Christmas Eve Lesson and Carols - 2014

A re-posting from last year, it got such good reviews, here it is again.

Enjoy the Christ who comes to us as a Child.

Blessed Be

Rev. Joel

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A Choir Service of Lessons, Carols & Readings:
A Vesper Service

Choir - Awake, Awake, A Joyous Noel

Opening Words / Welcome

"God laughed and brought forth Jesus. Jesus laughed and brought forth the Holy Spirit. All three laughed and brought forth us."  ~ Meister Eckhart

Tonight we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child - how God becomes vulnerable to us as an infant, a babe, needing our tender care and nurture and comfort. Tonight as we read Luke's account, we have interspersed readings and carols and choral anthems - sharing some of the ways that this event has inspired others. Tonight as we read and sing these words of inspiration, may our hearts be inspired to look for the Christ in one another and the world at large. May we leave with a new sense of what is important in the world, a new sense at how God is at work, calling us forth to join in with our own hands.

Lighting the 4th Advent Candle  

~ Tonight, Everyone is Displaced 

     ~ Rev. Tom Schade

Tonight, everyone is displaced and homeless.
Tonight, everyone searches for Bethlehem.
On this night, when the darkness comes so close,
We listen, in the stillness, for the songs of angels.
Like shepherds, we aren't too sure of what is happening.
We don't know why we are so expectant.
We don't know why we long so deeply for miracles.
Tonight we pray that we might know the one we are seeking.
Tonight may we kneel like kings,
before that which is greater than any kingdom on earth.
Tonight, may we see the holy family that we are a part of.
And may we hear the music that reminds us of our truest home.

Carol - Joy to the World 

Reading ~ Luke: 1:26-35, 38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! the Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God. ..." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

     ~ This Is No Time for a Child to be Born

     ~ Madeleine L'Engle

This is no time for a child to be born,
With the Earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.
That was no time for a child to be born
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome
Honor and truth were trampled by scorn --
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.
When is the time of love to be born?
The inn is full on planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn ---
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

Choir - The Angels

Carol - O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Reading ~ Luke 2:1-7

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.

     ~ The Maid-Servant At The Inn

     ~ Dorothy Parker

"It's queer," she said; "I see the light
As plain as I beheld it then,
All silver-like and calm and bright -
We've not had stars like that again!
"And she was such a gentle thing
To birth a baby in the cold.
The barn was dark and frightening -
This new one's better than the old.
"I mind my eyes were full of tears,
For I was young, quick distressed,
But she was less than me in years
That held a son against her breast.
"I never saw a sweeter child -
The little one, the darling one! -
I mind, I told her, when he smiled
You'd know he was his mother's son.
"It's queer that I should see them so -
The time they came to Bethlehem
Was more than thirty years ago;
I've prayed that all is well with them."

     ~ A Christmas Reflection

     ~ Thomas Merton

Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world.

Choir - Behold That Star

Carol - On This Day Everywhere

Reading ~ Luke 2: 8-12

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."

     ~ Mother of God

     ~ William Butler Yeats

The threefold terror of love; a fallen flare
Through the hollow of an ear;
Wings beating about the room;
The terror of all terror that I bore
The Heavens in my womb.
Had I not found content among the shows
Every common woman knows,
Chimney corner, garden walk,
Or rocky cistern where we tread the clothes
And gather all the talk?
What is this flesh I purchased with my pains,
This fallen star my milk sustains,
This love that makes my heart's blood stop
Or strikes a Sudden chill into my bones
And bids my hair stand up?

Duet - Ave Maria

Reading ~ Luke 2:13-14

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 God favors!"

     ~ Snow in Bethlehem

     ~ Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. They only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is louder now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
implore you to stay awhile with us
so we may learn by your shimmering light
how to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting time of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of
Peace.
We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:
Peace, My brother.
Peace, My sister.
Peace, My soul.

