Two of the things that have not
changed through the years of my life about Christmas is there is always a
nativity scene somewhere and most church always seem to have a Christmas
pageant. When I was a boy, we had a
wooden nativity scene on the front lawn of our church. Today, I see them not just at churches but
sometimes in the yards of homes in neighborhoods. Regarding Christmas pageants, I was in a few
of them as a child starting out as a shepherd and then being promoted to a wise
man walking down the aisle of the church.
I always assumed as a child that
the main characters surrounding the birth of Jesus showed up at the same time
just like aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up at our grandparent’s house at
Christmas for food and gifts. A college degree in religion from Methodist University and a
Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School taught me a different view
of the birth of Jesus. Wise men?
Formal education taught me that the wise men got there far later than
the shepherds because they came from far away and, on top of that, they were
probably of a different religious tradition.
Shepherds? Even though the
sheep at a petting zoo look cute, those shepherds were considered
to be sinners by the religious leaders of the day. Mary, the mother of Jesus? Formal education taught me that even though
Mary was seen as “highly favored” by the angels, she was looked at with scorn
and shame by her community and religious leaders alike in her day. The
real story about the people in the nativity scene at church or the church Christmas
pageant was a little bit different.
I wish this Christmas could be a
different story for us. Our family
does not gather together anymore at our grandparent’s house because
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even some
cousins have gone to their eternal reward. However, that is not the only thing that is
different. We do not seem as a people to COME TOGETHER or BE
TOGETHER anymore. In our country, we seem
less like the United States, but more like people who are known to be
liberal or conservative… republican or democrat or
independent… rural , urban, or suburban.
Decades ago when the General Conference of the United Methodist Church was meeting, one hotel put on their marquee “Welcome UNTIED Methodist”. In these days, that spelling error is
becoming a reality as United Methodist Churches and people become untied amid differences of opinion about issues many see as quite important.
I wish this Christmas could be a
different story. Long ago in
Bethlehem, shepherd-sinners… wise men from far away places with different
beliefs… Joseph and a formerly pregnant and shunned Mary came together despite their differences to praise the name of the
new born King, Christ Jesus. Like the
different people with their blemishes and differing beliefs around the manger
of Bethlehem, I wish we could put down our social media post and our vicious
rhetoric in our untied country and untied church to be together at the feet of
Jesus and in the name of Jesus. I may
not agree with you and you may not agree with me, but I know that I need you
and know that we all need the peace,
presence, and power of the Lord Jesus. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy L. Wall
PRAYER
-- God, forgive us for the times we have focused on
what divides us instead of what unites us.
Knit us together, O God, through the bonds of your love that came down full
of grace and truth in Bethlehem; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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