You may remember the sitcom character Mr Bean played by Rowan Atkinson. Once, while doing his Christmas shopping, Mr Bean got distracted and play acted the Christmas story with a department store nativity scene. His childish antics are pretty funny!
Mr Bean got a little carried away and added a few extra things to the story (like an army of soldiers, a robot, a dinosaur, tanks, even a helicopter). I think though, like Mr Bean, we too are tempted to add extra things to the Christmas story, particularly the scene around the manger. I wonder if we too are guilty of embellishing the Christmas story at times?
If we listen closely to the Christmas story in the gospel according to Luke (2:8–20) we notice it falls into two scenes. (Before these verses we have the backstory: Jesus’ birth is foretold, and Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem).
(1) The first scene takes place out in the fields. The shepherds are watching their flocks by night. Suddenly glory shines around them. Imagine the brightest light you can. Then imagine Croc Dundee coming along and saying, “That’s not a light, this is a light,” and he whips out a light 1000 times brighter. The shepherds are terrified. And who wouldn’t be?! The angel says, “Do not be afraid!” but it’s probably too late and the shepherds need a new pair of undies for Christmas. The angel tells them, “A Saviour has been born to you.” Suddenly a large group of angels appear singing in a heavenly choir. The word ‘large’ doesn’t come close to capturing this event. Perhaps we could say, ‘the fullness of heaven’s army appeared in the sky.’ This scene is in full surround sound and vivid technicolour. If robots, dinosaurs, tanks, and helicopters belong anywhere, it’s here in this scene, out in the fields.
(2) The second scene takes place around the manger. We’re told the shepherds hurry off to Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened. ‘So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger.’ (Luke 2:16). And that’s it. ‘The baby was lying in a manger.’ It’s plain and simple. No glory shining. No lights. No army of angels. No heavenly choirs. No star. No camels. No wise men. No glow around Jesus. And definitely no robots, dinosaurs, or helicopters! Just the baby lying in the manger. The surround sound and technicolour is gone, and everything is dialled back, like a silent black and white film. ‘The baby was lying in the manger.’ Full stop.
Why? Why this stark contrast between the two scenes? Why do we have light and angels and singing out in the fields, but then simply baby Jesus lying in the manger? I’ve been pondering this question this Christmas, and I’d like to suggest two reasons to you.
(1) God prefers to come to us in the plain and simple. Jesus isn’t flashy and flamboyant. He doesn’t come in a grand palace with the red carpet rolled out. Rather, God comes to us in the ordinary. God comes as an ordinary baby, laid to rest in an animal feed trough. What is more plain and simple than that?! The gift of Jesus to the world isn’t some massive, beautifully wrapped Christmas present. He’s not a shiny new bike. He’s not a flash car with a red bow. He’s simply here with us, here with you.
If we think about Christmas presents this makes perfect sense. Let me ask you: What did you get for Christmas in 2010? Or, I’ll make it a bit easier, in 2016? I expect very few, if any, will remember. But what if I ask you: Whom did you love in 2010? Who was with you in 2016? I remember getting a bike for Christmas once. I can’t remember what year, or even what happened to the bike. But I remember it was my parents who gave the bike, my parents whom I love and who loved me.
See it’s not the massive, shiny, new Christmas presents that we remember. What we remember about Christmas are the people, the relationships, the love. Our bodily presence in the flesh is all we have to give, and all we really want to receive. And that’s what God gives to you. A baby in a manger. God gives himself. Through Jesus you are invited into relationship with God. God demonstrates his self-giving love. He is here with you. So all the bells and whistles, surround sound and technicolour are dialled back so that we see and focus on what’s really important — Jesus coming to us in the manger.
In a moment we’re going to gather around the Lord’s Table in Holy Communion. It’s not going to be flashy and flamboyant. There’s no red carpet or red bow. Just a plain bread wafer and simple sip of wine. And yet in this ordinary meal Jesus gives himself to you. Through his body and blood you are invited into relationship with God. Jesus demonstrates God’s self-giving love through his death and resurrection. Jesus is truly here with you. I pray that you may know and sense his plain and simple presence.
(2) God invites you to hear the climax of the story. The Christmas story is just the beginning of the good news of Jesus. The nativity scene is not the grand finale or climax. Perhaps the scene out in the fields with the shepherds is a bit like a James Bond intro scene. You know, those action packed opening sequences?! But then things slow down — the characters are introduced, the plot unfolds, and then the story builds to the finale. The story of Jesus starts with an action packed scene out in the fields, then slows down and introduces the main character — baby Jesus laying in the manger.
Then, from there, the story builds until the climax which is the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s this climax when the surround sound and technicolour returns. We have a large crowd following Jesus as he carries the cross. Women wailing and mourning. The sun stops shining. We hear the temple curtain being torn in two. When the women discover the empty tomb it’s full of light. Two angels wear clothes gleaming like lightening.
So we have the black and white, plain and simple baby in the manger because God invites you to hear the rest of the story. The climax is Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Christmas story is an invitation to hear the rest. An invitation to discover everything that Jesus has done for you: not only his birth, but more importantly his death and resurrection. For it’s through Jesus’ death and resurrection that God gives you the most important gift: his love and relationship, now and forevermore.
So may you find Jesus’ bodily presence in the plain and simple things in life: hearing Scripture, holding bread and wine, words of forgiveness. And may you explore the full story of Jesus, not just this opening nativity scene. For in the birth and death of Jesus, God gives himself to you. God invites you into relationship with him. And God demonstrates his great self-giving love for you. Amen.
