Tonight the Gospel presents us with the family: Mary, Joseph and their newborn child, Jesus. And we are told that this scene is a sign which the shepherds guarding their flocks at night must seek out. The angels tell them that in that child they will find a Savior: “A Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” This scene is so familiar because we see it so often on Christmas cards and portrayed in school nativity plays. It is so familiar that we can easily detach it from the world of hard political realities. But the words “the town of David called Bethlehem” remind us today that the place of Jesus’ birth is at the heart of an unending conflict. The mention of Quirinius, the governor of Syria, brings to mind another country that has been riven with war and suffering. If a Savior could bring peace to this same Middle Eastern world today, what would be His strategy? You might think that the only way to resolve such conflict would be by superior military force. St. Luke must have been aware of that opinion, for he frames the birth of Jesus in the widest possible context. He reminds us that the world was ruled by another lord, Caesar Augustus in distant Rome. Weapons enforce power and bring protection. But this is not God’s way. Now the royal child, the son of David is borne by a migrant couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They are unprotected and are forced to find some sort of housing outside, with a manger for the baby. He takes our human frailty as a vulnerable baby born to poor parents. And it is to those who are poor that the good news of this birth is given. The shepherds, who are on the margins of society, discover that God has sent a Savior not from above or at the centre of power, but from below and among the lowly.
Perhaps the best way we can celebrate our Christmas is for ourselves and for our families to focus on the crib. Amidst all our joyful festivities then we will not lose sight of why we are celebrating. The greatest gift we have received is the gift of God himself as He takes on our human flesh and allows himself to be protected by those young parents. The Lord still brings His peace by coming close to us and making himself present among those who are poor, those who are homeless and refugees. If we are open to His concerns then we will know His presence among us more fully this Christmas. And if we desire a real peace at Christmas it is more likely to come if we put our trust in God’s weapons of humility and compassion rather then those of war.