I ran across this story while reading an old copy of Christian Century on study leave. It is the basis for my sermon this Sunday.
"A role for everyone: Casting the Christmas pageant"
You are about to enjoy an animated Christmas pageant in your congregation. Congratulations. If it includes live camels, plan accordingly. If it involves live babies, plan on having a backup baby in case your chosen star doesn’t want to be anointed and breaks the “no crying he makes” credo. If your pageant involves scripture, you’ll need to merge various texts into one mash-up script.
I grew up as a Quaker and did not participate in any Christmas pageants. But in my ministry I’ve come to know them well. I’ve dealt with tricky theological questions and treacherous sociological suggestions concerning the script, content, date, cast and music of Christmas pageants. I have seen original performances shine. I’ve seen traditions implode. And I’ve seen locally beloved practices trump, deny, invert and supersede commonsense solutions.
Yet we do this every year. Why? What do we expect from our pageants? Are these productions only a fast-moving train that’s always sure to derail? Or are they, in spite of our grumblings, a cherished love offering for which we, the people of Advent, hunger and yearn?
It could be that God’s revelation relies not on scripts but on casting. It could be that it’s neither the features nor the finesse of the presentation that matters, but the cast and crew. Let me explain.
I had my first pageant role in my forties when the child playing Joseph fell ill. I was given a costume, a place to stand and curt instructions from the director to “Be quiet. Stay still. Act adoring.” Years later I use these directions as a meditation device.
I was moved by my role in the play. Once I’d actually been among the other actors and actresses, I began to understand the central message of the Christmas pageant: the core of the story is that no matter the script, the set or the costumes, there is a role for everyone in the Christmas story.
The year of my debut a beloved kindergartner broadened my sense of the crèche even further. Wearing a feathery white swan costume, she stood out in sharp contrast to our gray/brown manger scene. The director expected me to discourage this outfit, so in my very best client-centered posture, I kneeled down before this fabulous five-year-old and asked if she wouldn’t consider being a donkey or a sheep or a goat. “I’m a swan,” she said. Holding fast to my exegetical authority, I explained that there were no swans at Jesus’ cradle. She furrowed her brows and looked me directly in the eye with calm conviction. “Don’t you think swans love Jesus too?”
I told the director that the swan was in.
when we think about the Christmas story, everyone who is somehow connected to the coming of the Christ-child, consider who they are: Zechariah and Elizabeth -- an old priest and his barren wife; Mary and Joseph -- a virgin and her reluctant boyfriend; shepherds in the fields; wise men from far away; not the people you might expect to be involved in something big -- no heads of state; no government officials -- I might note that at our Bicentennial celebration the mayor of Troy wanted to be involved and later our state representative came by to give us a resolution passed by the OH House of Representatives
A surprising manger scene that opens us up to the possibilities where a wolf and lamb will lie down together.
What can we tell by who shows up in the story?
Anyone and everyone, including you, is invited -- from the richest to the foreigner to the religious to the common worker in the field
It becomes a life-changing event
You better make room for the pink swan at the manger
when we think about the Christmas story, everyone who is somehow connected to the coming of the Christ-child, consider who they are: Zechariah and Elizabeth -- an old priest and his barren wife; Mary and Joseph -- a virgin and her reluctant boyfriend; shepherds in the fields; wise men from far away; not the people you might expect to be involved in something big -- no heads of state; no government officials -- I might note that at our Bicentennial celebration the mayor of Troy wanted to be involved and later our state representative came by to give us a resolution passed by the OH House of Representatives
A surprising manger scene that opens us up to the possibilities where a wolf and lamb will lie down together.
What can we tell by who shows up in the story?
Anyone and everyone, including you, is invited -- from the richest to the foreigner to the religious to the common worker in the field
It becomes a life-changing event
You better make room for the pink swan at the manger
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