wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas Message 2000

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2000-211

Bethlehem People

     Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas Message 2000

     My favourite Christmas carol is "O Little Town of 
Bethlehem". Written by Philips Brooks, former Episcopal bishop of 
the Diocese of Massachusetts, it captures so eloquently and 
beautifully the magic of Christmas. He composed it following a 
never-to-be-forgotten visit to Bethlehem in 1868 when he was then 
rector of Trinity Church, Boston. Some years ago Eileen and I 
visited Bethlehem at Christmas in connection with the Orthodox 
Celebrations. With the Patriarch and many other pilgrims we made 
our way through the narrow streets of the town to the Church of 
the Nativity. And then, stooping low to enter the tiny entrance 
to the church, we entered a brilliant interior lit with the 
candles of hundreds of pilgrims. The rich liturgy of the Greek 
Orthodox Church then began. I confess I don't recall much of what 
happened thereafter! But what I do remember is that, following 
the service, we drifted into the lovely Franciscan church next 
door. As we did so a girl's voice started to sing:

     'O little town of Bethlehem,

     How still we see thee lie! ' 

     And then, spontaneously, we all took up the carol which rang 
and rang around the beautifully decorated Church:

     'Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by:

     Yet in thy dark streets shineth

     The everlasting light:

     The hopes and fears of all the years

     Are met in thee tonight' 

     Bethlehem is very much on my mind at the moment. The carol 
speaks of 'peace' - but there is little peace in the Holy Land at 
this present time. I find myself asking: 'Are we doing enough to 
support our brothers and sisters in this land, loved above all 
others? Are we praying enough for Muslims, Jews and Christians to 
live in harmony one with another? How many others have to die 
violently before the leaders of all parties realise that there 
will never be peace until the land belongs to all? But the carol 
speaks of God's gift of his Son:

     'How silently, how silently,

     The wondrous gift is given!

     So God imparts to human hearts

     The blessings of his heaven'. 

     And I find myself thinking: "Hold on, Christian, you who are 
so concerned about issues of justice and social care, are you in 
danger of neglecting the heart of the Christian message? That our 
message is about God's gift which is offered to us all and which 
transforms all?" Of course, this message will include social care 
and issues of justice but they follow on from the gospel message 
articulated so splendidly by John 1 that "As many as receive him 
to them he gives power to become children of God". Philips Brooks 
knew of the importance of keeping that truth uppermost at all 
times. It is the answer against many a single issue obsession 
which weakens witness and spoils our fellowship.

     'No ear may hear his coming,

     But in this world of sin,

     Where meek souls will receive him still

     The dear Christ enters in' 

     The conditioning adjective here is 'meek', or we might say 
'humble'. I have often wondered if Brooks had in mind that small 
Crusader entrance which is so low that adults have to stoop to 
enter. Brooks would have entered the same door and the image must 
have hit him forcefully. But the image bites both ways. Christ 
stoops so low to enter our hearts - here is a piercing reference 
to the incarnation! This is the 'dearness' of the Christ who 
enters human life. But the reverse is true as well; we too must 
make that journey to 'Bethlehem' and stoop to enter into the 
fullness of the Christian life.

     I offer you this meditation on this carol because it sums up so clearly 
the Christian message and Christian hope. May we Anglicans be 
'Bethlehem people', characterised by a devotion to a Lord who wants 
all to share his love and eager to be men and women of peace. Eileen 
and I send to you, our brothers and sisters, our devoted love and earnest 
desire that all our hopes and fears will be met in the One who is eternally 
'Immanuel'.