Monday, December 19, 2016

Shining a Light in the Darkness

Luke 2:1-20 
Matthew 2:1-8

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.

What do you do when you realize that you've sanitized Christmas so much that you don't even know what it means?  Did it hit you at all that Syria is part of this story?  Did that jolt you?  And what are you thinking now that you see it?  Do the people of Aleppo seem so distant from you that you can't see that Mary and Joseph were being directed to go to a new place and enter a 'registry' by a leader in Syria?

That same sort of jolt is what happens to the narrator of the story in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She realizes that the Christmas Pageant her church puts on every year has left out the dark side of Christmas.  And even though they may have had a moment in the service when they read John 1: "A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" they have moved too quickly from Silent Night to Joy to the World.  And well, the pause is important. And believe it or not, it is the Herdmans who honor the pause.

The Herdmans come from nothing. And they live lives that are on the edge. And they don't know sometimes where their next meal is coming from.  So when they hear of King Herod's plan to rid the world of the Baby Jesus in the Christmas story, they don't gloss over it and throw it out of the story, the way we tend to do... they laser-focus in on it and get to the bottom of it. They find out all the bad stuff that Herod did to try to keep a Messiah from interfering with his power.

The side of this story that the Herdmans focused in on is the story is about the Herod and his plan of destruction. The pageant barely mentions it other than to say the Wise Men were instructed by Herod to come to him and tell him where the child is.

Easy for us who are comfortable to forget Jesus was born a refugee in a world of danger. Easy to forget there are still Herods in the world continuing to seek to  extinguish the light of joy and goodness in our world. It was true at the time of Jesus’ birth, and it’s true now. The dark side of this story is one of power, the power of love and light versus the dark power of political enterprise. You see, Herod really shouldn't be left out of this story because the Herods of this world continue to stay with us.

The song, “Star Child,” mentions all kinds of children who need the light of Christmas. “The street child, the beat child, the child with no place left to go. The hurt child, the used child, the unwanted child. The grown and old child, the sad and lost child, .” And yes, even the spared and spoiled child All children deserve our protection.

In the story, Gladys the angel runs down the aisle shouting, "Hey unto you a child is born!" and we get the point. Angels are elbowing each other out of the way to make sure that people know to see and protect this holy child.  So should we. Are we, in this new year, willing to become angel protectors to all of our children? Or are we complacent to remain with Herod, filled with fear and willing to use whatever means necessary to maintain the status quo?

Monday, December 12, 2016

Every Family Has Insiders and Outsiders, (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, week 3)

Isaiah 2:1-5
Luke 1: 47-55

The Herdmans in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever are really getting to the bottom of this whole Christmas story.  They are understanding in a way that the other children don't exactly how perilous this whole time was for Mary and Joseph and the newborn baby whose life is in danger.  They understand the threat of Herod. They go to the library to learn all they can about him since the sanitized version of the Christmas pageant at church doesn't seem to offer them the information they want.

You've heard the phrase "It takes one to know one."  In the case of the Herdmans, it takes an outsider living on the edge to know an outsider living on the edge.  They GET the grittiness of the real Jesus nativity.  And they are horrified and transfixed.

In Isaiah we read:  
God will judge between the nations,
    and settle disputes of mighty nations.
Then they will beat their swords into iron plows
    and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword against nation;
    they will no longer learn how to make war.
Come, house of Jacob,
    let’s walk by the Lord’s light.

This suggests to us that it is God who can create peace and settle disputes, but that we are called to walk in that light.  God relies on us to listen to God's story and call... and in that message we will no longer make war, but peace.  I am sure that the Herdmans, who are filled with chaos and rabble-rousing, would have a few words to say about this passage, but perhaps it is because they haven't yet seen or experienced God's light that they live in warfare mode instead. But they are seeing God bit by bit.

I read this the other day and it certainly applies here:  "If we want to encounter God, we must walk with those who suffer. God is not found in the American dream, but in its shadow."  The Herdmans are shadows in our society. People who are outsiders, shunned, turned away.  God is found in the shadows of our society, thus it makes perfect sense that it is the Herdmans who ACTUALLY understand the real story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

Mary's magnificat takes on more powerful meaning when you think, for example, of Imogene Herdman reciting the words. In her context of poverty and abandonment and neglect, these words are amazingly powerful: 

 In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
48 He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
        and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty-handed.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Family Secrets (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever week 2)


Special Service Note:  This week, as a part of the service, we will have our annual Impromptu Christmas Pageant. Come and participate in the nativity.  Choose your costume as you head into worship. We have a lot of choices for everyone, no matter how young or old you are.  We are so thrilled this year to have TWINS as "Babies Jesus." It is going to be a blast!

The passage in Isaiah points to a child who will offer a sign. He will be able to refuse the evil and choose the good.  It is a word of hope to people who have lived in a land of exile, a time of darkness and oppression.  Perhaps after all, there will be some way forward.

The Matthew passage points to the complexity of issues surrounding Jesus' birth. Joseph is shocked to find out Mary is expecting a baby when they are not yet married.  This was disgraceful and he is going to try to end things quietly. He doesn't want to cause her any more shame, but is afraid to move forward with the marriage, also.

Families have burdens. Families have secrets. Families have shame.  It is a simple fact of life. Period. We are given examples of how grace can intercede in the midst of burdens, secrets and shame and offer a way forward.

The exiles Isaiah speaks are offered grace in the resolve to move forward, one trudge at a time, with heads up instead of down, as they seek their better way forward, as they head toward their release, as they dream of a Messiah.

 The grace that surrounds Joseph comes in the form of an angelic dream.  In that dream he hears a way forward. Mary's child is of the Holy Spirit. Stay with her. Be part of the miracle.

And in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever? How about those Herdmans? And the pageant?  It turns out there's some secrets and shame there, too. The Herdmans have child-like innocence about the Nativity story. They have never heard it. They know of their own shame of being poor and having no father. And even though they act like they don't care, they most certainly do.  So they connect in a visceral way with the story of Mary being pregnant and being shut out of the inn with no place to go.
Our word this week is JOY.  What struggles and problematic places have you encountered that have allowed you, even so, to find a sense of joy?  Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or click on the comment button below.