Cherishing the Christmas Story, or Stories

This morning, Norm and I sat in our living room in front of our Christmas tree, lit our Christmas candle and read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Luke. In this account, Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem to be enrolled on a tax list, and while they are there, Mary gives birth to the baby and cradles him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. Angels announce good news to some nearby shepherds, and they come to see the child. The angels proclaim "peace on earth" and "goodwill" to humankind.

The figures in the nativity set above that my mother first purchased over 60 years ago at a discount store portray this version of the story. There is a donkey, a dog, a couple of sheep, a shepherd, Joseph and Mary, and an angel. There is also a cow and a second shepherd, bigger than the other figures, that were added later. The original set also came with three Wise Men, including one who appears African in origin. The set didn't have any camels, so those too were added later, and they are a little larger. I'm not sure why there are only two. Perhaps the store ran out of camels that year, or maybe two were what mother could afford out of her grocery money.

The Wise Men, or Magi, aren't mentioned in Luke's account; they come from the version in Matthew's gospel. In that story, Jesus is born in Bethlehem because that's where Joseph and Mary live, and the wise men from The East follow a star until they come to the home where the baby can be found. They present three kinds of gifts and worship the child. Because there are three gifts, we assume there were only three wise men, although scholars today seem to think there could have been more, perhaps even some wise women, on that pilgrimage. We assume they rode camels because that was the transportation system in those times, but it is tradition, because the Gospels don't say. So my mother's nativity set puts these two stories together, and this is the mental picture most of us carry with us when we think of the Christmas story. Sometimes we are suprised when we go to the Bible and read the stories anew, because what they say, and what we remember of tradition, may not always be the same. Yet some themes endure: good news, wonder, and the angels' message "do not be afraid."

The second photo above is of the first nativity set Norm and I purchased, when we were living in Denver. We went to a winter festival at Georgetown, Colo., and the simplicity of the three gilt figures--Joseph, Mary and the Babe in the manger--appealed to us because it emphasized the central characters in the Christmas drama, without the extras. A year or so later we found the simple wooden frame at another craft fair. From time to time I may add a couple of other figures, usually a folk art angel as in this scene from this year. But this nativity helps us concentrate on the baby and his parents, the very human figures in this often supernatural tale.

Neither of the remaining Gospels has a narrative of Jesus' birth, but the Gospel of John brings yet another perspective: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....And the Word became flesh and lived among us." There it is. God became flesh, like us, and lived among us. That is what led the magi across a desert to see. That is what the angels proclaimed to the shepherds, who were the untouchables of their day. The baby who grew up to be known as Jesus of Nazareth often compared himself to a shepherd. And Christians today who dedicate their lives to serving the least of humanity around them will testify that the Word lives among us, still.

Merry Christmas.