Velveteen Rabbits

First Lesson: 2 Samuel 7: 1-11, 16
Responsive Reading: Psalm 89: 1-4, 19-26
Second Lesson: Romans 16: 25-27
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 26-38

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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This morning I want to tell you the story of a Rabbit.  Not just any Rabbit, but rather a toy Rabbit who longed to be brought to life.  I want to tell you how this story helps illustrate the meaning of the fourth Advent candle known as the “Love Candle” which we light this morning along with Christmas which we will celebrate early this evening.

Marjorie Williams tells the tale of the Velveteen Rabbit[1].  On Christmas morning, the Velveteen Rabbit was pulled from the boy’s stocking[2].  The boy played with the Velveteen Rabbit for a couple of hours, only to forget about him in the presence of company and other presents.  The Rabbit then proceeded to live in the nursery room cupboard.  The Rabbit was shy around the other toys.  None of the other toys were nice to the Velveteen Rabbit because of its cheap material and lack of engineering.  One day though the Velveteen Rabbit made a friend in the nursery’s oldest toy “The Skin Horse.”  The Skin Horse because of its years in the nursery was the wisest of all the toys.  The Skin Horse proceeded to explain to the Velveteen Rabbit that all the other toys were bitter because they knew “They could never be brought to life[3].”

The Velveteen Rabbit was confused by the Skin Horse talking about being “brought to life.” The Velveteen Rabbit had never seen any real rabbits; the nursery was all he had ever known. Their conversation goes as follows.

Skin Horse begins: “Real isn't how you are made…It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real[4].”

Rabbit responds: “"Does it hurt?”

Skin Horse answers: “Sometimes, "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.”

Rabbit then asks: “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up?”

To which Skin Horse explains: “It doesn't happen all at once, You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand[5].”

As the Velveteen Rabbit hears all this talk about becoming real and being brought to life, it seemed to be nothing but wishful thinking and impossibility for this stuffed rabbit. 

What ends up happening with the Velveteen Rabbit, we’ll get back to its story in a bit.

Now a second story, Mark was an 11-year-old orphan who had previously lost his parents[6]. Mark was now living with his aunt who really didn’t want Mark around.  Despite, Mark’s lack of affection in life he was a good-natured child.

Mark didn’t stand out in school in any way until he started staying after school each day because he dreaded going home.  He began to help his teacher straighten up her room.  Mark didn’t say much, but when he did, he spoke of how much he missed the presence of his deceased mother.

Christmas was coming soon; Mark no longer was staying after class.  Mark’s teacher began to wonder what exactly was happening.  So she asked Mark who informed her that he was busy making her a surprise for Christmas. 

Finally, the last day before Christmas arrives. Mark approaches his teacher with a present.  Mark hands her a small wooden box. 

The teacher is amazed at the effort and beauty that Mark had put into designing the box.
To which Mark said, “That’s not the gift.”

Mark said, “The gift is inside, only you can’t touch it, taste it, or feel it, but mother always said it makes you feel good all the time, warm on cold nights, and safe when you’re all alone[7].”

The Teacher was confused as she gazed into an empty box.  She asked Mark “What will make me feel so good?”

To which Mark answered “Love,” “And mother always said its best when you give it away[8].”

As we hear these two stories of the Velveteen Rabbit longing to receive “new life” and Mark illustrating the nature of love being Christmas’ greatest gift, We come to our Gospel lesson for Today from Luke 1 where an Angel comes to visit Mary to announce the upcoming birth of her child[9]. 

Our lesson for Today is a love story between not only God and Mary, but God and the whole wide world.  It’s a story that illustrates how Our God wants a different kind of life for us than merely drifting off into obscurity upon a nursery room floor.

Mary was a young girl no older than thirteen.  Mary was ordinary and common.  Mary was now being given the most important of all tasks “Bring God into this world as a child.” 

A Velveteen Rabbit becoming real such a tale seems to be nothing but impossible.  But the story of Mary is filled with impossibilities. 

