May this be our collective prayer:
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HERE is something extremely disarming about a newborn baby – a fragility, an attraction, which makes even the hardest person’s heart melt and say, ‘Aah. How beautiful!’ Try looking at a tiny baby without smiling. So many different people came into close contact with the Christ child and were filled with wonder and joy. The magnetic force of love in that Bethlehem birthplace allowed a safe place for even shepherds – those on the lowest rung of the social ladder – to enter in with praise. Later, wise men would come near and bow down, offering their gifts. At the Temple, older people were attracted to this baby, recognising in him God’s gift of love for all the world. Simeon took the child in his arms, Anna gave thanks to God. All these people longed to share the good news that God’s chosen one was among them: he had entered their world, Christ was born! ‘The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood’ (John 1:14 The Message). God came close to us. People came close to this baby, who found himself in that place, registered along with every family in the census of Caesar Augustus. Love incarnate, God identified fully with those who lived in the world he loved – he was counted in the census, just like every other citizen. During the Covid-19 pandemic we have become accustomed to numbers appearing on our screens, informing us of alarming death rates, how many have been vaccinated and how many still need to go and ‘register’. How we long for those safe spaces to meet with others. The gatherings with our family and friends that we took for granted, especially at Christmas, have become highly charged with emotions in recent times.
God’s chosen one was among them: he had entered their world, Christ was born
There may be a strong desire to come close to others, but are there risks involved in doing so? Is it really safe to meet together? How many people can be in the place where we gather? Are we getting too close? The proximity we desire so much is no longer always permitted. We may have missed out on a close embrace in social interaction. We may have become afraid and withdrawn, all too aware of the health and safety risks, all too aware of sadness. We have mourned those whom we have lost, often without being able to truly mourn that loss in a social context. ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people’ (Luke 2:10). Is that announcement from the angels still valid for us today? Our world is a place where, as Brad Porter commenting on data from scientific research says, ‘loneliness might be a more significant factor than obesity, smoking, exercise or nutrition’. Do we dare to go against the flow and reach out to one another, becoming the answer to someone’s prayers for a close friend? ‘And if we needed you, we need you now!/ Come into our world,’ wrote Joy Webb. The good news the shepherds heard and saw became great joy when they got up and went to the place where the child was born. They became active participants in the salvation story. They discovered that it was a safe place to enter – they were welcome. This child was lying in a manger. In Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E Bailey says: ‘They would find the Christ child in an ordinary peasant home such as theirs. He was not in a governor’s mansion or a wealthy merchant’s guest room but in a simple two-room home like theirs. This was really good news.’ They would have felt safe to enter and witness the warmth of hospitality in this lowly but adequate place. In the Nativity narrative we also read that wise men came to worship. By following the star, they risked a long journey, risked entering Herod’s
People sit in loneliness, children cry for bread; Men fight men in hatred, by suspicion led; And if we needed you, we need you now! Come into our world, Come into our world, now, Lord Jesus!
palace only to be disappointed – then they knelt before the child, offering their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The child would grow up to become a king, a priest and one who would give his life, redeeming and restoring the world he loved. Their journey was not without danger, but they were guided to safety, returning home by another route. Older people were part of this story too. Simeon held the child in his arms, giving a word of prophecy about his future. Simeon’s words made Mary and Joseph marvel, for this child will be ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel’ (Luke 2:32). The prophetess Anna joined him in giving thanks to God for this child, who would ‘cause the rising and falling of many in Israel’ (v34). There would be a response, positive or negative – no one who encountered Jesus could remain neutral. Not all were happy about his coming and some were so fearful they resorted to killing innocent lives (see Matthew 2:16–18). Even Mary and Joseph had to escape to Egypt for their safety. The world into which the Christ child was born was not a safe place. Yet he came, in complete vulnerability, to meet with us. We cannot ignore what is happening around us and we are acutely aware of our own fragility, perhaps our own loneliness, our own need for a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.
COMMISSIONER PAONE IS SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL ECUMENICAL RELATIONS, IHQ Salvationist 18 December 2021
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