The Rt Rev Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, sent a message to all in the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney for Christmas.
All wrapped up
Christmas Day is very close now, but we still have a little time for our final preparations to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. There is food to get ready and presents to wrap, maybe some last visits to drop gifts off to neighbours and friends. In our churches Christmas trees are lit and nativity scenes on display, the decorations bright and cheerful, mirroring the joy of the season. Some have sermons to finish, prayers to write. On behalf of all of those who will visit our churches, I thank you for your diligence and hard work.
In St Luke’s gospel, the story of the birth of Jesus gives us an idea of the preparation that Mary made for the birth of her son.
‘And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.’ Luke 2:7, NRSV
In the image here, the artist Giotto (c1300) has illustrated this moment. Mary is assisted by a mid-wife as she lays her new born son in the manger. The ox and ass look on. The child has been swaddled with bands of cloth. Mary looks into the eyes of her child, and he looks back at her. We are being shown the bond of love between them.
Did Mary have to receive swaddling cloths as a gift, or had she brought them with her, carefully prepared for the day that her son would be born? There is a long tradition that Mary was very good with a needle. For most mothers today, it is a joy to collect together the clothes for a new-born. Was it like this for Mary?
In Luke’s Gospel, the angels told the shepherds that the ‘sign’ that they should look for was a swaddled infant, lying in a manger. The contrast here is between a new born infant prepared for and loved, yet without a proper bed or place to stay, so lying among the animals.
Throughout the Christmas story there are hints of what is to come for this child. He is ‘the Lord’, the ‘Messiah’, but he is also a ‘sign that will be opposed’. He will bring salvation and peace, reconciliation with God, but the cost will be his own life. In all four gospels there is a description of how Jesus’ dead body is cared for after the crucifixion. It is wrapped in linen. In John’s gospel it is written that it is wrapped in ‘strips of linen’, so the care and love shown to his body at his burial mirrors that shown by Mary at his birth.
This detail, of a child lovingly swaddled is an example to us. We remember him tiny and vulnerable and rejoice that he is the one who reconciles us to God. As we sing in the carol, “Hark the herald angels sing”:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
The care and love shown to the baby, and then to the body of Jesus through his life death and resurrection by those who love him, prompts us to love and worship him.
More than this, to love Jesus is also a call to love those who are part of his body, the Church. We love and care for not just the souls but the bodies of those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And Jesus himself reminds us that when we care for strangers, the hungry and thirsty, the sick, and those in prison, then we are caring for him. This is a prompt to us not just in our welcome of strangers, but also to remember to give to charity this Christmas. We support those who are most involved in the practical care of those who, for example, are refugees or caught in the wars and conflicts we are seeing daily in our news. If you have not yet made a donation this Christmas, there is still time!
Through and in this busy season, may you know the blessing of God upon you.
Christ the Son of God, born of Mary,
fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you,
and those you love and pray for,
this Christmas and always. Amen.
+Anne
The image is Giotto. Nativity detail, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua.