Drawn to the Manger
Photo by Antonio M E on Unsplash
As the seasons change,
And trees outside my window
Bear witness to
Their coming slumber,
My heart and mind
Inevitably
Turn toward memories
Of the same
Impending season –
From years gone by.
Perhaps it is because
Advent
Has a way of simultaneously
Reminding me of hope
And tapping into
A need
For hope
That is both
Personal and collective.
Whatever the reason,
Both this literal season
And this liturgical season
Pull me into
Memories
And into
Meaning-making
That only
This time of year
Seems to prompt.
This year,
Those memories
Have taken me to a
Bygone Christmas
When I was serving
As a parish pastor,
And a child –
Unexpectedly –
Became the preacher.
This year,
That meaning-making
Is nourished
By my recent encounters
With the writings
Of Rev. Dr. Amy Lindeman Allen –
A New Testament Scholar/Practitioner
Who invites all of us
To look for the children –
Hiding in plain sight –
In every biblical story,
Including
In the “Christmas Gospel”
Of Luke 2.
First the memory.
It was Christmas Eve.
The sanctuary
Had been decorated
With poinsettias,
Candles,
And fresh greenery.
The fragrant blue spruce
That stood in the corner
Behind the pulpit
Was pregnant
With ornately cross-stitched Chrismons,
Telling the story of faith.
By their various heights,
The candles on the Advent wreath
Reflected the journey
That was now complete,
And the congealed pools of wax
Cascading from their flames,
Testified
To the watch
That hand been kept
For that very night.
It was Christmas Eve,
And the people came once again
To hear the Christmas story,
To sing the hymns of the faith,
To join in Communion
with the great cloud of witnesses
Celebrating
That the Word of God
Has become flesh.
It was Christmas Eve.
The story from Luke
Was read,
And the announcement was made
That
Unto you is born this day,
In the city of David,
A Savior who is Christ the Lord -
It was as if the angel of God
Had spoken again
To tell the good news,
And it was as it had been many times before.
All was as it would be on that night
Until the end of time.
And yet,
One very particular thing was different.
The time of worship was almost over.
The festive candles had been lit through the Sanctuary.
They were held
By hands of children,
And hands old,
Knotted,
And worn.
A young gentleman
Stepped forward and played
What Child is This?
On the dulcimer,
And as those Celtic sounds
Melodiously lullabied
The Christ-child,
One little boy slipped away from his parents
And made his way down the center aisle.
It was Christmas Eve,
And through the actions
Of that tiny child of God,
The angels sang,
The shepherds traveled,
The child was found in the manger,
And the good news of great joy
Was proclaimed once again.
He did not run.
He was respectful,
Quietly deliberate
As he walked forward.
As I watched from my chair by the altar,
I could see his eyes were intensely focused.
What was he seeing?
Where was he headed?
When the dulcimer
Was reaching the end of the lullaby,
The little boy
Stood next to the towering Christmas tree.
His face was aglow
With wonder and delight
He scanned the Chrismons,
And then –
Just as the dulcimer reached its final chord –
This precious little boy
Reached forward with his chubby little hands.
He gently touched a Chrismon of the manger,
And then –
Then –
He brought his face to that beautifully,
Hand-crafted Gospel,
And he kissed the baby in the manger.
Letting go of the Chrismon,
He stepped back from the tree,
And returned on the path
From which he had come.
It was Christmas Eve,
And through the actions
Of that tiny child of God,
The angels sang,
The shepherds traveled,
The child was found in the manger,
And the good news of great joy
Was proclaimed once again.
That’s the memory.
Now for the meaning-making.
In her book,
The Gifts They Bring,
Dr. Allen asks,
Of a variety of New Testament stories,
Who are the children in this story?
In addressing this question,
She combines
Research
Of First Century cultural
And societal practices,
Word studies,
And Biblical scholarship.
This combination
Leads her to suggest
That in Luke 2 –
The Christmas Gospel –
There are more children
Than we may have ever imagined.
Yes,
The Word of God
Is enfleshed
In a baby.
Yes,
Mary is young –
On the cusp of womanhood –
And yes,
There are other children too –
In the crowds
Journeying to their hometowns –
And also –
Central to the story –
There are children
On the hillside,
Keeping watch
Over their flocks
By night.
The shepherds,
Dr. Allen suggests –
Were children,
Aged seven to twelve.
The shepherds
Were children.
Let that sink in.
Perhaps there were adults too,
She suggests,
But in the agrarian societies
Of the First Century,
Much like in agrarian societies of today –
One of the first jobs
Of children
Was to tend the sheep and the goats
Out in the fields –
Like David
Of old.
The.
Shepherds.
Were.
Children.
This insight
Has changed my Advent.
This insight
Has altered
How I think about Christmas.
This insight
Has infused
My memory
Of that little boy,
Drawn to the manger,
In a now,
Long ago Christmas.
Think about it.
The first group of people
To receive the news
Of the inbreaking
Of the reign of God
Were children.
The first group of people
Who were drawn to the manger –
In heart, mind, spirit,
And body –
Were children.
The first group of people
To bear witness –
To make known what had been told them
About this child –
Were children.
The first group of people
To glorify and praise God
For this child –
Were children.
And,
By their
Receiving,
By their
Being drawn,
By their
Proclaiming,
By their
Glorifying and praising –
The shepherds –
The children –
Show us the life of faith.
Receive.
Embody.
Proclaim.
Glorify and praise.
That,
Beloveds,
Gives new meaning
To Advent
And Christmas.
That,
Beloveds,
Makes our
Nativity plays
Profoundly real.
That,
Beloveds,
Invites us into
New ways
Of thinking,
Being,
And living –
Nourished –
Dare I say,
Led –
In the daily ministry of our faith communities –
By children.
And so,
Beloveds,
In this
Advent – Christmas – Epiphany cycle –
And throughout the whole year –
Keep your eyes open
For the children –
Hiding in plain sight –
Who draw us to the Christ-child
And make known
To all who have eyes to see
And ears to hear
The good news of great joy
That is Jesus.
