Magnificent!

Sunday morning was the usual Nativity service at Queens Road, and it was magnificent! It had everything you'd expect from a children's nativity -- Mary pulling the tea towel off her head and getting confused about how to put it back on, angels removing their tinsel halos and waving them around, and stealing the shepherds sunglasses (didn't you read the bit where it says all the shepherds were given sunglasses so they could look at the angels without being blinded). Then of course there were the three,  seven wise men (well, Matthew doesn't actually mention the number), some of whom managed to get lost on route to Bethlehem, and one whose crown kept falling over his eyes. 

All of this, plus fun with the advent candles, no doubt causing the health and safety team to have kittens, and of course, the piece de resistance, when one of the little angels decided that baby Jesus (played by a real baby) needed some straw to play with, and dumped a handful onto the somewhat surprised (but otherwise quite happy) baby! Was it a traditional Christmas Card nativity scene? Of course not, but then again, do we really believe the Christmas Card view is anything approaching realistic - of course not! At least here we had a sense of life and vitality - and of children enjoying themselves, and it was that more than anything else which made it truly Magnificent for me.

Not only that, but it got me thinking. I remember, back in the dim and distant past, when I was young enough to take part in the school or church nativity just how important it was to get the right part... I always wanted to be a king, and not just any king, I wanted to be the king who brought the gold - mainly because Frankincense was some kind of girly perfume, and I was never 100% sure exactly what Myrrh was. Others really wanted to be Joseph, or Mary, or a Shepherd.... So yesterday, I started thinking about the characters in the nativity, and their relationship to circumstances we may face today.

Lets start with Mary - a young (probably about 12 years old) mum, certain in the knowledge that God has called her to something big, something very important. Knowing that it wasn't going to be easy, in fact, knowing that it was going to be very very difficult. But knowing that it was what God wanted her to do, so she was going to do it, whatever the consequences.

And Joseph? A good man, who always does what is right, who is told by God to do something which those around him weren't going to like. Joseph was prepared to face scandal, the disapproval of his friends and family and any possible impact on his livelihood for that sake of what he knew to be right, to be good.

How about the shepherds, the outcasts of society - considered undesirable, expendable even. How must they feel, suddenly to be invited to visit the baby. To suddendly be welcomed, accepted, wanted... and yet, how difficult must it be to be there, how embarrassing for them?

Or the Wise Men? Men of power, status, influence, knowledge. But men who recognised that there was something deeper, something more important to be seeking. Men who travelled miles to find something, and were surprised at what they found.

And finally the innkeeper, who wanted to do what he could to help the young couple, but was busy, so very very busy....

These circumstances are all things we may face even today, and the answer today is surely the same as it was then. Come, come to the stable to see the baby - this very special baby who was born to change everything.