Artist and comedian Chris Fairbanks used to earn a living by painting temporary murals for businesses on their windows. One year he received a commission to paint a Nativity scene on the showcase windows of a local car dealership. This in itself was not an unusual request. However the dealership owners asked that he paint the faces of Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, and the Magi or wise men with the faces of the car salesmen. Chris is also a caricature artist, who creates oversize, cartoonish faces, so you can imagine what this mural will look like. The owner also asked his face be included in the mural. When asked how he wanted to appear, the owner suggested he be portrayed as the Baby Jesus. The owner was Christian and thought this would be a fitting tribute to the Christmas story. That’s quite a Holy Family. Another wrinkle appeared because Chris had been used to painting in warmer climates where the drying of the paint in December wasn’t an issue. However, the day Chris painted this Nativity scene it was cold and the paint wasn’t fully drying. Nevertheless after finishing the mural it looked good. When the temperature warmed up over night, the paint turned to liquid and began to run. The effect was an apocalyptic Nativity scene, these somewhat frightening caricature faces of Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Shepherds, and Magi all looked like they were crying, even melting. Realizing his mistake the next day, Chris had to wipe away all his work and start again on a day with warmer weather when the paint would properly dry.
While there is something comical about a Nativity scene gone awry, there is also something endearing about a car dealership holding its own Christmas pageant in window art. They were telling the story in their own context. The Christmas story continues to speak to us in different ways today. At a time when the rich and powerful continue to amass more power, God reminds us that the birth of a baby can turn the world upside down.
It is a cosmic scandal that God should send the heavenly host to rejoice and celebrate the birth of a child to poor parents, including a teenage mother, who the world does not yet know. And God sends shepherds, people of low social standing, to be among the first to share in the the joy of the incarnation. God hides this new birth from the rich and famous. God is something something big, but its concealed in someone tiny and fragile.
The good news this Christmas is that God continues doing big things, revealing them in small ways. The idea that we need to become billionaires doing good in order to defeat billionaires doing bad, is a distraction. God doesn’t set up conditionals, “if only we were rich, if only we were strong, then we could take real action. Then we could really change the world.” These are all games that distract us from real power for change God is investing in us through Christ. Sometimes the power of God’s love is simply to accept ourselves the way we are. It is to get through the Christmas season amidst our feelings of sadness, loneliness, and disappointment. It is to realize that God’s love is also for us. That we don’t have to be perfect to be deserving of love and acceptance. No matter what the advertisers and influencers tell us, that we’re not beautiful enough, or that we don’t travel enough and see cool things, or that we just need to buy something that will fill that void. The disruption of the Christmas story is that a teenage mother giving birth far from home already has enough. Not only that, she is part of God’s plan to bring love and peace to Earth in the most unexpected ways. The Christmas story is also for us. God is doing amazing things amidst the struggles we face in life. Both on the more immediate, smaller scale of just getting out of bed in the morning and sleeping at night. And the grander scale of building communities in which there is enough food, housing, and flourishing for us all.
Thinking of the Holy Family, we remember refugees and immigrants today. Often they are characterized in unfair ways. We hear that God chooses a poor family who must wander to give birth, a child born in a foreign place, who grows up to be a leader and Messiah. It is a reminder when we think of children today whether in Gaza, the Middle East, and all places of war. That they too deserve a home. The world is big enough for everyone to flourish.
A story about having enough for everyone. In recent days the Shelbourne Community Kitchen has been wrapping up its temporary operation in the Upper Hall, as they prepare to move into their newly renovated space in the lower level. Everyone was getting tired this time of year. For many people Christmas is a stressful time of year, especially if you don’t have enough. There was a turkey give-a-way that appeared on local news. A local student had raised the most money for this fundraiser and was being interviewed. And there were people appreciative of the food they could take home over the holidays for them and their families. There was one incident where someone was having a bad day, they became upset, and it was quite challenging to get them to leave. This happened when some of us were setting up the Christmas tree here in the sanctuary. Together as a church community we were able to be a support for Kitchen staff, dealing with a challenging situation. One example how supporting one another during challenging times.
Another story with the Kitchen, Marc and I talked to a man with ties to Southern California, who is Christian and a fervent Grateful Dead follower. He was wearing a hat that said “Carp” which I asked him about. He said it referred to Carpenteria Beach south of Santa Barbara, California, a place where he has family. It sounds lovely, a place where his partner was amazed there were oranges growing on trees, passion fruit on bushes. He described a world of beauty and wonder in Carpenteria. It made me think we all need our own Carpenteria to retreat to at times. It doesn’t need to be in Southern California, as nice as that is. It might be spending an afternoon a Willows Beach or Cadboro Bay just down the road. It could be taking one hour or two to enjoy the beauty of creation here on the island where many of us live. Or if you’re visiting family or friends to appreciate renewal of someplace new to you.
Wrapping up, imagine right now somewhere that is your Carpenteria. A place where there is water, mountains, forest, a stream, lake, fields, foothills, isolation, a city park. Somewhere you will find peace this Christmas season. And whether or not your face is painted on the mural depicting the Holy Family, God is telling the Christmas story in new ways if we just pay attention. May you receive comfort and rest this Christmas, renewed by the love of the birth of Christ. Amen.
