Madame Tussaud’s caused considerable controversy in 2004 by creating a Nativity Scene whose wax work characters included Victoria and David Beckham as Mary and Joseph, with Kylie Minogue as the angel Gabriel.
Tony Blair, George W Bush and the Duke of Edinburgh were the Wise Men whilst the shepherds included actor Hugh Grant and comedian Graham Norton.
Even though it was intended as a bit of fun, it was hardly surprising that at the time, since it was seen as mocking the Christmas story, lots of people thought the stunt was in very poor taste.
Eight years on the wax nativity scene has faded into well-deserved obscurity, its cast of characters feeling equally dated.
In contrast the traditional Christmas Nativity Scene has an utterly timeless appeal to it and illustrates an important feature of the Christmas story, namely the way it is ever old and ever new.
There is something about the story that allows it to withstand an almost endless re-telling. We are encouraged to imagine ourselves as part of the scene, and to open ourselves up to the kind of wonder and curiosity that the original shepherds and wise men experienced.
What would it have been like and what part might we have played?
It always surprises me that the one character who never appears in Nativity Scenes, either traditional or contemporary, is the Inn Keeper. He is always off stage and yet has such a crucial part to play in the story.
But it’s a part we can all play, for the Inn Keeper encourages us to offer hospitality to strangers who are down on their luck – the more so in these difficult days of austerity affecting so many — and thus to make room for other people in our lives.
That is just one of the ways that the story can work for good in Marlborough in 2012 and 2013.
We can, and must, make room for other people whenever we can.
Christmas speaks to us all because the infant Jesus expresses both the potential and the fragility of our human condition; the truth that one earthly life (of Jesus) is a scene of God’s love for the world, means that all earthly lives can be the same. May we live up to our potential in the coming year.
Andrew Studdert-Kennedy,
Rector of Marlborough
