A Tableau of Peace: The Manger In A Big, Bad, Dangerous World

Jesus was born homeless. His parents, Mary and Joseph, had been commanded by the law of Rome to return to Bethlehem as the 'whole world' was to be taxed. They live in Nazareth, and this command is NOT about them going to the tax station in Bethlehem, registering, and then going back. No, that is not how Roman law worked.

The assumption was that those who were not Roman citizens, those who were conquered, stayed put, period. Where you were listed on the tax rolls was where you were presumed to live, that was your home. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem for they were of the house and lineage of David. And that is where David's people are from, where they live, their home.

So Mary and Joseph abandoned all they had before and starting anew in Bethlehem. And we know the results. Bethlehem was packed to the rafters. There was not a room left in the entire community. Some have asked if there would have been that many rooms to begin with, because Bethlehem is a small town. That is true, but it was also the hometown of the Hero of Israel, their great and wonderful Golden Age King, David the Giant-Killer. So, touristy I would bet. Rooms aplenty, at any other time, I would bet.

There was no home, no room to be had in Bethlehem. Just a stable. And I must tell you that of all the Christmas candle scents that I know and love (mostly evergreen flavors), I have never come across one marketed as "Stable: For the Real Scent of Christmas".  Having been downwind of farm animals from time to time, that is OKAY by me.

Most of our creche scenes have a little barn-like structure to represent the stable. In the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, its a cave. Now there is a church of some substance built over it, but 'nestled all snug in their beds' is definitely not finding its origin in a hole in the side of a hill.

And a feeding trough for a bed. Again, we romanticize it by calling it a "manger". There is this image that the animals were all thrilled to have their hay dispossessed for the little human interloper. Actually, I can see God living through them as Jesus' first worshippers. But again, in the baby shops and departments I have ever traversed, I have NEVER come across a line of furniture for the new nursery that takes up the double motif of "bed for baby" AND "feeding space for camels, sheep, and cows" (not even at IKEA).

But Jesus had something special going for him. Despite his parents being displaced persons by the power of an empire, despite no home, no bed, no cradle, nothing but mom, dad, and a petting zoo, Jesus had God, His heavenly Father, creating in the midst of that poverty a place of peace and tranquility. A place that the angels would lead the shepherds into, a tableau of peace.

So, two things to think about here. One, God's power creates moments and pockets and places of Peace and Tranquility in a broken, sinful, and greedy world. The lead up to Jesus' Rebirth at Easter is a time of  chaos and mayhem. But right here, right now, a place, a moment, an opportunity to reflect upon the joy and wonder of the Living God. A moment of soulful contemplation of the power of the Almighty.

That is Thing One. Thing Two? We have the power and the opportunity and the grace and the call to bring this Tableau of Peace to a world in need.  This is the Christmas we have to share.

May we join the song of the angels who sang on high,

Pastor Peter