“Doors to the Christmas Drama”

Religion in Daily Life (c) By the Rev. Edward Chinn, D.Min. Rector, All Saints’ Church 9601 Frankford Ave. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19114 (215) 637-5225 Written 6 December 2001 http://www.allsaintstorresdale.org

“Not many sounds in life, and I include all urban and rural sounds, exceed in interest a knock at the door,” wrote Charles Lamb. Christmas begins with a knock at the door. Consider the “Doors to the Christmas Drama.”

There is the physical door to the Christmas drama. Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165) was born near Bethlehem. He wrote about the cave in which Jesus was born. In the year A.D. 330, the Emperor Constantine built a basilica (church) over this cave and named the edifice the Church of the Nativity. In 529, the Church was destroyed in the Samaritan Revolt. In 550, the Emperor Justinian built a larger Church on the site. During the Middle Ages, Muslims captured the Holy Land. To desecrate the Church of the Nativity, Muslims rode their horses through the Church’s high doorways into the sacred spot of Jesus’ birthplace. The church authorities protected the Church by having the doorways into the Church walled up. The remaining doorway was lowered so that only one person at a time could enter by stooping down. This entrance is called the “Door of Humility.”

There is also the spiritual door to the Christmas drama. In Unity Magazine (March 2001), Philip White wrote about an incident from his childhood. The three-year-old boy who lived next door opened his front door and ran out naked and danced on the lawn. His embarrassed mother rescued him from the public display. As White reflected on that incident, he wrote: “As spiritual beings in a physical world, are we not door openers? Is life not the great challenge of finding the right ‘doors’ to open, and having the spiritual courage to open them?” Christmas celebrates God, not as a distant being “out there,” but one in whom we live and move and have our being, one who came and who continues to come to us through the human.

In 1854, Holman Hunt stood in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and unveiled his painting, “The Light of the World.” He had painted a thorn-crowned Jesus standing outside a closed door. Jesus holds a lantern in his left hand and is knocking on the door. There is no handle visible on the door. Like our lives, the door to his presence has to be opened from the inside. The artist portrayed words from the early Christian writings. In a vision, John set down these words spoken by the Risen Jesus: “Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together” (Revelation 3:20, CEV).