Christmas Child

For Christians, the story of Christmas reveals something quite remarkable about God, which we often forget.

A subtle piece of mistranslation has led us to have a peculiarly Western take on the birth of Jesus.  In Luke 2:7 we are used to reading something like this:

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The result is that our Christmas cards show the holy family in the cow-shed among the animals since there were no vacant hotel rooms.  But the word translated 'inn' actually just means 'place to stay' and could just as easily apply to a spare bedroom - a much more likely destination in the context of Middle Eastern hospitality.  So it's a fair bet that the story played out more like this...

Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to Bethlehem for the Roman census, even though Mary was due to give birth.  They arrived, tired from their journey, in the main street of Bethlehem.  Someone saw them - friend, relative, stranger, it barely matters - and approached Joseph.

'It looks like you need somewhere to stay.  Our guest room is already taken, but you're welcome to stay in the main room with the family.'

So Joseph and Mary went home with this man.  The home had two rooms - a small guest room, and a large room where the family cooked, ate and slept.  At one end of the main room was a lower portion of the house where the animals slept at night.  Joseph and Mary were welcomed and given something to eat, and a bit of space was made for them to sleep, but no-one was going to be sleeping that night because Mary's contractions had already started.  

As night fell the animals were ushered inside and the doors shut to keep in the warmth.  The women of the house helped Mary with her labour while the men stayed out of the way.  When Jesus was born Mary fed him, then the women showed her how to carefully wrap him in blankets and he was laid in the feed trough, near the animals where it was nice and warm.

And that was how God was revealed.

God was not revealed in the conquering Roman armies.  God was not revealed in King Herod's murderous scheming.  God was not revealed in the expensive pomp and ceremony of the High Priest in Herod's marble temple.  God was revealed in a tiny, helpless newborn child, born to an ordinary family, far from home and sheltered by another ordinary family in a two room cottage.  

We are not used to thinking of God this way.  We are used to thinking of a powerful, indeed all-powerful, being who marches at the head of a band of angels and rains fire and lightning on the earth.  

In 1 Kings 19 we read that after Elijah triumphed over the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel threatened revenge and Elijah had to run for his life.  Where was this powerful God, and why had God not proceeded to triumph over King Ahab and take back the kingdom after Baal was shown to be a sham?

The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’

What sort of God is this, you might ask?  This God who barely speaks loudly enough to be heard, who appears as the kind of child who barely gets noticed, whose representatives have to hide in a cave or flee across the border when the powerful flex their muscles?  

Well, for a start this is the kind of God you serve because you want to, not because you have to.  You serve Caesar, or Herod, because if you don't you can be imprisoned or executed.  This is the kind of God who will be imprisoned or executed with you, or even for you.  When you have an audience with Caesar you will bow before him because you have no choice.  When you see a tiny baby you will pick it up and rock it because its very helplessness draws you to it.  We begrudge paying our taxes and pay no more than we absolutely have to. We long to have children, and when we do we give them not only all we have, but our very lives.

This is the kind of God of whom the apostle John could say:

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This baby is not a trick.  God is not lulling us into a false sense of security in order to spring out at us unawares, flaming sword in hand.  This baby is a sign to us of who God is, and who we should be.  God does not just perform love, God is love.  To know God is to love.  To know God is to know the welcome of a loving family, to know hospitality in a strange place, to hear a voice that whispers so softly we need to strain our ears and quiet the beating of our hearts.  This God might seem powerless in the face of rulers and oligarchs, or armies and global corporations, but they will come and go while this God endures.  

God gives us a choice.  'Throw in your lot with the rich and powerful, or follow me.'  Choose wisely, and a have fantastic, love-filled Christmas.