, 20-25 people, setting up borrowed tables, planning and long hours of practice to get all the music right for the Christmas Eve service. Communion for the later service began about midnight so it was already Christmas day by the time I got home. We all need to stop for a few minutes and let the wonder of this night and all it symbolizes take root in us. Let this place, this time, right here, right now be Bethlehem, where we have hauled the hopes and fears of all our years to lay them in front of a manger.
Our hopes and dreams enter our consciousness in remarkable ways at Christmas. Our best wishes for ourselves and others and what our lives should be like once God has been born into them are illustrated in pictures on our Christmas cards. What clues do the cards you sent or received offer about this Christmas? What were the images? What were the words? Unless you and your friends are very different from mine, the words were peace, joy and love. My favorite is this one: the baby penguin who likes to dance but is unable to sing. Happy feet expresses his joy in dancing while his father looks down in a mixture of pride and concern, knowing the future of this child is not going to be easy. Who he is will cause rejection by his own, as Jesus was rejected for his vision of peace and justice, his acceptance of those different, from the margins, but important to God. Who expected Happy Feet to be a Christ figure? Then who expected the Messiah to come to earth as a vulnerable baby? Immanuel – God with us, in a stable, surrounded by sheep and shepherds and angels singing. Take a moment and feel the peace, hear the joy of angels singing, and share the love born in Bethlehem for you, for me, for everyone. God with us, is not a formula for easy living, a life without difference, a life without problems, but it is the promise that God will be present in all the conditions of our lives.
Drink in this feeling of God with us because we all know that in too short a time we must go into the world with its chaotic tensions. We are not alone. The holy family also had to leave the stable and go home by another way, for the forces of their world were also hostile. So in the bare, cold, dark stable, Mary and Joseph comforted the baby, named him Jesus…Emmanuel, God with us, right here, right in the middle of it all. Not God up in the sweet by and by, off in the clouds, judgment seat from the celestial skies, but God with us, in our world, in our human form, one with us. A host of angels announce that the heavens are open tonight and everyone up there is coming down, right here, right into our own Bethlehem, bringing us the God who has decided to make his home in our arms.
“The Christmas spirit is that hope – which tenaciously clings to the hearts of the faithful –
And announces in the face of any Herod the world can produce – and all the inn doors slammed in our faces – and all the dark nights of our souls – that with God – all things are possible, that even now – unto us – a child is born!” (The Christmas Spirit, Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem)
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