Prepare yourself and your family for the coming of Christmas by setting up a nativity scene or creche. All the figures of the Christmas story are there—Mary, Joseph, a figure of the Baby Jesus to lie in the manger, shepherds, angels, wise men. And a stable with few cattle or some sheep and of course a star to put overhead.
But here’s the Advent reminder: Don’t put them all on center stage at once. Remember, you’re celebrating the coming of Christ, the coming of Christmas. After all, those figures didn’t arrive at that stable at once. They traveled, too. They had to come over different terrain.
Take Mary and Joseph. Imagine them coming down from Bethlehem, not a long journey, about 90 miles, but a tedious one for a woman about to give birth to a child, and for her husband wondering where they will stay. It’s not like he could call and make a reservation at a Motel 6.
You might start them coming from another room, as though Nazareth were in your bedroom and Bethlehem happening on a table in the living room. Each day, each day of Advent, they come a little closer. And of course, that little baby doesn’t go into the manger until Christmas Eve.
By then you probably want the star up over the stable, a beacon to the wise men coming from the East. They’ve got the longest journey. Could they possibly glimpse the light of that star from…the kitchen or the laundry room, situated on the washer? Far, far East.
In the meanwhile, of course, the shepherds have heard the good news from the angels. They’re within walking distance of the stable, “in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). Ask your kids—or grandkids—what would be the best place to put them. Perhaps on top of the sofa—the fields—or maybe the TV.
The angel will appear and then there will be that “multitude of the heavenly host.” Proclaiming the good news.
When you read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke to your kids or grandkids—or to yourself—you can act it out with those creche figurines. Positioning the shepherds and/or Mary and Joseph, with Mary on a donkey, in different places in your house can remind you of your own journey to the Christ Child. The steps you’ve taken and continue to take.
Lastly, of course, there are the wise men (turning to the gospel of Matthew) with their camels and their gifts, covering hundreds of miles. Some scholars estimate that it would have taken months.
Traditionally we celebrate their coming to honor the newborn King at the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 12 days after Christmas. But if they had to travel so far, you can set them up all over the house, moving ever closer. It’s possible that they started on their journey even before the Babe was born.
A creche is a wonderful way to relive the Christmas story. And share it with others.
