I have a friend who collects “nativity sets.”
I specifically asked about them and she has over 90 different sets in her collection. Each individual one is totally unique and different.
As a matter of fact, she has so many, that I do not think she has room to display them all at one time.
I asked her about the most unusual nativity scenes that she has…and without taking a breath, she said, “Rubber duckies” and “Weebles-weebles-wobble-but they-don’t-fall-down!”
A “nesting nativity” might be kind of interesting.
You know, like those Russian dolls, they all fit inside each other. The smallest one of course being the baby Jesus…
Well, I own one nativity set. It was made in Italy and it’s about 50 years old. My mom purchased many, many years ago at J C Penney in Racine.
Mine is displayed year around. The babe of Bethlehem is always with me. It is purposefully placed so that I see it every day.
Well the reason that I share all this…is because of our Gospel lesson for the weekend…
It is the second week in our “new season” of Advent.
Two Advent candles are lit on our Advent wreath…
And we get a litany of names-names that are familiar to most of us. We have heard them for years now. The names never change and are always presented in the same order.
Tiberius-Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas and Caiaphas.
You hear these names and you know that Christmas is drawing nearer. Christmas cannot be far away when these names are echoing somewhere in the background.
We know that these were some of the chief players in the Jesus Story.
And very much like “getting all your ducks in a row” these men, these individuals have to be front and center…in order for Christmas to draw near.
Luke had done a good job of giving us the historical setting…
Luke has given to us all “the movers and shakers” of Jesus’ day and time.
Each and everyone has a role to play.
These would be the big-wigs, the high-muckety-mucks…the big shots…
They each have a place to be. They all have a designated part. All of them are necessary as they all interrelate…in some mysterious way.
And in the background you know that the crèche is going to be looming…the crèche is going to be present, and so is the cross.
Christmas is coming.
Two candles are lit.
Luke is pointing toward something BIG HAPPENING.
God is about to act…in some kind of significant way.
Christmas is getting closer…and the clock is still ticking…
Tick…tick…tick…