The archbishop gave his Christmas Eve sermon at a service at the Püha Neitsi Maarja church in Jõelähtme, just outside Tallinn.

We heard from the Christmas Gospel about how Mary "gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)

The word sõim (English: Manger) is one of approximately a thousand homonyms in the Estonian language, that is, words which have the same form but with different meanings. The Estonian Language Institute's dictionary portal ascribes three different meanings for the word sõim. First, sõim refers to someone expressing themselves crudely toward another person. Second, sõim denotes a childcare institution intended for the care and development of children up to the age of three, in other words, a nursery. The sõim into which Mary placed her newborn son Jesus after wrapping him in swaddling clothes was a feed trough intended for animals. This is the third meaning.

The word sõim, in the meaning of a childcare institution, is one of those terms that has entered our everyday culture from the scriptures. More precisely, from the Christmas story heard today. Many Estonian children spend several months of their earliest years in an institution termed a sõim, precisely because Mary placed the little Jesus Child in a manger. The nursery even during the atheist occupation period bore a name originating from the Bible. Even then, we lived within a Christian cultural sphere.

According to Christian historical tradition, five wooden slats from the first Bethlehem feeding trough into which Mary placed Jesus have been preserved down to this day. In the year 220 AD, the early Christian scholar Origen still spoke of the manger of Jesus in Bethlehem as still existing.

A couple of centuries later, Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin and who lived in Bethlehem in a cave next to the Church of the Nativity built over the cave of Jesus' birth, spoke of pilgrims going to venerate the manger of Jesus in the Bethlehem grotto of the Nativity. In the year 640 AD, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, sent pieces of the manger into the care of Pope Theodore I of Rome. Since that time, these modest wooden pieces have been kept in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. Every Christmas night – including this night – thousands of pilgrims go to venerate it there in Rome. Just as many modern-day parents have no other option besides a nursery to which to entrust a child who is not yet accepted into kindergarten, so according to the Christmas Gospel, Mary and Joseph also had no other choice for the child than a manger in a stable. "Because there was no room for them in the inn" writes the evangelist Luke.

A colleague in the clergy who has been working for years in Estonia with young people with intellectual disabilities recounted some years ago how they had staged the Christmas Gospel as a Christmas play with these special young people.

All the young people were given a role in this production. Among the characters portrayed by the young people were, naturally, Mary and Joseph, who had arrived in Bethlehem for the census. In order for everyone to have a part in the play, many of the young people portrayed the animals in the stable. Several more were given the task of portraying the inhabitants of Bethlehem. Some became the innkeepers who Mary and Joseph turned to, to find lodgings. They rehearsed the entire production for several months. In the end, everyone had their roles memorized. Everyone knew what to do at the right time, and which lines needed to be delivered at the proper moment in the performance.

When the day of the performance arrived and the parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers, and other family members of the young people had gathered in the hall, the enactment of the Christmas Gospel could begin. Joseph and Mary began their journey to reach Bethlehem for the census.

On arriving, they began their search for somewhere to stay. They started knocking on doors, which, when opened, were supposed to yield the response from the householders that unfortunately all the rooms in the inn were full. The same response, that there was no room in the house, was also supposed to come from behind the other doors. According to the script of the play, Joseph and Mary were finally to find a place to stay in the stable of one kind household. Here Mary was to give birth, wrap her son in swaddling clothes, and lay him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. When the Joseph in this play knocked on the first door, however, it was opened by a kind-hearted actress playing the hostess of the house. When she saw the poor travelers at her door and heard their sad story, she spread her arms wide for an embrace, hugged both Joseph and Mary, and quickly invited them inside. She gave the unfortunate ones shelter and kindly promised to care for them. Joseph and Mary joyfully stepped inside. Everyone embraced one another and thanked the kind householders.

This time the retelling of the Christmas Gospel ended with Joseph and Mary finding shelter, and the Christ Child did not need to be laid in a manger at all. Most importantly, everyone was happy. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mark 5:8). We often think that with our understanding of life that conforms to societal norms, as well as with our experiences and learned book wisdom, we are wise and certainly also good. Possibly even better than many others. Especially in comparison with those who are born different.

The truth, however, is that in addition to everything else, we have absorbed a great deal of learned politeness but which is not sincere. This can sometimes be rather hypocritical and artificial. How do you teach goodness of heart and sincerity? For very many people with intellectual disabilities, who make up to a couple of percent of us, sincerity and honesty are their natural state. They are by nature pure of heart. We have much to learn from them.

Although the script of the Christmas play prescribed sending the strangers away from the door, the actress playing the mistress of the house did not have the heart to do so. In her house in this Christmas play there was room enough. She invited the strangers inside and offered them lodging. Thus, in this Christmas story, the Christ Child was born not in a stable, but in a safe place under the care of a loving household. Just as the birth of a child ought to be.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," says Jesus. How does one live one's life with purity of heart? Where is Jesus born today? Is there a place for him in our home? Do we invite Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child from here, from the church, to come with us and offer them a place at our Christmas table? Does Father Christmas have a gift also for the Christ Child?

The place where Love has its resting place depends on us. The encounter with the Christ Child – with our neighbor created in the image of God – begins with every kind word, smile, phone call, or message that we send to someone to whom, for some reason, we have until now closed the door, saying that in my heart there is no room for you…

When we open the doors of our heart, the Christ Child's own sincere and smiling face is reflected back from our face to all others. Our heart is indeed the manger of Bethlehem, where through love there is room for the Christ Child and for all others for whom we open our heart. For this, it is sometimes necessary to disregard the prescribed script, to swallow one's pride and honor, and to do what the heart feels.

Have a blessed feast of Christ's Nativity!

Amen.

The full Christmas Eve service at the Jõelähtme Püha Neitsi Maarja church can be viewed by clicking on the video player below.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!