Weare, New Hampshire
How to reclaim what is joyful and dump what is not . . .
How to rethink the shopping madness . . .
How to give: saner, greener, cheaper . . .
How to survive the holidays with family or without family . . .
How to celebrate while facing grief, unemployment, divorce, illness . . .
How to connect with deeper spiritual meaning . . .
The Liturgy of the Word this morning took the form of the annual Christmas pageant. This year the pageant was written by the Vicar, with his wife Anne assisting and apologies to Charles Dickens. High school students took the roles of ghosts of Christmas pageants past; younger children in the congregation took the other roles.
I. Domestic Tranquility at the Vicarage
The pageant opens with the Vicar sprawled on a chair, sleep-fashion, with a quilt over him. His wife is under the quilt on a chair next to him. He tosses and turns, then speaks.
Vicar Oh, I just can’t get to sleep.
Anne For heavens’ sake, settle down. What’s the matter?
Vicar It’s the Christmas pageant. I just can’t come up with yet another one. Why didn’t I decide to retire December 31st?
Anne Now, take a deep breath. You’ve done Christmas pageants for the last 30 years. This will be your last. It will happen. It always does. You can do it.
Vicar Don’t “therapist” me. You don’t have to do it.
Anne Oh, no? Seems to me that I and the Lauras and a few others of the moms are the ones who pull it off every year. You just kind of preside over the chaos and take credit for the cuteness.
They’re interrupted by the clanking of chains, as the Ghosts of Christmas Pageants Past enter, dressed in gray or white vestments. Monica carries a blue veil for Mary, Ben carries a shepherd’s crook. Tom, Amanda and Jon wear “king” sashes or other magi regalia.
Vicar Wha . . . what are you?
Connor We are the Ghosts of Christmas Pageants Past. Don’t you remember us? We remember you.
Vicar Well, you do look vaguely familiar. But you were cute and little then. Now you’re big and, well . . . some of you are bigger than me. Why have you come back to haunt me?
Amanda You have to do a Christmas pageant, Fr. John. Oh, please! It’s what we remember from growing up at Holy Cross.
Ben Yes, do you think we remember your sermons? Dream on! We remember being in the pageants. I was a king. It was wonderful.
Vicar I remember you. You were kind of a short and pudgy king. Not at all majestic. In fact, a bit of a brat sometimes, as I recall. But never mind . . . . Why are you here?
Tom We are here to give you heart. Your wife is right.
Monica As usual.
Jon The whole point of a Christmas pageant is to tell the story of God breaking into the confusion and chaos of this world to be born as a little child.
Connor So it doesn’t matter that the pageant’s not going to be perfect. Perfection is your hang-up. The world into which Jesus was born wasn’t perfect. As Jesus himself said, “No one is good except God alone.” So it doesn’t matter that you never know until the last minute who’s going to be in town to take the various parts in the pageant; who’s going to be sick and have to cancel out; who’s going to get scared and not want to be a sheep after all. Christ is going to be born one way or another. It doesn’t depend on you. It’s up to God.
Amanda Trust! Like you’re always telling us: trust! Trust God to pull it off, like Mary and Joseph trusted way back then.
II. Mary, Joseph and the Babe in the Manger
Luke 2: 1-7 – The Birth of the Savior
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
People Thanks be to God.
“From heaven above to earth I come” Hymnal 80
As the hymn is sung, Mary and Joseph enter, carrying with them the Baby Jesus in a manger. They take their places in front of the other actors. Monica takes off her veil and puts it on Mary’s head.
Vicar You know, you’re right. I remember when we couldn’t get a boy to be Joseph. So Tammi Compagna volunteered and we painted a moustache on her. She did very well, too.
Ben That’s the spirit! Trust in the Lord: he will provide.
Monica Joseph isn’t exactly a guy part anyway, if you think about it. And these days, what’s gender?
Vicar Wait a minute! If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 30 years of ministry, it’s don’t mess with Christmas or Easter. Respect tradition at Christmas and Easter . . . or lose pledges.
Jon Tradition?
Vicar Poinsettias at Christmas, lilies at Easter. That’s tradition. They don’t teach you that in seminary, but you learn it on the job, believe me!
