Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Eve 2014

If you can believe, it’s a little difficult to write a sermon Christmas Eve… After all, as many of the

Carols and Hymns remind us, it’s an old, old story. So, I suppose the trouble is in trying to invite people into a place where we can really contemplate how profound a thing it is that Christ Jesus was born for all of us.

But as I was thinking about all of this—with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head—I also remembered this sculpture that I had seen depicting the Holy Family. I first saw it in the office of the church where I did an internship, and it was such an intimate and sweet portrayal, I guess it stuck with me.

Anyway, the sculpture is called “A Quiet Moment”, and it features Joseph sort of enfolding Mary and the newly born Jesus. What caught my attention foremost was that it wasn’t the traditional way that we often stage the Nativity scene. Often we see Joseph craned over the crèche, and Mary sitting, piously doting on the Holy Child… Of course no one is touching, Mary doesn’t look anything like a woman having just given birth, and Jesus lays separate from everyone (probably freezing)…

I think what I liked most about this sculpture, then, was that it offered a different idea of what was happening. Not only did the Holy Family look as if they liked one another—they actually looked like a loving family. Joseph, for all that he may have been perplexed, doesn’t look on passively—instead, he takes his role as husband to Mary quite seriously, and holds his small family protectively from the cold, and anything else that might threaten their quiet moment.

Well, honestly, as we were preparing the bulletins for our service tonight, I did my best to find an image of this sculpture that would work for the cover. But, as you can imagine, trying to print a three-dimensional object well in two-dimensions is difficult. So, instead, I decided to recreate the sculpture myself—but in doing so, I decided also to add some things—some aspects that have come up for me as I’ve meditated on both the original sculpture, and the Nativity itself.

So, if you’ll indulge me for a moment, and look to the cover of the bulletin, you’ll see what I came up with… Now, keep in mind, I’m not an artist—so, bear with me.

Now, one of the first things I wanted to get right was the movement of the sculpture—sort of  the way that the lines and shape of the work makes your eyes move around it. I also wanted to make it clear that these weren’t Western European people—but Semitic people, and well…Jewish. So, Joseph not only has payot, or the sidecurls worn by Orthodox Jews. After all, for what little is told us about Joseph in Scripture, we know that he was considered a good and pious man.

Along with this, Joseph is also wearing a tallith, the prayer shawl, also worn by Orthodox Jews—which, like the side curls were reminders to God’s People of God’s faithfulness and the Law. These things actually come from a particular observance of Hebrew Religious Law, and are to be used as constant reminders of Israel’s identity as God’s People.

Anyway, it’s no accident that he’s using it to keep all of them warm, because just as the prayers that are said when putting the prayer shawl on—we’re thankful that we’re called to remember God’s Law, and wrap ourselves in tzitzit (or threads). We might remember that the shepherds were told that the Child would be found in the manger wrapped in strips of cloth…

Another prayer says, “How precious is Your kindness, O G-d! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings... For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light. Bestow Your kindness upon those who know You, and Your righteousness on the upright in heart.” So, I thought it appropriate that the shawl that would be considered a reminder of God’s sheltering Presence for all of us, should be used by the man who would raise Jesus to shelter he and Mary. Perhaps, it would have been such warmth and care from Joseph that even allowed Jesus to so easily refer to God as Father…

Mary, of course, is laying in repose, holding the infant Jesus. In my mind she would have been quite tired—not only from giving birth, but the long journey that was only just behind them. But at this point, she’s pictured resting with her little son; safe from all the troubles of the world for at least a few minutes.

Now, obviously this isn’t a profound work of art—but, it’s not meant to be… Just as the bulletin says, it’s mean t to be a meditation on the sculpture that inspired it. But, if nothing else, I hope that what it does accomplish is that it would be an invitation to think about this moment. This birth that we’ve heard about, sung about, even told others about so many times. This birth that is far more than just a really good story—but is the way in which God chooses to be with us, by literally joining us in this human life.

The Light of Light has descended and has dwelt among us—God has broken into our reality to be the Savior of all of us… Yet for all of its profound power and meaning—it may have been just as quiet as this moment pictured here.

I pray that our own lives can be as quiet and peaceful as that moment. May we remember that we are always overshadowed by the brooding wings of God, our loving Father. And I hope that this season calls us again to share the hope and light that has come into the world through Christ’s birth. Peace and Amen.