-A Virgin Birth??? Sounds foolish to all who would hear of it[10].

-Joseph risking staying with Mary despite being a laughingstock when people hear the Virgin Birth tale?? Joseph isn't that dumb[11].

-Someone other than Mary would have been worried about being stoned to death for her alleged adultery[12], perhaps because of Mary’s youth she didn’t know any better, or perhaps she figured that her God because of his great love for her had a way even as she wondered “How exactly will this be[13]?”
You see the story of Mary is a tale of the impossible becoming possible.  New life being created apart from traditional ways and methods.  Love being received not in the form of presents, but rather the form of a child.

As we hear the tale of the Angel and Mary this morning, perhaps this causes us to reflect upon the Velveteen Rabbits within our own life.  The hopes and dreams which seem to be nothing but impossibilities[14]. 

These Velveteen Rabbits might be broken relationships; they might be physical troubles, financial troubles, past hurts, these might be obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. 

What the story of Mary giving birth to the Savior of the world should remind us is that God’s purposes are way bigger than your problems.  Like in the story of Mark and the schoolteacher, God’s love is being shown on this day in ways that we can’t necessarily see. 

Princess Alice was the daughter of England’s Queen Victoria[15].  Princess Alice was living in Germany when a diphtheria outbreak began within her family.  Alice had already lost one daughter to the illness[16].  Alice though looked out one night upon a sick son Ernest who was crying being devasted at the recent loss of his sister while fighting his own illness.  Alice serving as the child’s primary caregiver was given very specific instructions “Do not kiss the children or else risk becoming infected then dying yourself.  Alice though looked at her hurting, crying son and just couldn’t help it.  She bent down and kissed her child.  Princess Alice would soon contract diphtheria[17].  Princess Alice would go be with the Lord a short time later. 

Princess Alice’s story speaks to the type of Love that we receive on this day that we light the fourth candle of our Advent wreath.  We receive a love that we cannot touch, taste, or feel.  We are receiving Love in the form of a child born into a dying world, seeking to embrace us with a message of love and forgiveness.  Love poured out on a cross has the power to bring “new life” even to those who believe it to be impossible. 

Back to the tale of the Velveteen Rabbit.  Just like the Angel would come one night to change Mary’s life forever, a special visitor does the same for the Velveteen Rabbit.

One night after losing another toy, the Boy’s nana discovers the Velveteen Rabbit lying in the nursery[18].  Nana brings the Rabbit to the boy.  The Rabbit soon becomes the boy's ’favorite toy; the Velveteen Rabbit even gets to see real rabbits for the first time.  The boy though soon grows very sick, all his toys including his beloved Velveteen Rabbit are ordered to be removed from his room and destroyed seemingly to be gone forever.  As the Velveteen Rabbit is taken outside to face its pending grave, the Rabbit begins to weep only coming out of its eyes are tears no different than Jesus wept upon seeing the death of his friend Lazarus, pretty soon though a miracle happens the Velveteen Rabbit soon becomes real.  The following spring, the boy is standing outside reflecting on his previous favorite toy.  When he sees a Rabbit, the boy looked at the Rabbit’s nose, eyes, and markings of its fur and felt they were strangely familiar[19].  You see the thing about Love and Resurrection is they promise that things do not remain the way they appear to be.  No different than an ordinary, common thirteen-year-old Girl is about to give birth to the Savior of the World.  Amen


[1] Higgins, Scott. “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[2] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Project Guttenberg E Books. 29. Mar.2004. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[3] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[4] Higgins, Scott. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[5] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[6] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?” Stories for Preaching. Web. Dec.2.2017. Higgins cites an unknown source for story. 
[7] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?”
[8] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?”
[9] Luke 1:26-38. 
[10] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.” Preacher’s Magazine. 2. Dec.2007. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[11] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[12] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[13] Luke 1:34
[14] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[15] “Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 18. Nov.2017. Web. Dec.2.2017.
[16] Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[17] “Love, sacrificial.” Sermon Illustrations. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[18] “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 26.Nov.2017. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[19] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”