UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST in
Second Sunday After Christmas -
Epiphany Sunday
Anne G. Cohen
Matthew 2:1-12
For Our Reflection:
Hope, like faith, is nothing if it
is not courageous;
it is nothing if it is not
ridiculous.
- Thornton Wilder, The Eighth Day (1967)
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all
And sweetest in the gale is heard.
- Emily Dickenson (1830-86) Poems
Gold, Common Sense and Fur
We did not have a Christmas Pageant this year.
But I'm willing to bet
that most of you have attended one before... or have been in one
before...
Christmas Pageants are, to a certain extent, a form of Midrash.
They
borrow extensively from ancient wisdom and familiar stories - for the
purpose of enriching the present with meaning. Christmas Pageants are -
like Communion and other rituals - a way of remembering significant
events through reenactment. Historical or chronological accuracy is not
the point. Meaning and the evocation of particular feeling would be
more to the point.
In a sense Christmas Pageants illuminate our values.
We value things because they have beauty (a subjective value).
We value things because they are rare (usually an objective value).
We value things because they have meaning to an individual or a
community (which can be a subjective or objective value).
The values illustrated by Christmas Pageants have to do with the meaning
of the Christmas/Epiphany stories to us personally and as a
predominantly Christian community.
These values have to do with the depth and beauty of the story and of
the art of pageantry - and of our children (who are usually the artists
involved).
These values have to do with a feeling of rarity regarding light and
warmth and hope in the darkness and cold of winter (don't look outside)
-
and, perhaps, the rarity of the time we spend together telling or
reenacting the stories that bind us to one another.
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When I served as Associate Minister at Northridge U.C.C. many years ago,
I stepped into a tradition of pageantry. Every year the Youth Group
gave a gift to the community for two hours, two nights the week before
Christmas.
A retired fire captain would build us a stable on the main boulevard in
front of the church. The mothers would dress their teenagers in
excellent (but not necessarily accurate) costumes. Two kids would carry
staffs, at least one would wear wings and three of them carried
elaborate soap dispensers and ornate boxes. And they would arrange
themselves in the stable in a tableau of adoration - lit by spotlights
and the stars above.
It was freezing cold. It was seriously challenging for the kids to
stand still for two hours. It was breathtaking. Passing cars would
slow down, even stop. Some would roll down windows and call out
"Thank
you!" or take pictures. It was beautiful, it was rare and it had
meaning. What a gift.
There was one year - out of the six I served - that the event was cut to
one night. There had been a drive-by shooting in the neighborhood and
parents were understandably protective. But the kids insisted on doing
at least one night. Fathers were omnipresent that year, visible and
symbolic on the sidewalk. And the tableau took on elements of courage
and undeterred generosity - which deepened the experience for me. It
inspired hope.
The original Christmas/Epiphany Pageant - described in the Gospels - had
some of those same qualities to it - expressions of courage and
generosity - inspiring hope in those who witnessed or heard about it.
The Gospel story of the birth of God Among Us
folded into itself the
ancient wisdom and familiar stories of the Hebrew/Jewish traditions.
Like Moses, Jesus was born under threat of extermination by the current
ruler.
Like King David, Jesus was poor - affiliated with the lowly shepherd
class. The manner of his birth fulfilled the well-known prophesies of
Isaiah: he was born of a young woman (sometimes translated "virgin"),
destined to be a king - to rule with God's blessing and bring justice
and restitution to a suffering nation - not to mention world.
Foreigners knew the significance of the birth, perhaps before his own
relatives and neighbors did. And the foreigners brought gifts that
reminded the hearers of the restoration of
offering hope to all who heard the story.
The gifts symbolized specific things:
Page Three
Gold (rare and lovely) represented wealth and the resources to rebuild
the nation.
Frankincense was an aromatic resin - incense to honor and worship God.
Myrrh was a resin used for the anointing of kinds - and the embalming of
the dead.
These were symbolic gifts, part of the Midrashic
Pageant of the birth of
Jesus - as told 60 to 100 years after the historical events - told and
retold to offer renewed hope to a marginalized community.
The story was retold recently on the Internet - one modern source of
common lore and myth - fact and fiction - Midrash and
perfect lies. A
woman with four young children - each one a miracle of life -
was
attempting to raise them with Christian values and an understanding of
the miracle within them that is God Among Us.
***
I tried to be patient the day the
children smashed two dozen
eggs on
the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks. I tried to be
understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare
bedroom, although it took nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three
frogs.
