Animals, Advent, and the O Antiphons

There are at least two things I love to do in Advent.  One is to pray the O Antiphons, and the other is to visit at least one of venues near me that has an international nativity display.  The O Antiphons always help to ground me through the close of Advent.  They keep me focused on the true meaning of Christmas - the coming of Christ - through the hubbub of preparations and celebrations that, while wonderful and rewarding in their own ways, are nevertheless a distraction from the hope of the season.

The international nativity displays always fascinate me.  I love to see how different cultures around the world have interpreted the nativity story.  I especially love the ones that are set, not in the ancient middle east, but in the culture that created the nativity.  It reminds us, I think, that Christ came not just once, long ago, but comes to each of us every day, right where and as we are, if only we will let Him.  I love to see the different materials used, the different levels of detail included, the differing degrees of reverence and whimsy, and - of course - the different animals that show up in the manger!  Christ is the savior of the world, near and far, with all its creatures.  No one culture or species can make an exclusive claim on God's all-encompassing saving grace. 

This year, with the animals in mind, I posted daily reflections on the O Antiphons on the Dominion In The Image of God Facebook Page.  I've collected them here and added some photos of nativity scenes from around the world.  Some of the nativity scenes are mine but most are from an exhibit at the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints near Washington, DC.  While Advent is over and the "official" time for praying the O Antiphons is over for this holiday season, it is still Christmas until January 6, and there is never a wrong time to remind ourselves of our need for God's saving mercy.

REFLECTION ON THE INCARNATION

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

                                                                           ~ John 1:14

               “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:6-7.  I love this verse of Scripture.  I love the traditional image of the nativity, with Christ in the manger, Mary and Joseph keeping close watch over Him, magi offering their gifts, shepherds approaching, and sheep, oxen, cows, donkeys, and camels calmly looking on.  Here, at the very start of the story of Christ, the animals take their place among the witnesses of God made flesh, among the first to be blessed by the presence of Christ.  The story starts with the Word of God in the presence not just of humans of low and great estate, but also in the presence of a variety of animals. 

WE ARE PHARAOH AND PHARISEE

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery has established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

                                                 ~ Collect of the Day, Second Sunday of Easter,

                                        Book of Common Prayer, p. 172-73

            As Christians observe the Great Fifty Days of Easter, it is time to reflect on the work that Christ has done for us on the Cross, giving us new life, reconciling us with God, and showing us what it means to be created in the image of God and how power and status are rightly used.  It is an opportunity, too, to consider where we fit into Easter story and its antecedent, the Exodus story.  In both of these stories, God breaks into the history of the world to free those who are prisoners and to help those who are unable to help themselves. 

            I think most of us, if we imagine ourselves in the Exodus story, imagine we are among the Israelites, laboring and yearning for freedom.  When we hear the Easter story, and the gospel stories generally, we like to think of ourselves as among the disciples.  In both cases, we are among the chosen.  To be sure, both the Israelites and the disciples are flawed in their ability to hear what God is telling them and to do His will, and we identify with those shortcomings and struggles, but they are, nevertheless, the ones in relationship with God. 

But in many ways Christians today are more closely aligned with Pharaoh and the Pharisees.  We do not hear the cries of those we oppress; we believe we are entitled to oppress certain others because of our God-like status as bearers of God’s image; and we believe that our particular status before God means we do not need to be concerned with those not in our favored group.  Like Pharaoh and Pharisee, if we do not open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts, we will pay a price.

In the Exodus story, Moses seeks freedom for his people, but Pharaoh refuses.  Moses returns time and again, each time warning of a new plague if Pharaoh will not free the Hebrews. Pharaoh, however, hardens his heart and the plagues come, each one worse than the last. Pharaoh would not hear the cries of the Israelites, and he would not let them go, both because he benefitted from their misery and because he did not believe their misery mattered. He let greed, vanity, and pride rule his heart.  In the end, the entire nation of Egypt and Pharaoh himself suffered great devastation because of that greed, vanity, and pride, and Pharaoh learned he was not so powerful after all.

Tissot, Moses Speaks to Pharaoh

DO ANIMALS SIN?           

“The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.  So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds and creatures that move along the ground – for I regret that I have made them.

                                                                          ~  Genesis 6:6-7

            Throughout his book, On Animals, David Clough consistently challenges our common human understanding of “animals” as simple creatures, wholly separate from humans.  Instead, he develops a complex image of our fellow creatures, urging us to appreciate the wide range of creatures with whom we share this planet, the richness and complexity of their lives, and many ways humans and other animals are alike.  In addressing the doctrine of atonement, he continues to invite us to broaden our understanding of other animals’ places before God, asking, among other things, whether animals sin and whether they are in need of reconciliation with God.     

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

Animals and the Incarnation

“The fundamental New Testament assertion concerning the incarnation, therefore, is not that God became a member of the species Homo sapiens, but that God took on flesh, the stuff of living creatures.”

                                                ~   David Clough

            As we emerge from the Christmas season, and in part as a follow-up to my recent post about animals and heaven, I thought it appropriate this week to pick up again with David Clough’s book, On Animals, to consider what he has to say about the incarnation.[1] 

In the incarnation, God became human. What does that have to do with animals? Quite a lot, actually.

Opening Part Two of his book, Clough quite rightly calls “the person and work of Jesus Christ . . . the heart of the matter” in developing a theology of animals.  I believe this is true in two ways; Clough’s focus in on the second.  First, whatever we do as Christians, the person and work of Jesus Christ must be the heart of the matter, and whatever activities we engage in, we must ask ourselves whether we are following where he would lead.  Our relationships with animals and our theology of animals are no different.  But second, in developing a coherent and consistent system of theology, while we may logically start at the beginning with the doctrine of creation, we must quickly conclude that we cannot understand either our creation in the image of God or its corollary our dominion over the animals, without considering that perfect image of God, Jesus Christ, and his dominion over all of creation.   

Guido Reni - Saint Joseph and the Christ Child