On the Road Again ... with Jesus: Christmas 2012

Our cat Thandi with the "first Jesus"

If you have been around the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown during Advent, then you've probably heard about the "travels of Jesus."

About 7 years ago, we started a tradition in our congregation where the carved infant Jesus from the church’s crèche scene travels to families in the church who have children (infant through elementary school age).  Each night of Advent Jesus stays in a different home. 

            Our carved Jesus (made by a member of the church) is less than 6 inches long, so he is not very big and easily fits in a plastic file box along with a copy of the Gospel of Luke, picture story books about the Nativity, and a gift for each family to keep to remember that Jesus visited their house (usually an ornament for the tree).  In Jesus’ traveling box there is also a prayer journal where each family is to write in it about Jesus’ visit with them – answering several questions they’re to discuss as a family, then sharing prayer concerns. 

The stories of his visit, the reflections the families write, the prayer concerns they share then all come back to the congregation to be shared with everyone during our Christmas Eve services.  And of course, our carved Jesus and his manger FINALLY arrive back at the church that same evening to be placed by the children in the crèche scene.

            This is not something we invented … the original idea came from www.reformedworship.org (I am sorry that I can’t find the original article! But ask me if you’re interested).  So it was not our idea, but it has become one of our most beloved Advent traditions. 

We have wonderful stories every year about Jesus and his adventures.  He’s been chewed by an enthusiastic puppy (and still has the teeth marks to show it), he’s gone shopping at the mall, arrived in mailboxes, on doorsteps and traveled in the back of pickups. He has slept under Christmas trees and in cribs with newborns.  He has been wrapped in baby blankets, cuddled by toddlers and brought great comfort to a family when he arrived at their house on the same day that their great-grandmother had died.  This year Jesus attended several birthday parties, was spotted at Washington College, and even attended a performance of "The Messiah"!  

The challenge of course, is for families to actually make the time to have Jesus stay overnight with them. But isn't that true for all of us??

Well, this year was no exception in providing some interesting material for my Christmas Eve sermon about traveling with Jesus ... here is my "meditation" from the 8 p.m. Christmas Eve service at PCC:

One of the many blessings of having a growing congregation is that we have so many more families with young children that it now takes two “Jesus-es” to travel throughout Advent so that every family (including some grandparent families with visiting grandchildren) get a chance to have Jesus spend the night with them.

It does stretch our theology a bit to talk about the plural form of the name Jesus – or to figure out which one is the “real Jesus” … I have finally settled on the “first Jesus” and “second Jesus” only to keep track of which one is which.

Our “first Jesus,” the one we placed in the crèche this evening, is the one that was first made for the church – designed by Nancy Adams and made by PCC member Tom Kerr, who sadly died this past year.  We’ve been using Tom’s nativity scene for many years now and I can’t help but remember Tom every time I see it.

Then several years ago, a second nativity scene was made for us by PCC member Bill Bayne – it’s the one on your left.  The Jesus from Bill’s nativity scene last year became our “second Jesus” – (our first “second Jesus”) and he has taken on that role again this year.

By the way, because some of you have asked me, I do not attempt to describe a theology of “2 Jesus-es” to the children who were here at the first service.  Some things are best left unsaid. 

But you may notice that tonight when Jesus arrived at the stable, we did not put the “second Jesus” into the nativity scene.

Well, that’s because we don’t know where he is.  Or not exactly.

It is challenging to coordinate with the schedules of 33 different families.  And sometimes there are bumps along the way.

Some of you may remember we ran into this situation last year.

The week before Christmas I missed communicating a change in Jesus’ schedule and he ended up on someone’s porch for two nights – but we found him right where he was supposed to be.  There was one night this past week where Jesus missed connecting with someone and spent the night at the church, which isn’t a bad place to be, I suppose.

Well, this past week we had another mis-communication … and I learned late Saturday evening that the second Jesus had not made his connections.

Fortunately, I always have a variety of resources about the Nativity on hand, so I was able to assemble a set of picture books, activity sheets, a journal and yes, a “third Jesus” so that Jesus could visit the last family on the list.

Which he did last night.  And the third Jesus came to church tonight.

Although that leaves us with the question:  so where is the second Jesus?

To the best of my knowledge …  although we didn’t plan it, he is locked up somewhere in Sudlersville Elementary School and will remain there until school re-opens on January 2.

And given all that has happened these past few weeks, those people who have heard this story all agree – Jesus being locked up in an elementary school seems like just the right place for him.

When I first gave the title “Letters from the Road” to this meditation it was a week ago, and I fully expected to be simply sharing some of the notes written by the families in the journal that travels with Jesus – all about the gifts they want to give Jesus (everything from stuffed animals to chocolate!) to the gifts they would like to receive from Jesus --- from patience to healing to hope.

But as we went through our “Jesus-crisis” over the weekend, I realized that there was also a different letter being written from the road – one that tells a different story … not of a Christmas that is perfect, with just the right gifts or the meal that is perfectly prepared and guests who arrive at the right place and on time, but it is a letter that tells of loss and sadness, of being misplaced and waiting, of longing and hope, not just in Connecticut, but in so many families across this congregation and our community and our world. 

Some of our neighbors have no home in which to sleep tonight.

Some others of us face this Christmas with a place empty at the table or around the tree.

Some of us wait with hope for new light and new life.

So I’m actually glad that Jesus didn’t find his way back to the manger this year.  Because it reminds me that Jesus cannot be kept safely in a box, any more than we can keep him in the manger.

He isn’t here because he is meant to be out there doing what he came here for in the first place.  

In Christ, God comes and keeps coming into our world – not in a perfect gift-wrapped box, to be kept under a tree. But the Savior of the world is born for the whole world.

He will meet us not just at the manger, but in our lives, in our world…

Not just here on Christmas Eve, or on a Sunday morning, but out there where we are always meant to see him, ever ready to be surprised at his coming.

This child who is Jesus the Christ, Savior, and Lord.

            The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

            May our eyes be open to see him.  

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace.  Amen.