Friday, December 19, 2014

Bishop Hollerith's 2014 Christmas message



Dear Episcopal Church Family in Southern Virginia,

The crèche is surely one of the most enduring traditions of the Christmas season.  During the holidays many churches manage to display one somewhere on their property.  Crèches really vary in size – from a small display set on a table in the back of the church or parish hall, to a life-size, elaborately lighted one in the church yard.  And there are a few industrious congregations that even perform an outdoor living crèche, replete with live animals and costumed congregants.

Likewise, crèches are popular in homes.  I grew up watching my mother set one up each year with delicate precision on the dining room sideboard.  The figurines were made of china.  I can still remember the “negative feedback” my baby brother and I received one Christmas when we “borrowed” Joseph to lead our army of plastic toy soldiers into battle.

Lizzie and I have a crèche that was given to us years ago as a wedding present.  Rather than made of china, ours is made from olive wood from the Holy Land.  It appears to be indestructible – which is a good thing after raising three children.  Each Christmas Lizzie still sets it up on our dining room sideboard – just as my mother did – just as her mother did.

Regardless of size or location, all crèches have a couple of common attributes.  The first and most obvious are the characters – Mary, Joseph, barn animals, wise men, sometimes shepherds, maybe an angel or two, and, of course always, the baby Jesus.

A second and less obvious attribute is that crèches are opened depictions.  The barn scene is always displayed outwardly toward the observer – not unlike a stage play is displayed outwardly toward an audience.  Each crèche means to tell a story – the story of Jesus birth.  Yet, this telling is about more than the mere conveyance of historical fact.   The crèche is an attempt to dramatize something holy, to elicit in an observer a first-hand experience of the abiding peace, tranquility and joy that so characterize the essence of the miracle of the Incarnation.  Also, the crèche dramatizes the startling news that God has opened his home to the whole world.  In the birth event God literally invites the whole world in to his inner sanctuary to meet his newborn son.


Despite how commonplace it has become, I believe the crèche tradition continues to have profound implications for how we - as the Church - are to understand our role in the modern world.  The real challenge for the Church today is not displaying the crèche, as much as it is actually being the crèche - being communities of faith that are living sanctuaries, places defined by peace, invitation, openness and holiness.

Last month I received several emails from people expressing their concern over the fact that the Washington National Cathedral had recently decided to invite the Muslim community into their sanctuary for weekly prayer services.  At first I too raised an eyebrow.  But then, upon further reflection, I was struck by the thought that such an action is exactly the kind in which the Church should be engaged.  If we as Christians cannot offer sanctuary – places of safety that are open to others in the name of Peace - then who in this world can?  Is such openness not reminiscent of the openness that drew the Magi to Bethlehem?  Likewise, isn’t it our call to be an open manger that allows for  conversation around the real difficult, “sticky wicket” issues which now divide the people of the earth?  And are we not to demonstrate by example how we might live together in our differences?  After all, at Christmas, God provides a safe place for his child to be born and then invites the whole world - without discrimination - to visit him there.  Is this not our calling too?

The crèche is a wonderful, simple, and enduring Christmas tradition – whether it’s the coffee table version or a church pageant casted by excited, bright-eyed children.  It is also a powerful reminder that, for Christians, our truest exercise of that tradition will always be when we bear gifts of peace and reconciliation and create sanctuary for meeting the stranger.  For the crèche tells the joyful story of God’s humanity as seen in the birth of a child - and in so doing, invites us to embrace at the deepest level what it truly means to be human.


He will bring new light to a world in darkness,
Like a bright star shining in the skies above.
He will bring new hope to the waiting nations.
When he comes to reign in purity and love.
Let the earth rejoice at the Savior’s coming.
Let the heavens answer with the joyful morn:
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Hear the angels singing, “Christ is born”.

(John Rutter)

Noel,

+ Holly Hollerith