Choir - Carol for Advent

Carol - The First Noel

Choir - Lo How A Rose

Reading ~ Luke 2:15-20

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

     ~ The Moment of Magic

     ~ Victoria E. Safford

Now is the moment of magic,
when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun,
and here's a blessing:
the days will be longer and brighter now,
even before the winter settles in to chill us.
Now is the moment of magic,
when people beaten down and broken,
with nothing left but misery and candles and their own clear voices,
kindle tiny lights and whisper secret music,
and here's a blessing:
the dark universe is suddenly illuminated by the lights of the menorah,
suddenly ablaze with the lights of the kinara,
and the whole world is glad and loud with winter singing.
Now is the moment of magic,
when an eastern star beckons the ignorant toward an unknown goal,
and here's a blessing:
they find nothing in the end but an ordinary baby,
born at midnight, born in poverty, and the baby's cry, like bells ringing,
makes people wonder as they wander through their lives,
what human love might really look like,
sound like,
feel like.
Now is the moment of magic,
and here's a blessing:
we already possess all the gifts we need;
we've already received our presents:
ears to hear music,
eyes to behold lights,
hands to build true peace on earth
and to hold each other tight in love.

Choir/Congregation - Hames um Bole / Silent Night

Closing Reading 

     ~ The Work of Christmas 

     ~ Howard Thurman

When the songs of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
     to find the lost,
     to heal the broken,
     to feed the hungry,
     to release the prisoner,
     to rebuild the nations,
     to bring peace among the brothers and sisters,
     to make music in the heart.

Benediction

     ~ Night Has Fallen 

     ~ Rev. Tom Schade

Night has fallen.
Stars beckon in an indigo and velvet sky
Somewhere a baby is being born.
Tonight, the world lazes in a love of goodness
while glories stream from heaven afar
God is meeting us, tonight, where we are.
So be not afraid, and be of good cheer,
We wish you, each and all, Very Merry Christmas -
The hopes and fears of all the years have been met,
so Rest beside the winding road
and Hear the Angels Sing.

Choir - Alleluia Chaconne

Virgin Birth: Does It Make Sense to Modern Readers? - Advent 2014

Early last week, I was in the library when my computer decided to upload all the new updates. Finding myself waiting (an Advent occupation) I found a current copy of Biblical Archeology Review. I haven't read a copy in years, and picked it up, flipping through it and scanning it for interesting articles. The following title jumped out at me "How Babies Were Made in Jesus' Time" (Andrew Lincoln, author). This couldn't really be any different from now, could it? Turns out ... no. But our understanding of the process has changed radically in the last couple of centuries. With this coming Sundays' Lectionary Readings being about the visitation of the Angle to Mary, I thought it might prove interesting to review the article a bit.

Our modern ears/eyes/thinking look at the father and the mother each providing half the DNA to the child in the womb. But that is not how the ancient hearer/readers/thinkers would have thought about it. In the ancient understanding (especially in patriarchal cultures), "the male semen provides the formative principle of life. The female menstrual blood supplies the matter for the fetus, and the womb the medium for the semen's nurture. The man's seed transmits his logos (rational cause) and pneuma (vital heat/animating spirit), for which the woman's body is the receptacle. In this way the male functions as the active, efficient cause of reproduction, and the female functions as the provider of the matter to which the male seed give definition. In short, the bodily substance necessary for a human fetus comes from the mother, while the life force originates with the father" (BAR, Nov-Dec 2014. 44).

With such an understanding, no wonder the defenders of the faith, in arguing that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, appealed to these birth stories for proof. For the ancients, simply pointing to Mary as the mother was enough to prove Jesus' humanity. Lincoln points out that this view now "produces the irony that, while on ancient views of biology the virginal conception was thought to safeguard the humanity of Jesus, present-day biological understanding of such a conception undermines the notion of Jesus' being fully human. We no longer think that a mother's genetic input alone is sufficient to produces a fully human male. For Jesus to be fully human, he would need to have had both a human father and mother. A Jesus without complete human DNA would now actually be the sort of docetic figure the patristic writers refused to accept - a simi-divine or a wholly divine special creation that only appeared to be human" (BAR, Nov-Dec 2014.45).

Lincoln goes on to discuss how the Jewish understanding would often see child-birth as a three way process (and as such theology and biology go together, rather than being separated). In essence, with special biblical "heroes" and "heroines" God is seen as taking an active role (opening up the womb, etc.). Lincoln invites us to look at the stories of David's birth, or even Rachel pleading with Jacob to give her children, and even as far back as Eve's conception of Cain.

These stories appear to be different, however, for they also draw upon Greek-style biographies of famous people (who often pull in divine favor in the form of being demi-gods).

I found the article helpful. It was a good reminder to see the texts in the cultural light and understanding of the authors. Two questions/thoughts stick with me.
One: using our own modern understanding, how would we write a Gospel today? What would it look like? What things would be included? How would we tell the tale?
Two: I'm reminded of a saying a friend of mine often used: "All stories are True, some have even happened."

