Suffering from Birth Shiao Chong These Days, I Look at the Nativity Scene with Different Eyes

Outdoor Christmas Displaying the Incarnation Coming home Advent for those who mourn PAGE 9 PAGE 12 PAGE 18 PAGE 16 PM# 40009999 R9375 A Reformed Biweekly | 68th Year of Publication | December 9, 2013 | NO. 2974 | $2.50 News. Clues. Kingdom views. Suffering from birth Shiao Chong These days, I look at the nativity scene with different eyes. I used to see a beautiful, serene, sentimental scene that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling, reminding me that Jesus came in the flesh as a cute little baby. Of course, the shadow of Jesus’ cross would temper my fuzzy feelings a bit, but only a little. Christmas, after all, is a joyous occasion. We can save the sorrows and grief for Good Friday, right? I suspect many of us have similar sentiments. But years ago, while preparing a Christmas sermon, I came upon an insight that changed my view of the nativity scene. This occurred shortly after I went on a nighttime walk in downtown Toronto with a homeless ministry volunteer as my tour guide. My guide had ministered to the Toronto homeless for years, and knew their favourite spots. As he gave me and my students the tour, he shared all sorts of wisdom from his years of experience. Ministering to the homeless is not my strength but I have discovered one tell-tale sign to spot a homeless person: you look at where they sleep. Homeless people tend to sleep in places that are not meant to be slept in – by the front doorsteps, for example; between two newspaper vending machines, or on a park bench. Hence, it suddenly struck me, as I was working on my Christmas sermon, that the baby Jesus was homeless: he was sleeping in a manger. A manger is an open feed box in the barn. It was meant for storing animal feed, not babies. And, of course, Mary Two Barns and A Northern Nativity (inset) by William Kurelek and Joseph were temporarily home- (see related article on page 2). Continued on page 2 PAGE 2 CHRISTIAN COURIER News Suffering from birthcontinued Kurelek imagines a Canadian incarnation less, forced to travel far from home to Bethlehem, thanks to the Roman Empire’s Diane Plug census decree. And they could not find any lodging except in a barn. William Kurelek is a If we were to see a similar scene in real life today, it would not give us warm much-loved Canadian fuzzy feelings. Seeing homeless people sleep on the streets should not do that to artist. He produced over you. In fact, it should make you feel either sad or angry. Sad at their plight, and 10,000 works of art in angry that we live in a world where such things occur routinely. his short, turbulent life. His works can be found Away in a . toolbox in galleries across Can- Do you feel sad and angry when you look at the nativity scene? Perhaps it ada. His work is often is a sign of how much we have domesticated and sentimentalized the Christ- described as pastoral, mas story that it has lost its shock value. What if I paint a more contemporary humorous and naïf. The picture of the nativity for you? What if, instead of a bearded Joseph and an an- paintings depict games, gelic looking Mary, we have two scared teenagers with the girl barely 15? And family gatherings, work, instead of a barn, we have a dirty garage? And instead of shepherds coming to immigrant experiences visit, we have garbage collectors coming upon the teenage parents? And instead and ethnic celebrations. of lying in a manger, we have a tiny newborn sleeping in an emptied tool box? In his last decade, he Should a scene like that make you want to burst into “Silent Night”? drew 160 illustrations of I am not taking too many liberties here. The average betrothal age for Jewish the Gospel of Matthew, virgins in those days was 14 to 15 years old. And shepherding was a thankless largely the “Passion of job, due to its long, odd outdoor hours, isolation from mainstream society, and Christ.” the sheep’s smelly odours clinging to you. Shepherds were kind of homeless Born to Ukrainian too, sleeping under the night sky. It is important work, but not the kind people immigrants in Alberta normally want. Sort of like our garbage collectors. and raised on a farm in And what if those two scared teenagers were forced into their predicament Manitoba, he had a dif- because of some impersonal government economic policy? Well, what else was “Merry Christmas from the Salvation Army.” ficult relationship with the census but a means of ascertaining how much tax money the Roman Empire his father and fought could expect? a desperate, life-long It