A Message for Christmas from
Bishop B. Penrose Hoover
December 6, 2010
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 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 2:6-7
Dear Co-laborers with Christ,
In the old city of Bethlehem, next to a noisy, crowded bazaar, stands Christmas Lutheran Church. The gray stone structure with bell tower and sharp spire puts one in mind of churches in Europe and America. Its official name, the Evangelishe Weinachtskirche, reflects the German heritage and resources that constructed it. This building, with its modern, spacious additions of offices, classrooms, community center, and gift shop, houses an active, lively worshipping congregation of Palestinian Lutherans. The congregation's various ministries of outreach and service make it one of the largest employers in this ancient city. One of its ministries, the "Stars of Bethlehem" scholarship program, provides educational funding for children in Bethlehem.
During our visit to Christmas Church last year, the pastor invited our group to see the cave underneath the congregations elaborate gift shop that was discovered several years ago when the addition for the gift shop was being built. A winding stairway led us into a level underground space about twenty feet in diameter. Crossing this space, we stepped up a slight incline to another room in the cave, about the size of our chapel at the synod office, with a naturally domed ceiling. In the wall facing us as we entered, we could clearly see the outline of a door and two window spaces, now filled in, which once were the entranceway and source of light for what was someone's dwelling place long ago.
The pastor explained that this cave is typical of many such underground chambers that honeycomb the Bethlehem area and is at least two thousand years old. People, perhaps an extended family, lived in this place, probably for generations. Cooking would have been done in the center of the room, and at night rugs would have been rolled out onto the floor for sleeping. If the family were a large one, the entire floor would have been filled with slumbering parents, grandparents, and children. Animals would have been kept in the lower area in the rear through which we entered. At the time of Jesus' birth, there were no public houses, no inns or hotels of the sort we are familiar with today. Travelers would plan to stay with relatives, friends, or extended family when they journeyed to distant places, or were dependent upon the hospitality of strangers. But once the family had retired for the night, the floor crowded with sleeping bodies, someone coming to the door seeking shelter could conceivably be directed to "go around back" and come in through the area where the animals were kept. There might be room to bed down back there.
"Now," the pastor said, "you have all had the chance earlier today to visit the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus' birth. Maybe it is so. But the fact is, nobody really knows the exact location of the birth of our Lord. What we do know is that we are standing here, in a 2,000-year-old cave in Bethlehem where people lived at that time. Why not here?"
The exact location of a historical birth two millennia ago remains a mystery. But in the presence of the risen Lord, the Christ Child comes into our hearts, into our lives, into our homes, into our congregations, when we gather in his name, when we share Word and Sacrament, now and always. "Let every heart prepare him room," as the joyful carol says. In this crowded season, in our busy lives, may we continually make room for the coming of Christ. Why not here? Why not now?
May all the blessings of Christmas be yours here, now, and always.
Faithfully, your bishop,
+B. Penrose Hoover
LOWER SUSQUEHANNA
SYNOD
900
South Arlington Avenue, Suite 220B Harrisburg,
PA 17109
(717) 652-1852 (800) 692-7282 (PA Only) Fax:
(717) 652-2504