Warm Advent blessings to you, Orchard Family,
You may have already seen the story, or perhaps this reading will be your first time hearing about it. A nearby church in Dedham, Mass., about an hour and a half from us, created an Advent display that has appeared across national news. Within their nativity scene is a sign that reads “ICE was here.” Apparently, they were intentional, and it has upset many people, prompting the question, “What is the point?” According to the church, the point is that if Mary, Joseph, and Jesus arrived today in the same vulnerable circumstances that brought them to Bethlehem, they would face the same systems that many families are encountering in America now.
Advent invites us to sit with these hard truths while we sing ‘Jingle Bells.’ As the church, it is not the heart of God for us to look away when the world around us is suffering. While for some this is just a news headline, these experiences are the lived realities of those in our community, some of whom we personally know. We can’t deny that systems in our country have placed families under surveillance, created unwarranted fear, and put certain people’s futures in jeopardy, where the possibility is that if they return to their country, they can be tortured or even killed. Had Jesus been returned to His homeland of Jerusalem, Herod would have killed him; it is just some challenging food for thought.
So how do we locate Advent joy in a world impacted by hard things? How do we locate joy in stories like baby Jesus and the stories of our neighbors who face possible detriment? We create it through community. When we look again at the Christmas story in the bible, we see Advent joy was created through community. It didn’t take the hard thing away immediately, but life was made a little lighter and better because of the love expressed through community. The shepherds, the wisemen, a cadre of Angels, and the person who let Mary and Joseph stay in the barn because there was no room at the Inn helped make life better for them in that moment. In the same spirit, this is the shared invitation we all should create: to bring Advent joy through the love we extend to our neighbor and one another.
Advent teaches us that love makes room. As we lean into community, we make space for Christ to arrive through us. Love expressed in community brings light to the places longing for help and hope. If ICE in the nativity scene is what moves us to live the gospel with greater love, then so be it. May God lead us through these Advent days with compassion, grace, and a spirit ready to reflect Christ in all we do.
With a heart open to Christ’s arrival,
Rev. Tam
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