With many other exhortations
"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed; the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head". This gentle lullaby will be sung hundreds of thousands of times over the next couple of weeks in churches and schools, care homes and prisons all over the world. Although the words may have originated from Martin Luther, it became popular in the late 19th century and (to my ears at least) is the epitome of the Victorian "gentle Jesus meek and mild", somewhat over-sentimentalised expression of the Christian faith. And, as might be said in a TV court room drama, I offer as Exhibit A the gospel passage for this coming Sunday: Luke's version of John the Baptist.
There is very little room in John's understanding of the coming Messiah for schmaltz or romantic idealism. The crowds are attracted by his oratory and the way he quotes from the Hebrew scriptures: "Prepare the way of the Lord"! But when they follow him he names what he sees: "a brood of vipers trying to save your own skins". I don't doubt for one minute that our faith calls us to kindness, gentleness, grace and contemplation: but it doesn't leave us there. If nothing else, John reminds us that our faith has a much more pragmatic edge to it as well: "if you have two coats share with someone who has none; if you are a tax collector collect no more than is due; if you are a soldier, do you not abuse your power and authority; if you are a politician ... I wonder what John would have said about this generation of politicians?
"And, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news!" That good news which is about both our private, personal devotional faith and our shared, public functional faith. A quick scan of a list of synonyms for 'exhortation' suggests that John might have been using any or all of the following to proclaim this good news: urging, encouraging, persuading, pressuring, pushing, beseeching, admonishing.
As a bit of a side note, I am always struck that, in ordination services, bishops instruct those they are ordaining as priest (amongst other things) "to teach and to admonish". We priests often get requests to be better teachers; rarely, if ever, have I heard of a priest being encouraged to be better at admonishing!
Christmas, with all its much loved yet rather sentimental trappings like Christmas trees from the Renaissance, greetings cards from Victorian era and red-cloaked Santas from Coca-Cola, is about both our personal devotion and our functional faith - it must be, as it is all about love. The love that God has for us to send his son into the world to live as we live; which is the self-same love which draws us to behave in certain ways towards one another to towards our neighbours.
Ironically, this is encapsulated very well by another Victorian author, Christina Rossetti when she wrote: Love came down at Christmas.
Dan Tyndall
December 2021
