I’ve shared this story many times, but it is absolutely my
favorite Advent/Christmas story. So here
is goes again. Someday it’s also going to be in my book of lessons learned from
the adults with intellectual disabilities who attend Camp Rainbow Connection
(CRC). Those have been some of my greatest lessons about God’s unconditional
love over the last 14 years.
In 2001, my second summer as the Director of CRC, we
celebrated “Christmas Love” as the theme of the two camp sessions. Each day during Bible class, the staff
focused on a portion of the story of the birth of Jesus. Activities, Bible passages, and drama each
day moved toward acting out the full story on the last day of class. On that morning, each camper was given a part
to play. As the characters were being
helped into their costumes, everyone realized that Kevin didn’t have a
part. Now, Kevin is a large man:
probably a little over 6’ tall and around 300 lbs. Kevin immediately responded, “I can be Baby
Jesus!” Use your imagination here to
visualize a really large Baby Jesus in the manger.
The leaders of the class dressed Kevin in a purple
robe. They showed him the place where he
was to go sit when it was time for Jesus to arrive in the story. The classroom had been set up with two chairs
on one side with space between them.
When Mary and Joseph arrived at the stable, they would take their place
in the chairs. When it was time for Jesus
to be born, Kevin would sit on the floor between the two chairs.
As Mary and Joseph came through the door into the classroom,
Kevin plopped himself down right between the chairs. One by one, most of the leaders went over to
Kevin, telling him that it wasn’t time for Jesus yet. He needed to move until the time was right. Mary and Joseph walked across the room as if
they were traveling to Bethlehem and took their places. Kevin as still there - hadn’t
budged and wasn’t going to. He just
continued to sit quietly…waiting…and leaders kept telling him Jesus wasn’t in
the story yet, he should get up.
Finally, Kevin looked up at the last person that told him that and made
the announcement: “I know! I’m in the womb.”
What we thought was stubbornness…what we thought was wanting
to “steal the show” from the other characters…what we thought was a failure to
understand the story…was actually a great revelation (that came with much
laughter). Kevin not only knew the details
of the story of Jesus’ birth, but he knew how important it was to quietly wait
for the Christ child to arrive. He knew our hearts, minds, and bodies needed to
be ready to receive this amazing gift.
I’ve never thought of Advent or Christmas in the same way
since that day in the summer of 2001. Can you honestly say you’re willing to
wait and discern God’s call for you and your church, or are you caught up in
the drive to act and maybe take over the show yourself? My prayer is that we
can all put on our purple robes, sit quietly and listen until God’s plan is
ready to emerge.
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