Our view of Christmas

That Christmas

About a week or so ago, my wife and I were sitting on the couch flipping through the channels to see what is on - and you probably won’t be surprised to hear: it was slim pickings (particularly as we have decided to stay with just free to air TV). Well, we ended on the ABC and on this particular occasion they had a documentary of sorts called ‘That Christmas’. Despite the fact we ended up going to bed half way through (we were very tired), we actually found it quite interesting as the show looked at various experiences of eleven Australians. Each of them were from very different backgrounds and they recalled a particular Christmas experience they had. Some of the stories were quite light-hearted, others were quite emotional.

One of the stories was from Dr Norman Swan, who, if you watch the ABC, has become one of the prominent voices talking about the pandemic. But on this show, he talked about being Jewish boy growing up in Scotland. Being Jewish, Christmas was of course something that was not observed.

But of course, most of his friends (which were not Jewish), would talk about Christmas and all of the fun things they would do.

Now, as Jews they did celebrate Hanukkah, which did include giving presents - but he still had a feeling of missing out.

Well, as a concession, his parents ended up allowing a Christmas stocking to be placed at the end of the bed, and on Christmas morning, they would find some small presents. The rule was however, that they had to keep it absolutely secret, because if the Rabbi ever found out about it, they would be excommunicated from the Jewish community.

Norman Swan recounted how he did do that, but as he got older and spoke with other Jewish friends around the same age, he found that there were quite a number of Jews having these secret Christmas traditions.

Now this little documentary was by no means an exploration of the religious observations of Christmas, but it was interesting nevertheless, to think about how other people view Christmas and how various experiences can shape they think about it.

Big Question

This evening as we gather together, while we might all gather from within the Christian understanding of Christmas, but from within this unity, there is also a great diversity in our various traditions of how we express that. And that’s ok.

So from within the variety of traditions we represent tonight, I want to think about the question: how do we keep true to the Christmas story when everyone comes from such a different background?

Variety in Bible

Well, tonight, I want to briefly look at Christmas story, not so much from the perspective of Mary and Joseph, but rather looking at some of the other groups that become involved.

Now here’s the interesting thing. We get so familiar with a typical nativity scene that we start to think that of course the shepherds and wise men belong in that scene.

The reality however is that the shepherds and wise men were really quite odd choices for God to include. Why would he choose them?

Shepherds

Let’s take the shepherds first. Now the picture of a shepherd that we normally get is this friendly, gentle and caring man who likes to cuddle the little lambs.

There is some evidence however, that around this time, shepherds were considered societal outcasts. They lived on the fringe of society, moving from place to place with their flock. They would have been hardened people, ready to handle any situation.

I dare say that fathers would have been very wary of their daughters hanging around such people.

And yet to these people on the fringe of society, God chose them. In fact beyond Mary and Joseph, they were the first to visit baby Jesus.

You see, when you’re reading through Luke’s gospel, he narrates how the birth of Jesus came about, and as soon as the baby is born he directs our attention to just outside the town where these people on the fringe dwell. And they are the first he calls in.

Wise men

Well, let’s just leave that picture for a moment and go to the other group I mentioned - the wise men.

So we go to Matthew’s gospel for this one. Sometimes they’re referred to as kings - although the Bible doesn’t call them this. In fact, the Bible itself doesn’t tell us much about them at all. Only that they are Magi from the east.

In some ways, the vagueness of their description is quite useful. What is clear is that they were foreigners.

These foreigners didn’t do things the way that good Jewish people would.

For starters, they looked to the stars for their prophecies. Interestingly, the Old Testament takes quite a dim view of astrology. So what are these star gazers from the east doing in the Christmas story?

You see, for both the shepherds and the wise men, their inclusion is in many ways quite unexpected. Or at least unexpected in the way that we might have done things if we were on the planning committee.

But one thing it highlights is that no matter what back ground of tradition or culture you come from, there is a place in the Christmas story for you.

I asked the question before about how we can relate the true Christmas story to those who have a very different idea about the whole thing.

Well, perhaps the first thing to note is that we should first allow them to come from their own experience. We have this tendency where we want to make others fit our mould.

But look at the Christmas story. The shepherds came as shepherds. The wise men came as wise men.

Rather then changing them to fit our tradition, our focus should be on showing them who Jesus is - the one that will take them as they are.

Simeon and Anna

But there are two other people who come into the story, but these two we don’t tend to ever see on any nativity scene. They somehow get forgotten, but in some ways, they are just as important as the shepherds and wise men.

I’m talking of Simeon and Anna.

In many ways, these two extraordinary people, represent the faithful remnant that have stayed true to God.

Now in the scripture class I take, I’ve did a whole lesson on these two.

I taught three year 6 classes this year, and in the week before my Simeon and Anna lesson, I did a quick overview of the whole Christmas story, and I mentioned these two, but then after telling them that I would tell them more about them the next week I said that I didn’t think they’d be able to remember there names. Well the trick worked, because in each of the three classes, I had at least one person who remembered - although I had quite a few of them call him cinnamon.

But when I did do the lesson, I started by speaking about old people. And just so you’re aware, I’m pretty sure anyone over 70 is old!

But what would kids know? Well, actually the Bible tells us that Anna was 84 and it also tells us that she was very old. So there we have it, 84 is officially very old.

What’s important is that these two have shown their faithfulness over many years.

Now it had been revealed to Simeon, that he would see the Lord’s messiah before he dies.

When, Jesus is brought in for the customary consecration, the Spirit reveals to Simeon that this child is indeed the messiah. And he is able to praise God accordingly.

Similarly, Anna, who is described as also a prophet, was able to tell that this child was going to be involved in the redemption of Jerusalem.

What’s specifically noted about her is that “she never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying”.

In her we see real dedication.

Now I don’t want to suggest that you need to follow Simeon and Anna’s calling and live in a temple (or church). They had a very specific calling which they followed.

However, they are a good model to us of faithfulness.

You see, we’ve seen the example of the shepherds and the wise men. Those outside what would have been considered the accepted bounds of the Jews.

But within the Jews, for those who are faithful, God reveals deep truths.

Well let me come back to the question I asked about how we can show the true meaning of Christmas to others.

I’ve suggested already that we need to allow people to come as they are. But from the example of Simeon and Anna, we learn that we just need to stay true and faithful to our calling.

As we do, we can represent Christ, of whom Simeon says will be: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel”.

Conclusion

Trying to keep the real Christmas story front and centre is hard. And I know I’ve hardly spoken about specifics of what this looks like, but looking at the how the Bible describes the events, we are reminded that this story is for everyone, and that we can represent the truth when we remain faithful and true to God.

The fact that Jesus came to earth means there is hope. There is joy. And there can be peace. The world is longing for all of these, and it is open to everyone.

Are we going to be faithful to the story so that others can experience this for themselves?

Let me pray...