Where are you Christmas?
It was in a cave in the Italian village of Greccio that the first live nativity scene was placed. The year was 1223, and Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (the man who would become St Francis of Assisi) asked the Pope at the time (Honorius III) if he could stage a visual representation of the birth of Jesus, complete with a manger and live animals – one ox and one donkey. Bonaventure, another Franciscan monk, reported that Francis was so overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment that he found it difficult to proclaim the name of “Jesus”, so referred to him as “the babe of Bethlehem”. From these humble beginnings came a beautiful tradition that has spread across the world. Within 100 years, every Catholic church in Italy had a nativity scene, with statues eventually taking over from the live representations of the biblical people (and animals).
It is a wonderful tradition which even our own Dianella Plaza still upholds (which is great to see in our secular world), but…if we leave it as just an aesthetic symbol of the season, something pretty to look at amongst the lights, tinsel and trees, we lose the meaning. This was exactly St Francis’ reason for starting all of this – to shift the attention back to the birth of Christ and away from the ‘materialism’ of the world, including gift-giving and other trappings of the season. It’s quite ironic that for many of us, we celebrate Christmas with lots of indulgences – too much food and drink, and gifts galore that challenge our credit cards to see if they will work one last time! And yet, for that babe of Bethlehem, there was no excess – it was in fact the complete opposite. Born into poverty, he and his family would soon have to flee into Egypt to escape the Massacre of the Innocents. Yes, the Holy Family were poor refugees – not too many Mariah Carey songs about that!
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas with trees and lights, feasts and decorations, gifts and merriment. I’m all for these things – in fact, I love a bit of Santa magic and have probably seen every Christmas special and movie. You can have all of this and eat and drink it too. It is just that we can’t lose sight of the real meaning – why all this started!
You see, I think we often get caught up in the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ – the ‘Spirit of the Season’ – but we forget that the Spirit we are referring to is the Holy Spirit, that illusive third member of the Trinity. Maybe we can blame Charles Dickens and Ebenezer Scrooge for personifying the Christmas Spirits – but again, this is one of my favourite stories and the message of kindness and charity in ‘A Christmas Carol’ is as important in our society as it was in Dickens’ time. So, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water just yet (the pun is intended). There must be a way to keep both.
Let me give an example. I was watching the Perth Christmas Pageant the other night and the commentator, as the ‘Nativity Float’ rounded the corner, stated “Now, a reminder of what some see as the real meaning of Christmas…” This is like saying that some think that milk if for calves to drink. In fact, you might be amazed at how little in a Christmas pageant has to do with the true meaning (not just for some) of Christmas.
The solution? I think it is quite simple, really. Just start with this – literally and metaphorically, Christmas begins with Christ. It is, after all, ‘the mass of Christ’ and at its essence is the birth of a child – and how this moment in history (arguably the most significant one – and the reason we bow our head in mass during the recital of the Creed) changed the world. The incarnation of Christ was a game changer. No longer was God at arm’s length, but He joined us in radical solidarity – to become one of us. Not only did this create a redemption of humanity, but it meant the connection between us and God became so much stronger. Christmas is one of those special times when I think we feel this connection more closely, when we are more open to seeing God in all things and all people. After all, we have a God who is not only willing to but wants to share in our lives. He wants to hear what it is that is bothering you and what wonderful thing happened today. We were always created in God’s image and likeness (pause just for a moment to think about that!), but it is through the incarnation that we find God in our reality – not just out there, but right here! It is the fulfilment of God’s love for us. As the angels declared on that first Christmas night:
Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today, in the town of David, a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
So, have your merriment and your traditions, your presents and your over-indulging. Sing songs about reindeer, snowmen, and Santa. Spend time with your family and friends and share that ‘holiday cheer’. All this is great but try to remember why it was that the angels brought good tidings and peace to all people of goodwill. Let the birth of that ‘babe of Bethlehem’ kindle in you a sense of the sacredness of the season – a moment’s thought of why it is this is a special holy day (as you may have guessed, this is the origin of the term holiday). Don’t put Christ back into Christmas – he never left! But remember how special it is that Jesus Christ, eternal Son of the Father, chose to become one of us – to experience what it is to be human – to make everything human, divine. Spend a little time this Christmas pondering the love of God for humanity. Imagine the moment that the Divine Trinity decided to enter the world through the incarnation…to change everything, to make everything new. This is true Spirit of Christmas, the birth of the Christ child in our lives.
Have a happy, safe and blessed Christmas.
Dr Nathan Leber
