A Refection and Poem for Christmas
Eve St. Andrew's Church, Nags Head, N.C. December 24,
2019 Thomas E. Wilson, Supply Clergy
“My
love is my gift for you.”
We have no idea when the historical
Jesus was born. There are no reliable birth certificates. Mark and
John, in their Gospels, and Paul in his Epistles, are not interested
in the place or date, they are only interested in Jesus' ministry and
meaning. Matthew and Luke say that he was born in Bethlehem, but
they disagree where his parents lived. Matthew has the family's home
in Bethlehem, and in his version, Matthew tells of the visit of the
Magi to the “home” in Bethlehem. The family will flee from their
home in Bethlehem to hide in Egypt away from Herod's wrath. The
family will come back and avoid Bethlehem in order to settle in east
nowhere Nazareth. Luke has the family staying in a stable due to an
official governmental bureaucratic decree. Neither Matthew or Luke
share a clue on the birth date.
There was a Roman festival based on the
Winter Solstice when the Sun has the shortest day of the year, which
calls to mind a mythic representation of the dying of the sun, and a
reminder of the fact that we must one day die. However, the Sun seems
to come back to life, and it is noticeable as the days start to get
longer and hope returns for a new life. This multi day festival was
Sol Invictus, where the God of the Sun is not defeated by death.
When the early Christians celebrated the Festival of Sol Invictus,
they said, “You know this Sol Invictus bash reminds us about Jesus.
Why don't we just celebrate the coming into world of Jesus on this
day?” And so it was. However, Christmas, the Feast of the
Incarnation, God living in the broken world, was seen as a secondary
Holiday in comparison to Easter which is about the death of Jesus and
of the Resurrected Christ, now safely back in Heaven where we can be
if we behave.
The church split on observing
Christmas. In the Imperial Roman and Eastern Churches, Christmas
became a chance to show off the wealth of the church, by putting on
sparkling High Masses, bringing out the brightest and newest rich
gifts of approval by the local rulers as outward and visible signs of
God's approval of the prosperity of the church and the aristocracy.
It was a celebration of Class Status. The common folk were allowed to
attend if there was room and if they behaved themselves in front of
their betters. Every place to which Christianity spread, there was an
already mythic awareness of the death and renewal of the sun and
many of these common folk blended their own old pagan solstice
celebrations with a patina of Christian symbols out in the woods, away
from censorious eyes.
Many of the Reformers, especially
Puritans, reacting against the Roman Church, banned Christmas as a
Holy Day, because the common folk were too focused on celebration, and
as such, as a pathway into sin. H. L. Mencken defined “Puritanism:
The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
Merchants, on the other hand, found that this Christmas stuff could
be good for business and came up with an intoxicating (and at times
toxic) 3-G concoction of Gluttony, Greed and Guilt with a huge chaser
of profitable Nostalgia.
I look to the heritage of St. Francis
saying that we should be living a life as if Jesus really did live in
poverty with the cultural outsiders like shepherds. He pointed out
that Jesus did not come to palaces, but came to everyday life. He
suggested that towns gather on Christmas Eve, with their farm animals
to set up a scene of a creche in the stable. The message is that God
is right here and right now, and not just after we are dead. All of
creation was to hold its breath, humans and animals alike, for the
blessing of the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, emptying himself out to
dwell with us.
This led to Medieval Mystery Plays, where a wagon was
built and is camped outside a church to tell Biblical stories in a
broad comedy way. When I was an undergraduate we did the 2nd
Shepherd's play outside in the quad. The play is about some
shepherds watching their sheep by night and complaining about life
and their lot in it. They are joined by a local character and thief,
Mak. Mak steals a small sheep from them and takes it home to hide.
He is chased by the other three shepherds and they enter his home,
Mak's wife tries to pass off the small sheep as their new born baby.
With a lot of slapstick, the ruse is uncovered and as they are about
to punish Mak, he asks for mercy:
MAK
At your mercy I am left.
1ST
SHEPHERD
Sirs,
do what I say;For this trespass
We
will neither curse nor chide,
No
more deride,No longer bide,
But
toss him in a canvas.
The Shepherds throw him in a sheet and
toss him in the air a couple times for comedy slapstick and then let
Mak and his wife go home in peace. They have shown mercy and in peace
they go to sleep. They are awakened by an angel who appears to tell
them of the good news that Jesus has been born in Bethlehem. All of
the shepherds go to bring their gifts to Bethlehem and join the
angels in song. The message is no matter what you have done, or not
done, deserve or not, you are given a gift of love.
I cannot improve on that message. My
Christmas message for you today is that you are loved, no matter what
you have done, or not done, deserve or not, you are given a gift of
love. So be in peace and show mercy.
“My
love is my gift for you.” Poem
for Christmas Eve 2019
Slowly,
God turning dream to song
singing
Word, creates Galactic stew,
image-ing
us from stardust of earth,
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
Fearfully,
Mary turns to see the angel
kneeling,
hailing “Girl dressed in blue,
we
know not why, but you are favored.
to
hear “'My love is my gift for you.'”
Joseph
wakes in God's ongoing dream,
informing
of task; a child to raise true
of
heart, mind and soul as precious son
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
The
Innkeeper's wife sees the couple
with
no place to stay and time is due,
she
offers finest stable straw, and then
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
The
shepherds sense the angels invite
them
come to Bethlehem and to view
a
child to be their hope, peace and joy
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
Mary
holds all these things in her heart
seeing
visions of both pure joy and rue,
raising
their child to live and to die and
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
From
the East the Magi come placing
gold,
frankincense and myrrh in queue,
leaving
quietly as wisdom allows them
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
We
walk away from wrapping presents,
our
fingers sticky with glitter and glue
hoping
we'd have grace either to say or
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
The
outward packages are never enough
to
proclaim what's in our souls we knew;
reason
we are together is we were lucky
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
Church
Pageant costumes are packed up now,
mended
and cleaned by next generations too,
to
hear, “My love is my gift for you.”
We
are older, the children have grown and
under
the tree shows presents as very few,
yet
turning to each other, we pray or kiss
to
hear, “My love is my gift for you.”
This
new year is a time for us to promise
that
each day we'll choose to begin anew
forgiving
the hurts, treasuring the joy and
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
At
the service, an offering plate comes
as
way giving to God and neighbor too;
but
best gift is living in way for God
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
The
day'll come when my table place
will
be empty as I bid the world adieu
and
on the other shore, again a chance
to
hear “My love is my gift for you.”
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