should make us sad and angry. It should make us sad at human suffering. It battle with depression. should make us mad at the injustices and oppressions that cause needless suffer- He claimed atheism ing. And it should make us see Christ’s suffering. for himself, but God So often, we separate Christ’s Good Friday sufferings on the cross away never gave up on him from the joys of Christmas. But if we really see the nativity for what it is, we and he relates stories of recognize that Jesus’ suffering began already at birth. As theologian Marva “encounters” during his Dawn observed concerning the Apostle’s Creed: searching years. “We have put the comma in the wrong place in the Apostle’s Creed, The constant with the result that we have reduced Christ’s travail for us to only one piece struggle with depres- (though the major one) of its entirety. sion eventually brought We say, Born of the virgin Mary, Kurelek to England, He suffered under Pontius Pilate, where he made contact Was crucified, died, and was buried. with an institution that We should say, Born of the virgin Mary, used drawing as a way He suffered, to deal with mental Under Pontius Pilate was crucified, health issues. A won- Died, and was buried. derful therapist helped Do you notice the immense difference it makes? Jesus didn’t suffer only him and eventually under Pontius Pilate. He suffered from the very beginning. Jesus suffered brought him to the mo- when he was born and laid in a manger” (From Morning by Morning: Daily ment when he claimed Meditations from the Writings of Marva J. Dawn, p. 334). the presence of God in his life. Someone with Nativity naïveté Me, the autobiography Jesus did not only come to suffer on the cross. Jesus came to suffer his entire of his life, tells more of life. Jesus also suffered the Pharisees’ opposition. He suffered his disciples’ fail- A Truckdriver’s Charity (1976). that story. ures. He suffered the crowds and their demands. He suffered the Romans’ oppres- After that, Kurelek sion. God, in Jesus, suffered. married and settled down in Toronto. He experienced the joy of children and a successful career Here is a “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), a God who knows intimately the world’s as artist. His restored relationship with his father is a redemption story enacted in real life. homelessness, oppression and suffering. Here is a God who leaves the power and A Prairie Boy’s Summer and A Prairie Boy’s Winter are delightful books to introduce children comforts of heaven behind for the vulnerability of a helpless, homeless newborn (and adults) to the art of William Kurelek. Or, this Christmas season, pick up A Northern Nativ- in a manger. Here is a God who is willing to suffer a lifetime in order to right the ity. Kurelek wants us to know that Jesus came for all, so he imagines with us what would it have wrongs of the world, “to proclaim good news for the poor, freedom for the prison- been like if Jesus had been born in an igloo, in a black family or in the mountains. ers, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year “Two Barns” (see previous page) is one of the illustrations in A Northern Nativity. One of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19). Here is a God who is willing to do what- barn has been turned into an antique shop. Passersby are stopping, searching for possible ever it takes to bring salvation to the world, even death on a cross. treasures. Kurelek, however, focuses attention on the other barn. In the logs are carved these This Christmas, may you see the nativity scene and see the suffering, and see words: “Late have I loved you / O ancient Beauty ever old and ever new.” It is a quote from how awesome is our God. And may that vision inspire you to do St. Augustine’s Confessions. For Kurelek, the search for worldly pleasures your part in God’s mission to right the wrongs of the world, even (one barn) becomes sheer emptiness in light of the fullness of God found in if it requires some suffering. Christ (the second barn). Shiao Chong is the Christian Reformed Campus Minister & Kurelek died in 1977 at the age of 51. Director of Leadership, Culture and Christianity, a student club at Many years ago Diane Plug volunteered as a docent at the Norman MacKenzie York University, Toronto. He has published numerous articles for Art Gallery in Regina Saskatchewan. It was during this time she met Canadian various Christian publications, including Christian Courier. artist William Kurelek. Diane is a retired teacher and lives in Sarnia, Ont.

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