November 27th, Advent Day 01
Where will we find the baby Jesus this year as we move toward that most holy night?
There’s an old folk story I love from East Tennessee. It’s about two young boys who are so out of control, their mother, having tried everything to get them to behave, calls in the preacher to set them straight. The older brother hears about this in advance and takes off before the preacher gets to the door. The younger brother, standing alone, is subject to a longwinded diatribe, ending with an emphatic question from the minister: “Where is Jesus in your life, young man? Where is Jesus?!”
As soon as the preacher leaves the house, the younger brother hightails it to their secret hidey hole, where he knows he will find his brother. Out of breath, he struggles to relate the gist of the preacher’s words. Finally, he wheezes out, “Oh, man, we’re in big trouble now! Jesus has gone missin’ and they’re blamin’ us!”
In the midst of pre-Christmas time in America, it can seem like Jesus has gone missing. And maybe we’re all to blame – getting so caught up in making sure everyone has a merry holiday – perhaps to excess. Jesus may be “the reason for the season” as holiday banners proclaim, but it is often hard to see him amidst the “city sidewalks, busy sidewalks, during Santa’s big scene.”
Friends of mine were lamenting this one year – overwhelmed by their two daughters’ demands for various renditions of “elf on the shelf” and the impact of constant media messages about bigger and better presents. They decided to do their own thing – and crafted a game which centered around the Baby Jesus from their nativity set. Instead of an elf showing up in new hiding places each day, the children were encouraged to look for signs of God working all around them… examples of kindness or generosity, or of noticing someone whom the world ignores. Each day, the girls would also search and find the Baby Jesus figurine and then talk with mom and dad about where they had felt God’s presence that day. My friends were often brought to tears (and laughter, too!) at what the girls came up with. One day, one of the girls decided that she would be the one who showed the love of God – and gave her favorite new doll away as a gift to a child whose dad lost his job. The other girl used her own allowance money to pay for dinner for two guys who were homeless who they met while out shopping. They liked the game so much, they cried when it was time to put Baby Jesus away – so together they planned a similar New Year’s game, with one of the three kings!
Advent is a time we might spend looking for a star, or other signs of the presence of God. Where will we find the Baby Jesus this year as we move toward that most holy night?