Tom Well, anyway, Mary and Joseph aren’t really very important in the Christmas pageant. What’s important are the littlest kids. The shepherds and the sheep. The angels, the heavenly host.
III. The Shepherds and Angels
Luke 2:8-14 – The Shepherds and the Angels
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see– I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!
People Thanks be to God.
Angels from the realms of glory Hymnal 93
As the hymn is sung, shepherds, sheep and angels enter. Ben gives the shepherd’s crook to one of the shepherds.
Vicar You know, speaking of Christmas pageants past, I remember how there was always a boy who wanted to be the sheep dog – Ryan Plamondon, for instance; I remember him barking at his little brother Wyatt. Or going back a ways, I think you, Connor, wanted to be a sheep dog.
Connor Actually, I think I wanted to be the wolf. But you said there wasn’t any wolf in the Christmas story.
Vicar Right. My role is to maintain orthodoxy.
Connor And spoil the fun . . . just kidding.
Ben As we all got older, what we really wanted to be in the pageant was one of the kings.
Amanda It was neat that girls got to be kings as well as boys. You gotta love the Episcopal Church!
Vicar But we always had three kings. Tradition! Although actually the Bible never says anything about how many kings there were.
Tom But you have to have three because you had three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Tradition!
IV. The Visit of the Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-12 – The Visit of the Wise Men
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: `And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
People Thanks be to God.
We three kings of Orient are Hymnal 128
As the hymn is sung, three of the ghosts of pageants past put on king costumes and bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, laying them before the manger.
Monica So, you see, Fr. John, there it is: your Christmas pageant. You have nothing to worry about. Trust in the Lord. He’s always being born in this world of ours, if only we have the hearts and souls to receive him.
V. Trust God
Joy to the world Hymnal 100 vss. 1 & 4
The cast bow as the hymn begins, then depart. The Vicar and Anne remain.
At the conclusion of the hymn, the Vicar speaks to his wife.
Vicar I just had the most beautiful dream. It was all about Holy Cross and how wonderful our time here has been. All those Christmas pageants. All those memories. All those little kids growing up to be big kids. I don’t ever want to retire!
Anne See, I told you not to worry. It always happens. It always will happen. But it will happen even after you retire. Trust the people of Holy Cross! Trust God!
They stand and bow. The Vicar says
Vicar The peace of the Lord be always with you.
Isaiah 9:2-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
St. Matthew’s Church in Evanston, which I served before coming here, used to take Christmas Communion to residents of a local nursing home. We got lists from all the North Shore Episcopal parishes of their people in the home and we’d split the names up between me, the assistant priest, some associate priests, and our deacon. So that was how, one Christmas Eve, Fr. Michael Johnston, my assistant, found himself in the room of a gentleman in the Alzheimer’s unit of the home. Continue reading ‘Christmas Eve (late service) December 24, 2010′
Each year for the family service on Christmas Eve, it is our custom at Holy Cross for the vicar to read the children a story written for the occasion. This year’s story follows.
It had all the makings of a really terrible bad Christmas. First of all, it hadn’t snowed. How could Santa Claus come if there were no snow for his sleigh? Second of all, Dad was working construction down in Connecticut and didn’t see how he could drive all the way back up to New Hampshire for Christmas, what with the price of gas and the shape his old truck was in. Third of all, Mom had to work a shift at the hospital on Christmas because they were short on nurses. So old Mrs. Blatchett from down the road was going to come in to watch Ginny and Roger. Mrs. Blatchett smelled bad and was crabby and insisted on watching only her dumb programs on the television. So Mrs. Blatchett was the fourth-of-all reason it was going to be a really terrible bad Christmas. Continue reading ‘Christmas Eve (Family Service) December 24, 2010′
Isaiah 7:10-16
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
Some book I read once on preaching advised that you should always look for the thing in the readings that made you most uncomfortable, or seemed most puzzling, and preach on that: the good news in the bad news, I think the author called it. Today’s readings seemed like a pretty good candidate for that. They all deal in one way or another with obedience. Continue reading ‘Advent 4 December 19, 2010′
Isaiah 35:1-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11
These four beautiful banners hang against the east wall of our worship space during Advent: WATCH, WAIT, HOPE, PRAY they remind us. The mantra of this season of expectation, this season when we await the coming of Christ. And on the back of each of the banners is another word, the same word on each. It’s written in invisible ink, but it’s there. That word is FEAR. Continue reading ‘Advent 3 December 12, 2010′
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
Once a month I go down to Massachusetts to see my spiritual director. He’s one of the monks of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, a quiet, cheerful man who always exudes a great sense of centeredness and peace. We sit together for an hour or so while I talk about what’s on my soul. Br. James listens. When I have laid myself bare before him he is silent for a long time, and then he’ll come out with a question – a deceptively simple question usually, but one which unlocks a new door, gives a new insight, invites me to consider a new possibility.
