5 reasons why Sanctuary is an Essential Part of Christmas

Krish Kandiah unpacks the traditional Christmas story via 5 groups of people seeking or offering hospitality.

This year, after some reflection, I have come to the conclusion that providing sanctuary and hospitality are essential – both to our understanding of Christmas, and our celebration of the festival. At the heart of the story is God himself, arriving helpless and empty-handed, but met with hostility and suspicion and placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation, before being driven away across another border. Yet in this darkness, there is light. Where there is welcome, there is hope, joy, and peace. Take a look at these five elements of the story of the birth of Jesus that highlight sanctuary in different ways.

1.     The Foster Father
Joseph doesn’t say a word in the gospels, yet his character shines through. Even before angelic intervention he was going to keep quiet about the adultery he naturally assumed was the explanation for his betrothed’s pregnancy. Then when he was told he was to raise God’s son he didn’t flinch. Instead, he stepped up and did whatever was necessary to be a father to Jesus. Being a foster father wasn’t easy. He faced public shame, mortal danger, political hostility and refugee status because of his willingness to provide sanctuary to God.

2.     The Invisible Innkeeper
Even though every school nativity play gives him a role, there’s no mention of an innkeeper in the biblical account. Yet someone saw Mary and Joseph’s plight and offered them shelter. According to first century Palestine customs, the couple would have expected to stay with relatives – but it seems none were able or willing to help with a private room. And without money, they had no options left – there was no room for them anywhere. Without the kindness of an anonymous somebody, Mary would have given birth on the street. But that somebody steps up and offers the little they have, unknowingly welcoming Jesus himself into the world.

3.     The Shut-out Shepherds
Scholars are divided about the view of shepherds in ancient Israel. Some, citing Aristotle and the Mishnah, say they were social outcasts. They had a certain stench and a certain reputation, and neither were good. Others claim it was a romantic vocation, following in the footsteps of King David and in line with a divine metaphor: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. Either way, the night-time shift work would have been long and dark, scary, and lonely. They were not just working in the fields, according to Luke, but living there too. They were outsiders in every sense, cut off from family and friends, and always the last to know any news of any significance. Suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts shows up offering them peace, breaking good news, and a VIP invitation. The upside-down values of the Kingdom of God are on full display – those who feel most shut out will be the first to be welcomed in.

4.     The Marginalised Magi
There were strict rules about the association of Jews with people from other ethnic backgrounds. If a brief conversation with a Samaritan woman by a well would raise eyebrows, imagine the shock of embracing a troop of eastern travellers who used forbidden practices like astrology. But we are told that Mary and Joseph welcomed these unclean strangers into their home, accepting their gifts, and allowing them to stay overnight and interact with their baby boy. Somehow, they could see beyond the rules and recognised that the coming of Christ would bring together east and west, wealthy and poor, those who were deemed the in-crowd and those who were supposedly off-limits. Jesus’ arrival breaks down the traditional barriers that divided the world and offers a foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God when all nations would be gathered together before the throne of Jesus.

 5.     The Egypt-bound Escapees
Despite the gifts of the Magi offering us a foretaste of God’s coming Kingdom, Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus faced the full harshness of our fallen world. King Herod flew into a murderous rage at the potential threat to his reign that was being posed by a baby born in a village. Soldiers were sent to kill all boys under two years old and Joseph and Mary and Jesus were forced to flee to Egypt for their lives. The God who was able to send a dream to forewarn Joseph could have sent an angel to protect Jesus or a plague to halt the soldiers or a prophet to change Herod’s mind. But instead, God allows Jesus to become a refugee, seeking sanctuary as a helpless child. Why? Because Christmas is all about both sanctuary-seekers, those who recognise their need to be welcomed in, and all about sanctuary-givers, those who open their doors and their homes and their hearts.

Wherever we look in the Christmas story we see the hospitality of God offered to us and its call to us to show hospitality to others; like children in foster care, the homeless, outsiders, those of different religions, and refugees.

This advent, why not join me on a daily journey that explores this further. Season of Sanctuary is a free online resource that is available to individuals, groups and churches looking at the hospitality of God at Christmas: sign up for 25 daily reflections through December HERE 

Dr Krish Kandiah is the Director of the Sanctuary Foundation.
Twitter @Krishk   www.krishk.com