The Stable & Cross

Posted on December 14, 2022 
Filed under Good News, Resources

Joshua Bovis at St John’s Tamworth shares this Christmas message, written for his parish newsletter.

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There are certain words, certain objects and certain things that at first glance don’t seem to work when they are combined. For example, my older brother Colin, who is a chef in England, once worked at a lovely pub called The Axe & Compass. For the life of me I cannot work out what an axe has to do with a compass nor how one points to the other.

Christmas reminds me of The Axe & Compass. Not because it is pub where much drinking will happen, but because the essence of Christmas contains two words, two objects that at first glance, also don’t seem to work when they are combined, and those two things are the stable & cross. 

Perhaps your response to these two things is the same as my initial reaction when I heard about the Axe & Compass, what does the stable have to do with a cross? How does one point to the other? After all we all know the Christmas story. We have all seen the nativity scene in our local shopping centres. Ok, so the traditional nativity scene has taken some liberties regarding the number of wise men, wherever there was actually an inn or an upper room, a stable or a cave. But we all know the basics, there a young very pregnant woman, her concerned husband, a birth, a healthy newborn baby boy, a star, Bethlehem and Angels. 

So what does the cross have to do with a stable? Why is that part of Christmas? How does that fit with a stable? A cross is about Easter isn’t it? And wait a second…the stable is about a birth, Easter is about a death, how can the stable and cross go together?

The answer is not as way out as it seems. The stable and the cross go together when we ask the question ‘why’? Why was Jesus born? Why did he come to this earth? Why did Jesus leave his throne in heaven to become vulnerable flesh and blood? Why did God become one of us?

The wonderful thing about these questions is that they are questions that have an answer, and even more wonderful, Jesus himself answers the question. 

In his Gospel, Mark records an event where two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John had plans, big plans. They were ambitious and wanted great things – for themselves. And they thought the key to greatness was Jesus, so they asked him to make them great. Jesus turns their worldview upside down (or is it the right way up?) by telling them that the key to greatness is serving others. Then Jesus gives them the example of himself and, at the same time, answers the question of why he was born. He says:

“FOR EVEN THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE SERVED BUT TO SERVE, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY.”

A sad fact of Christmas for many of us is that we often receive gifts that don’t last, that are not that useful and (let’s be honest) that we don’t like. To me, gifts like this could be described as hollow. The stable and the cross are the ultimate gift from the God who loves us, for it is the person of Jesus who links them both together and He is the point of both.

Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family and friends, it is wonderful opportunity to eat food we don’t normally eat, (and to eat more than we would normally eat), and it is often a time of connecting with others. The stable and cross is God’s way of connecting with us and the stable and cross is the only way that we can connect with him. 

The Stable & Cross words seem like words that don’t go together – but to have Christmas without them makes for a Hollow Christmas. No-one likes hollow gifts at Christmas, so when we see the Stable & Cross, why settle for a hollow Christmas? Why would we want to?

Have a blessed Christmas!