​A Crèche Look at Christmas

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia
Christmas Eve, 9:00PM
December 24, 2019
The Rev. John Taliaferro Thomas
 
It was a large and diverse parish church with many, many children from overachieving families.  Long before I served there, the leadership had made the decision to have a no rehearsal, high participation pageant on Christmas Eve.  It was a brilliant theological happening.  We had a new, young family who had had an October baby play Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.  They took their places and as we told the story, we invited anyone who wanted to participate to come forward.  We advertised ahead of time for children to come as whoever they wanted to be in the Christmas story.  We had a big trash can full of shepherd’s staffs, boxes of halo head pieces, and, lots of glittery stars on long sticks to hold up and twinkle.  We had the acolytes prepared and placed strategically to heard and help as necessary.
 
As the whole thing unfolded, we had numbers of young people in bathrobes, some with painted on sheep noses, and some good cow costumes complete with utters.  But because we invited all comers, we had many princesses, three Power Rangers, one Spiderman, two Supermen, a Ninja Turtle, and a lobster.  That night stands out as unforgettable for this veteran priest and pageant director.  And in the end, I do not believe that experience was as far from the heart of the Christmas story as we might think.
 
Our pictures of the manger scene are particular, traditional, and artfully arranged.  Renaissance artists depict a decidedly European looking holy family, a fat cherubic Christ Child, and a cleaned up bunch of shepherds.  Our crèche scenes depict a lonely and isolated couple in the manger, with reclining bovines and a few fluffy white sheep.  For sure, Joseph and Mary bore the hardship of traveling just before the delivery, and they were far from home when the time came.  Adding to that, their encounters with dreams and angels, telling them of the miracle of this child’s conception left them amazed and wondering, while their friends and relatives were, more likely, skeptical.  So their solitude in carrying this part of the story is poignant for sure.
 
There is another line of sight into the crèche, though.  In first century Bethlehem, homes were two to three rooms at most.  There was the family room where everyone sheltered and slept.  And there was the other room, where the animals were housed and fed.  If there was a third room, it was a luxury for visitors and extended family that did not fit in the main lodging.  Some homes had that additional space on the roof.  The inns of the day were more like air b and bs. For travelers in a culture noted for its hospitality, a few spare rooms were let out, but mostly, there were just provided gratis for guests or travelers.
 
As the story goes, Joseph and Mary went down to Bethlehem to be enrolled.  We know they were not orphans, and as they made the trip to be counted with their family, it is likely that they had a large and extended one, as almost all people did back in their day.  Quirinius’ census was really just a big, bureaucratic invite to a family reunion.  No wonder there were no rooms in the inn, or the guest room, or spare room or wherever.  The stable where Joseph and Mary lodged was overflow shelter before the days of air mattresses.  And it makes sense that this stable where Jesus was born was part of the extended family’s home.  And if Jesus birth was like any other first century birth there would have been village midwives helping out, uncles and aunties listening from the other room, and lots of squealing children awaiting an new cousin.
 
While the script focuses on the main characters, the part we might consider here is that there were lots of extras on the scene.  Births were then as they are now, occasions for concern and celebration all at once.  The addition to new life in a family is always life changing and more than a little miraculous.  And birth is one of the most faith-affirming moments, assuring us that our Creator God is not done with humanity, but still working miracles among us.
 
This birth of Jesus, the child of the Holy Spirit, God made human, Emmanuel, God with us, is a particular and unique event that changes human and history so much -- that we mark all of time around its happening.  Jesus’ otherness is what we will see and experience as we tell and live with the rest of his story.  It is a matter of theological mystery a lifetime of faithful wonderment.  The greatness of Jesus is also his us-ness: his birth and belonging in an extended family, his vulnerability in being delivered through skilled and compassionate hands, and the fact that from day one, he is surrounded by those who help him thrive and care for him as one of us.
 
So this Christmas, why not add to the crèche scene. Add an extended family, a few health care providers, and excited children, dressed as whoever they want to be.  And while we are at it, we might include our own likeness in there was well.  For this child Jesus to grow and thrive in this world, God needs us too.
 
If you come this evening as a regular or a guest, welcome to your family of God.  We all play a part in this pageant.  No role in bringing Jesus to life in this world is ever insignificant.  And if we ever think that God has given up on the world, we tell God’s birth story and affirm that hope is still being born, awe and wonder are very much alive, and God is still delivering love in person.  Amen.