Last month I was looking at a crèche (Nativity scene) with one of the young disciples from Luther Memorial. As we talked about each of the figures in the scene, he told me that he thought Mary, Jesus’ mother, looked kind of sad. When I asked him why he thought she was sad, he said she was probably sad because, once Jesus was born, her work was finished.
His observation stayed with me throughout the season. Because those among us who have had children know that the work is not finished when we give birth….it has just begun. And even when your first born is the Messiah, the ‘work’ is not complete with childbirth.
Scripture doesn’t offer us much in the way of details about Jesus’ childhood. We know that he was likely a toddler by the time the Magi reached him. And we know that Joseph had to whisk he and Mary away to keep him from being a victim of Herod’s murderous tirade. But beyond that, there is a gap in the story, until he is a twelve year old adolescent ditching his parents in the temple.
But you have to know that Mary’s work, and Joseph’s too, continued as Jesus grew. That there were the usual tasks of raising a child – weaning, toileting, getting them to sleep through the night! Even the Son of God, who was also fully human, had to experience these physical rites of passage. And then, there must have been joyous times….first words, first steps….playing with friends. And I think that the reason we don’t have any record of these milestones is because they were Mary’s work and Mary’s privilege.
Our culture stops celebrating Christ’s birth on December 26th. It seems that the Valentines decorations appear in the store and everything associated with Christmas is marked “clearance.” But the work of Christmas has just begun. In the church, we observe the twelve days of the Christmas season – the time between Christmas and the Feast of Epiphany. We continue to sing our songs. Our trees remain. This is the Christmas season.
And then the work goes on. The work that this tiny babe, who was toddler and teen outside of our purview, was born to usher into the world. The work of justice making. The work of peace keeping. The work of radical welcome and complete inclusion.
Mary’s work was just beginning there, when she gave birth in an unfamiliar place, yet surrounded by gentle beasts and throngs of angels. Our work begins anew at Christmas and each day. Sometimes it can feel as though we do our work in a strange and unfamiliar land. But we are not alone. We are gifted with this community of faith. And God has sent us friendly beasts and angelic beings to accompany us along the way. And the Son God sent for us is the greatest gift of all, in this and every season. Thanks be to God!
Rejoicing with you,
Pastor Julie