The kindness of strangers

If I asked you to tell someone the Christmas story – briefly! – it would probably go a bit like this.

There was a young woman called Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph. One day an Angel appeared to Mary and told her she would be having a baby who was the Son of God. God was the father not Joseph. Mary told Joseph this and he accepted this.

A little while later the Romans said that all the people were to be taxed or entered on to a census. And to do this they had to go their home town. As Joseph was from Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph set out for that town. Mary rode on a donkey.

When they arrived, all the rooms in the inns were taken. But a kindly innkeeper said they could use a stable. And that’s where the baby – Jesus - was born. Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.

Meanwhile, in the fields outside Bethlehem angels appeared to shepherds. The angels told the shepherds to go to Bethlehem and worship the baby. Which they did.

At the same time 3 wisemen from the East followed a star to where the baby was lying. They had to stop and ask for directions from Herod in Jerusalem. Herod wanted to know all about the baby and asked them to tell him where he was on their return journey. But they didn’t tell him.

In just over 200 words that is the Christmas story.

The Christmas story as we think of it is in Luke’s Gospel and Matthew’s Gospel. We get the whole story from them both. But they don’t contain all the same information.

The shepherds are in Luke but not Matthew.

The wisemen are in Matthew but not Luke.

In Luke Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth and had to travel to Bethlehem. Whereas in Matthew we are told that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. There is no mention of travelling from Nazareth. Maybe they were living in Bethlehem all the time.

If we were so inclined, we could get hung up on these differences. But I don’t think we need worry. The important thing is both versions give us a picture of what was happening at that time. Jesus was born in a country under occupation of a foreign power – Rome. And he was born into a territory over which a despot – Herod – had sway.

And what is clear from both stories is that the turbulent times in which Jesus was born meant that his parents were on the move. They had to move from Nazareth to Bethlehem according to Luke or, if we take Matthew’s Gospel, they had to flee from Bethlehem and their homeland to Egypt.

I stopped my recap of the Christmas story with the departure of the wisemen. And let’s face it, that is usually where we stop the story. But in fact after the wisemen leave, Herod realises they have tricked him and orders that all boys aged 2 and under must be killed in the Bethlehem area. Matthew tells us Joseph was warned of this in a dream and consequently, Joseph, Mary and the baby flee to Egypt.

A wonderful children’s story called “Refuge” has recently been published. It is written by Anne Booth and Sam Usher. It is an imaging of that journey as seen through the eyes of their faithful donkey. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to the charity War Child – a charity that helps children whose lives are disrupted by war. And of course many such children are refugees.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus was the Son of God. We believe that Jesus was in fact fully human as we are but was also fully God. And as Jesus was fully God he was without sin. But as he was fully human he experienced the kind of things humans experience – including the experience some humans have of being refugees.

Matthew doesn’t tell us how long the family lived in Egypt. All he tells us is that after Herod died – and the hunt for the baby was called off or forgotten – an angel appeared to Joseph and told him it was safe to return.

22 But when he heard that Achelous was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.

Bethlehem is in Judea. And they way Matthew words this suggests that Bethlehem was really home. But it was not safe to return there so instead they went to Nazareth in the north of the country.

In the latter part of the Christmas story then, we get a glimpse of what it means to be a refugee. To have to leave one’s home and go to a foreign land where, presumably you don’t speak the language, where, presumably you are reliant on the kindness of strangers to offer you somewhere to live etc.

Whenever I see the images of the refugees fleeing Syria I cannot help but think of how Jesus would understand what they are going through. According to a report in The Guardian in September 2015, more than 4 million refugees have fled Syria since the war there began in 2011. According to the UN’s refugee agency, almost 1.8 million have gone to Turkey, more than 600,000 to Jordan and 1 million to Lebanon – a country whose population is just 4 million.

And as a follower of Jesus, I wonder what the response of Christians should be. I know of course it is a huge issue and a hugely complex issue. We know that immigration is such a hot topic in this country. And following the Paris shootings where – apparently – some of the terrorists posed as Syrian refugees to get in to Europe, there is an even greater reluctance to welcome in the stranger.

Yet always in the back of my mind – and I hope in some of yours too – are the words of Jesus. Jesus is talking of himself as King

34 ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
37 ‘Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?”
40 ‘The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Refuge ends with these words:

And I kept walking, carrying my precious load, and the woman held the baby close to her heart, and she and the man talked about journeys, and dreams and warnings, and the love of a baby, and the kindness of strangers.
And when we rested , ad they were frightened, they took hope from each other, and from the baby’s first smile.
And we entered Egypt and found refuge.

Refuge Anne Booth & Sam Usher 2015 Nosy Crow Ltd London