When my daughter poured ketchup all
over herself and rolled up
in a
blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor
rather than the mess.
While I couldn't keep my promise to
be a perfect mother, I did
keep my
promise to raise them in the Word of God.
I knew I was missing the mark just a
little when I told my
daughter we
were going to church to worship God and she wanted to bring a bar of
soap along to "wash up" Jesus too.
Something was lost in the
translation when I explained that God
gave us
everlasting life and my son thought it was generous of God to give us
his "last wife."
My proudest moment came during the
Children's Christmas
Pageant. My
daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds, and my
youngest son was a wise man.
My five year old shepherd had
practiced his line, "We found the
babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby
was wrapped in wrinkled clothes." My four year old Mary said loudly,
"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' that's dirty, rotten
clothes."
A
wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped
by an angel who bent her halo and lost her left wing.
I slouched a little lower in my seat
when Mary dropped the doll
representing Baby Jesus and it bounced down the steps crying,
Page Four
"Mama, Mama." Mary followed it down the steps, snatched it to
her,
wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.
My oldest son stepped forward
wearing a bathrobe and a gold,
paper
crown. He knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise
men
and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur."
The congregation dissolved into
laughter and the pageant got a
standing ovation.
***
Although this story is as far removed from the historical events as one
might get - a story about a pageant based on the Gospels which are
Midrash on the actual events - it has merit in its
symbolism.
The children, unable to make sense of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, made
new sense and new meaning with Gold, Common Sense and Fur.
Gold, in our world and time, is not only wealth and resources per see.
It is a standard. It is our global currency - a universally understood
value, tainted with greed and usury, hoarding and debt - symbolic of the
existence of just ENOUGH resources to go around - IF we share equitably
and receive only what we need.
And what a gift is common sense!
Street smarts - the ability to understand one's own
culture, grasp the
difference between right and wrong, recognize distortion and unveil the
common face of evil.
Common sense will tell us that we all carry within us darkness and
light, meanness and goodness, evil and compassion.
Common sense will tell us that when someone "goes postal" its not
surprising that they look like any other ordinary postal carrier - in
fact they look very much like us.
Common sense will tell us that pedofiles have the
exact same resume and
characteristics of a fabulous camp counselor.
Common sense will tell us that the war around us comes from the war
within us and that peace will come from the same place.
What a gift is common sense!
Gold: global currency - enough for all.
And Common Sense - fundamental awareness of our Interbeing,
the interconnectedness of all of life.
These are excellent gifts for a child born God Among
Us.
Page Five
But what about FUR?
On behalf of the wild kingdom I must say that fur, detached from its
living donor, is not necessarily a gift - although, for Alaskan Aleuts
and Athapascans, it is a miracle offering
survival.
And for wealthy 19th and 20th century Euro-Americans it was a status
symbol.
But fur, as a symbolic gift, has a host of other meanings - especially
when attached to its original owner. Fur protects and disguises,
reveals and adorns. In the context of pageantry, it brings to mind the
donkey that brought pregnant Mary to
Jesus to
all of the residents of the stable where the child was born - their
warmth and breath and hospitality. And, let us not forget the camels -
bearing people and decorative boxes long distances - into the presence
of hope.
Fur brings to mind the lion and the lamb sleeping in peace together, the
animals entering into the
and Remus, cats purring in a million laps, the groundedness of wild
things, the beauty and vulnerability of small creatures, the soft fuzz
on a newborn baby's head, the fragility of Life
itself.
Fur is the pageant of Creation and Evolution. It is the soft place in
nature that meets the human hand and melts the heart.
It is the intersection of need and completion, the initiation of
relationship between self and other, ape and human, human and divine,
unselfconscious nature and nature most profoundly aware of self
Gold, Common Sense and Fur - any God or human would benefit from such
gifts - especially in this day and time.
The kids at Redlands U.C.C. did a Christmas/Epiphany Pageant this year.
They wore bathrobes and tied towels on their heads. They gathered in
Fellowship Hall to arrange themselves before entering the sanctuary.
There were others in the hall, setting up tables for food, one woman
laying out olive wood ornaments for sale. Maryam
and her family have
been living in
Palestinian Christian and her family depends on the tourist trade to
sell the olive wood figures they make. Recent events put them out of
business, so they have come to be with family for awhile in
California
Page Six
As the children, dressed in costume, gathered in the hall, Maryam's
eyes
lit up. She brought them to her table to see what she had made and to
tell them stories about her home. On cues from across the hall, the
children. organized themselves for the pageant -
entered the darkened
sanctuary and began to tell the story one more time - in their own way.