This last week I went down to Emery House perplexed about a problem I faced, not knowing what I should do. It had me waking up in the middle of the night fretting about the alternatives, none of which seemed good. So I laid it out for Br. James and then there was the usual long silence, followed by the question: “Where do you feel free in this? And where do you feel unfree, bound?” See what I mean by a new perspective: I hadn’t thought at all about my dilemma in terms of feeling free. And that’s what I told him. In fact, I told him that his question made me realize that I felt very little freedom in my life. I felt as though I were constantly serving others, trying to fulfill their expectations, and usually coming up short. Continue reading ‘Advent 2 December 5, 2010′
Darkness and Light:
A Response to the Readings for Advent 1
(This was one of our periodic intergenerational “Come With Joy” Sundays, which feature the use of drama and art, and participation by the congregation in the response to the Scripture readings.)
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Presider
Imagine the unimaginable. Perhaps it will be helpful if you close your eyes for a few moments. Be with the silence, the darkness. Now imagine the unimaginable. Imagine that in these next four weeks, these weeks of Advent, you do not put up a Christmas tree or decorations; you do not make lists or shop for Christmas presents; you do not give or go to Christmas parties; you do not listen to Christmas songs; you do not busy yourself with errands and organizing; especially, imagine that you do not feel you have to be “jolly” or “in the mood” or “get with the holiday spirit.” Imagine that for these four weeks, you only watch and wait, hope and pray. In other words, imagine that you keep the holy season of Advent as it’s meant to be kept, free from the pre-Christmas pressures of the world around us.
In the darkness as you sit there, you begin to hear things:
(Roll of drums)
(Readers come forth one by one and stand before the Altar. After they read their headline, they cover their faces with a newspaper and remain standing as others join them.)
First News Headline
Irish Debt Crisis Forces Collapse of Government: New Fears of Political Instability for Allies in Europe
(Roll of drums)
Second News Headline
Iraq’s Troubles Drive Out Refugees Who Came Back: Iraqis who fled the height of the war and then returned are leaving in a second exodus, fueled by violence and unemployment that show how far Iraq remains from stability and security
(Roll of drums)
Third News Headline
North Koreans Unveil New Plant for Nuclear Use: South Korea Strengthens Military Defenses
(Roll of drums)
Fourth News Headline
Front-Line City Starts Tackling Rise in the Sea: Global Warming Means Tough Decisions Ahead for Norfolk, Virginia
(Roll of drums)
Fifth News Headline
South Korea at Forefront of Worldwide Dementia Epidemic: Estimated 100 Million Cases by 2050
(Roll of drums)
Sixth News Headline
South Africa Fears Millions More AIDS Infections: Health Crisis Threatens to Overwhelm Country’s Future
(Roll of drums)
Seventh News Headline
Consumer Risks Feared as Health Law Spurs Mergers: Consolidation May Drive Up Costs, Impair Care
(Roll of drums)
Eighth News Headline
NATO Sees Long-Term Role After Afghan Combat: Tens of Thousands of Troops to Remain After 2014
(The readers return to their seats.)
Presider
And on and on it goes. You’d like to distract yourself. Go shopping. Get something to eat, maybe have a drink. Listen to “Jingle Bells” or “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus.” Watch something light on television. Maybe browse the Internet. Why not? What would be the hurt? But you discipline yourself. This is Advent. You watch and wait, hope and pray. And now through the darkness comes another sort of sound:
(Sound of chimes)
This time, as the readers come forward they each bring a candle which they light and hold before them.
