Month: December 2009

Community: New
brought to life by a baby
who cried, lived, and died

Luke 22:11 “…Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” The word for “guest room” here is κατάλυμα which is also used in Luke 2:7 “laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the (kataluma).”

As opposed to Luke 10:34-35, where the “Good Samaritan” takes the beaten man to an inn (πανδοχεῖον ), and pays the innkeeper to care for him.

Implications here? That it’s likely Mary and Joseph were visiting one of his relatives in Bethlehem, not a hotel, and they’d simply arrived too late to have room in the guest room. Others were already visiting, no doubt, with the census being taken. But it probably wasn’t too hard to have them stay in the place already considered “unclean” due to the animals, since Mary would soon be unclean (Leviticus 12).

Of course, you have Christian Apologist Justin Martyr who in the 2nd Century AD, identified a specific cave as the birthplace of Jesus. Justin seems to be a bit closer to the action than I was…so I’m inclined to give his opinion some weight. That has now become the “Church of the Nativity“. I was able to visit the Church of the Nativity back in high school, and I would agree that it seems like a pretty special place. But not because of the location or materials (for a smile, here’s an example of “sacred places” taken too far) but rather what is celebrated there.

Call it a hotel, call it a guest room, or call it a cave for the pigs….say it was on this street, or that road, or a few houses down, in the basement. Ultimately, the source of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that we celebrate throughout Advent, and at Christmas…is Jesus the Christ. God becoming vulnerable man, and doing some pretty super-naturally incredible things simply by existing. Not to mention the life, words, actions, death AND RESURRECTION of that man. Whew.

So we’ll keep letting our daughters play with a fancy barn, complete with it’s picturesque qualities, and open wall that allows the world to worship with the angels and shepherds, and lets my daughters easily take characters out, and shove ’em in. Not because it’s historically accurate, but because it’s one of the best qualities of the Jesus story – it is inviting. 🙂

So the level of cuteness occurring within the confines of my home continues to rise on a daily basis. I’m pretty sure we could begin selling it in packages, and never even get close to scraping the surface. Unfortunately, child labor laws being what they are….we’ll probably never quite take full advantage of it.

But for our friends and family, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Just to share a few from our oldest, Addie (simply because she’s the most verbal = easiest to describe. Sophie and Ruby are equally cute in their own ways, but one consists of mostly half-words that would be tough to spell, and the other seems to generate enough cuteness simply by giggling):

– Addie is fully aware of the “waiting for Christmas” concept this year. She sees Christmas lights everywhere we drive, which makes for cheap entertainment as we “hunt” for them. To quote Addie, “oooh, they surprised me!!!?”

– She notices Nativity scenes wherever they can be found these days. The most famous is the one in our home. Even though it’s some schmancy Italian collectible what-not, it is obviously meant to be a toy nativity set, duh. It’s not odd to hear the exclamation “Daddy, can I play with Jesus!??” at any point in the day. Although it was rich in irony to hear her say, “daddy,, I saw a WHITE Jesus?” when we drove past one of those white shadow cutouts of a nativity recently. She was a bit confused.

– Addie has the magical “big sister” connection with both of her younger siblings. With Sophie, it comes in moments where Sophie obviously wants to copy her older sister in whatever she does. She’ll line right up feet to feet, and watch her every move and word….and attempt to replicate them when possible. With Ruby, it comes in the ability to make her laugh even when mommy and daddy can’t do it. Just a smile, and a bit of peek-a-boo, and our 6 month old is wrapped around her finger.

– Having our daughters at the age where Addie, and Sophie a little, can participate in “Advent” discussions each night as possible. Lighting the candles, and eating a small chocolate. Each week has an emphasis for each night, which we keep at an age-appropriate level: Hope (oh boy), Peace (ahhhh…), Joy (whoo hoo!), and Love (awwww)…and finally, Jesus.

– Having contests where we begin the sentence with “I love you more than….” and fill it in with whatever comes to mind. Today, Addie loves me more than Christmas Lights, Princess hair, and groceries. 🙂

Maybe I’m still just riding the “thankful” wave from Thanksgiving…but I’m loving this stuff. 🙂