After the service, Maryam came up to the children
with tears in her eyes
and said, "Thank you. Thank you for remembering
Let us pray for the peace of
Let us pray for the rebirth of hope for our World.
*************************
Music for Gathering
Welcome and Perspective on the Day
Musical Preparation for Worship - A Time for Centering
+ Call to Worship Masithi Hymnal # 760
+ Opening Hymn This is a Day of New Beginnings Hymnal
# 417
+ Litany of Beginnings (responsive)
One: But we have only begun to love the earth.
We have only begun to imagine the fullness of life.
Many: How could we tire of hope? - so much is in bud.
One: How can desire fail? - we have only begun to
imagine justice and mercy,
Many: Only begun to envision how it might be to live
as siblings with beast and flower, not as
oppressors.
One: Surely our river cannot already be hastening
into the sea of nonbeing?
Many: Surely it cannot drag, in the silt, all that
is innocent?
One: Not yet, not yet - there is too much broken that must
be mended,
Many: Too much hurt that we have done to each other
that cannot yet be forgiven.
One: We have only begun to know the power that is in us
if we would join our solitudes in the communion
of struggle.
Many: So much is unfolding that must complete its gesture,
so much is in bud.
Time for Silent Reflection
One: My soul waits in silence.
All: God is my rock and my fortress. I will be at peace.
Silent Reflection
The Assurance of Good News (unison)
God has only begun to show us what Life has to offer.
God has only begun to open our hearts and fill us with Divine Love.
God has only begun. Thanks be to
God!
Sung Response
Hallelujah. God be praised!
Conversation with Our Children
Symbols
Reading from the Christian Gospels Matthew 2:1-12
+ Epiphany Hymn We Three Kings (verse 1)
We three kings of Orient are / Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain / Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night / Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding / Guide us to thy perfect light.
Teaching and Proclamation
Gold, Common Sense and Fur
Intercessions, Celebrations and Encouragements
Taize Call to Prayer (sung in unison)
Ubi caritas et amor,
Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.
(Where charity and love are found, God is there.)
Time for Silence
Our Joys and Concerns and an Offering of Prayer
Sung Response In Solitude Hymnal #521 vv. 1 & 2
We Offer Our Gifts So That Our Lives May Be Our Prayer
Offertory
Prayer of Dedication (unison)
With all that we are and all that we are becoming, we offer ourselves
and these gifts to You, O God. May this be only the beginning of
generous living and meaningful giving in our lives.
Amen.
Celebration of Holy Communion
Invitation to the Table
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
Prayer of Thanksgiving (in unison)
We affirm the goodness of life and the openness of the
future because
our God is a God of life and love. As God comes to us in this act of
communion, so let us go out to others in acts which bring healing,
reconciliation and hope to our world. Amen.
+ Sending Hymn Come Sing a
Song with Me
+ Commissioning (responsive)
One: Now is the time
To climb up the mountain
And reason against habit.
Now is the time.
Many: Now is the time
To renew the barren soil of nature
Ruined by the winds of tyranny.
Now is the time.
One: Now is the time
To commence the litany of hope.
Now is the time.
Many: Now is the time
To give me roses, not to keep them
For my grave to come.
Give them to me while my heart beats,
Give them today
While my heart yearns for jubilee.
Now is the time . . .
+ Sung Response Hush, Hush Hymnal # 604 v.1
Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name
Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name
Oh,
Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name
O my God, O my God, what shall I do?
What shall I do?
+ Postlude
*****
WORSHIP NOTES:
The cross marks (+) in the order of service are an
invitation for those
in the congregation who are able to stand to do so.
Litany of Beginnings is by Denise Levertov, found in
Singing the Living
Tradition, hymnal for the Unitarian Universalist
Association (#648)
Commissioning is by Mzwakhe Mbuli,
Performance artist and activist,
South Africa, found in Prayers for a Thousand Years, Ed. by Elizabeth
Roberts & Elias Amidon (p.93)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Ubi Caritas from Songs and Prayers from Taize/, copyright © 1991, Les
Presses de Taize/ (France). Used by permission of GIA
Publications,
Inc., Chicago, exclusive agent. Reprinted under license no. 10293. All
rights reserved.