Christmas

Having looked at the various characters in the Nativity Narrative we conclude the series with looking into the mirror of the incarnation. And just like when we look into a physical mirror we see ourselves as we really are. Perhaps, that well loved Christmas verse of Christina Rossetti, is what we see of ourselves when we humble ourselves as we base upon the Christ-child.

What can I give him?

Poor as I am

If I were a shepherd

I would give a lamb

If I were a wise man

I would do my part

But what I can I give him

Give him my heart

Give him my heart

As we fully engage with the Nativity scene, do we see the reality of Christ’s incarnation.

Martin, the Cobbler, is Leo Tolstoy’s story about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready, prepares a meal and waits. The only one who showed up in the morning was an old beggar who came by and asked for rest. Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest. The only one to show up in the afternoon was an old lady with a heavy load of wood. She was hungry and asks for food. He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest. As evening came, a lost boy wandered by. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ. That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, “Where were You? I waited all day for You.”

The Lord said to Martin:

“Three times I came to your friendly door,

Three times my shadow was on your floor.

I was a beggar with bruised feet.

I was the woman you gave to eat.

I was the homeless child on the street.”

Watch out! Christ may be closer than you can imagine.

God of surprises you call us

from the narrowness of our traditions

to new ways of being church,

from the captivities of our culture

to creative witness for justice,

from the smallness of our horizons

to the bigness of your vision.

Clear the way in us, your people,

that we might call others to freedom and renewed faith.

Jesus, wounded healer, you call us

from preoccupation with our own histories

and hurts to daily tasks of peacemaking,

from privilege to pilgrimage,

from insularity to inclusive community.

Clear the way in us, your people,

that we might call others to wholeness and integrity.

Holy, transforming Spirit, you call us

from fear to faithfulness,

from clutter to clarity,

from a desire to control to deeper trust,

from the refusal to love to a readiness to risk.

Clear the way in us, your people,

that we might all know the beauty and power

and danger of the gospel. Amen