First Prophecy
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
(Sound of chimes)
Second Prophecy
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; Authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Sound of chimes)
Third Prophecy
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
(Sound of chimes)
Fourth Prophecy
But you, O Bethlehem, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days.
(Sound of chimes)
Fifth Prophecy
A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
(Sound of chimes)
Sixth Prophecy
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(Sound of chimes)
Seventh Prophecy
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
(Sound of chimes)
Eighth Prophecy
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
(The readers extinguish their candles and return to their seats.)
Presider
We live in a world where imagining Advent is difficult. The darkness part, the news headlines and the crises and struggles in our own lives, is easy enough. What’s hard is imagining that the prophetic voices have any power against the darkness. We’re used to trying to combat the darkness all through our own efforts. Things are going badly in Iraq or Afghanistan, for instance, and we throw more troops or more money at the problem. Banks collapse in Ireland or on Wall Street and we bail them out. And of course we do live in a different world from biblical times. We have more power over darkness than people did 2000 years ago – or at least we think we do.
We think we do, but there’s a limit to our power. So often the law of unintended consequences operates so that what we try to do only makes the darkness worse. We take out a mortgage to buy a beautiful new home and we lose our job or the interest rate jumps; now the house is a problem, not a solution. We overthrow a dictator and end up plunging a nation into chaos and provoking terrorist reprisals on our own shores. The Advent prophets would have pointed out that we act without consulting God. We act with insufficient imagination about what could be possible in God’s coming Kingdom.
The Advent prophecies invite us to entertain a deeper level of faith and hope. The prophets who voiced them so long ago knew something that we forget: that the Lord is always there, working in history and in our own lives, even in the darkest moments. That we often cannot set things right by ourselves, but God is always there, offering a flame of hope, new light, an alternative way forward, comfort and courage in the struggle. This God is not Santa Claus. He does not always give us what we want. His word is not always a jolly “ho, ho, ho.” He was born in poverty and neglect in a stable. He died an apparent failure on a Cross. But that was not the end, for God is a greater God than we can imagine. The old dies, but the new is born. The chaos that we read as darkness may be the birth pangs of the Babe who is Messiah.
Advent is about watching, waiting, hoping, praying for the coming of this God, our Lord Jesus the Christ.
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
One of the most valuable spiritual gifts, it seems to me, is a sense of irony. Irony is defined as “a state of affairs or events that is the reverse of what was to be expected”; it’s when someone says one thing but then does something that contradicts their words. You won’t find irony among the classic lists of virtues. It’s kind of an outlier, a bastard virtue, if you will. Having a sense of irony protects us from taking others – or ourselves – too seriously. It punctures our tendency to create idols. It brings us back to earth, where we belong. And yet, even as it does so, it can raise up for us new and more genuine hope.
Our celebration of Christ the King on this last Sunday of the Church Year is a perfect example of irony. Continue reading ‘Christ the King November 21, 2010′
Malachi 4:1-2a
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19
In the news this week: gold hit an all-time high of fourteen hundred and something dollars an ounce. Actually, adjusted for inflation, it wasn’t an all-time high, but the fact remains that lots of people are apparently buying gold. People do that as a hedge against uncertainty, out of fear about what the future may bring: inflation, deflation, the fall of the dollar, the rise of China . . . whatever. Lots of uncertainty around us in the world today.
There’s biblical precedent for this flight to gold. In the Book of Exodus we learn that when Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk with God and get the Ten Commandments, the people of Israel became anxious because he was gone so long. He’d led them out into the wilderness on this faith journey to some sort of promised land, but what if it didn’t work out? What if Moses abandoned them? What if this whole God of promise thing was an illusion? So they took all their jewelry and melted it down and made a golden calf to worship. A god they could get their hands around. A god who wouldn’t go away or ask them to journey on faith. Gold: the god of certainty. The Bible has another word for it: idolatry. Continue reading ‘Pentecost 25 November 14, 2010′