As Advent progresses and we near the birth, may you continue to find yourself blessed.

Blessed Be,

Joel

Lincoln, Andrew. "How Babies Were Made in Jesus' Time." Biblical Archeology Review. Nov-Dec 2014 (Vol 40 No 6). 42ff.

[Apparently you need to be a member to read the article at the link.]

Giving - Advent, 2014

Advent (and through the Christmas Season, which, contrary to the our consumer culture, starts with Christmas) is a time in which we focus on giving. Food Banks ask for help in feeding the hungry. Who is sponsoring the Coat and Clothing Drive this year? Cold weather shelter is in need (and provided through community support). Even the TV (for those of us who have one) hit the viewers up for giving to children in far flung places. Then disaster strikes: a civil war in Syria with displaced refugees facing a cold winter, a typhoon in the Philippines, ... our frame of reverence switches to the "new" disaster. The old one is forgotten. 

Are these people still suffering after the media attention has gone? Sometimes it feels like the following video:

[I wanted to insert a video my friend Paul recently posted here, but it is not yet available. Instead, picture a Sudanese toddler sitting in the sand, around the child are the media reporters, film and camara crews. As the media chatter away asking,  "What's your name?" "How old are you?" "What happened here?", a woman with a camera in hand offers a glass of water. Just as the child is reaching for it, just as it is almost in the child's hand, a helicopter flies over announcing a typhoon in Tahiti. The glass is dropped and the media rush away. The video fades out as the child is soundlessly crying and the water soaks into the sand. ]

While on one level this video is profound in its simplicity, on amount level the video comes across as rather simple and missing some of the nuances of reality. For instance, the aid "receivers" are never really this helpless. I do wonder if this is somewhat a projection of our own feelings helplessness in dealing with the issues. We would rather not stick around for all the hard work that systematic change takes. Would we rather just offer a glass of water and rush off to the next crisis?

In this time of giving I would encourage you to give. I would encourage you to give to an institution. Preferably an institution  that is already on the ground working with people in partnerships that are mutually benificial and rewarding. In such a way, we "givers" can join in a partnership not only with the "receivers" put also with the aid "workers/suppliers." As you give, I hope you would also give an ear, to hear the stories: the triumphs and disasters, the successes and failures,  the experiments and hopes. 

Then maybe we'll be aware that even after the media blitz, there are still partnerships continuing on, like this video shows.

Maria's breakfast recipe:

Blessed be,

Joel

Feast of St. Nicholas, 2014

National Museum of Medieval History, Korca Albania

Happy Feast of St Nicholas to you. Did you find anything in your shoes this morning? If you left them outside where we are, they'd likely been overflowing with water. We've got tons of rain this year on St. Nicholas' Feast Day.

I particularly like the icon pictured here, as it shows some of Nicholas' life events. A Google search under images will give you other images, too.

On this Feast Day of the patron saint of sailors and voyagers, children and marriageable maidens, paupers, and others,  you might think about ways you can secretly help out others, following in his example. The St. Nicholas Center has lots of history and resources. If nothing else, the sailing community has always been a friendly compassionate bunch who helps one another out. I've been on the receiving end, and I continue to try and pay it forward, too. Hmmm, what to do this year?

So here's to Saint Nicholas!

May Saint Nick be at your tiller!

Blessed Be,

Joel

Advent 1 - Incarnation

In the beginning of John's Gospel we are told that the Word became Flesh and dwelled amongst us. What does that mean for us? How to we engage this Incarnate one? Dare we see others as images of the Incarnate amongst us, prompting us towards compassion and justice? Do we loose sight of following the One who came in Flesh a midst all the doctrinal statements we want to make about the Incarnate One and the Divine One who sent the Incarnation into the world?
I find these good Advent questions as we start our Advent journey, and appreciate the Reverend Dr. Philip Hewett for exposing me to the work of Edwin Muir, a Scottish poet.When reading Muir's Incarnate One (below) pay attention to the line: "The Word made flesh here is made word again".

Blessed Be,

Joel

The Incarnate One

The windless northern surge, the sea-gull's scream,

And Calvin's kirk crowning the barren brae.

I think of Giotto the Tuscan shepherd's dream,

Christ, man and creature in their inner day.

How could our race betray

The Image, and the Incarnate One unmake

Who chose this form and fashion for our sake? 

The Word made flesh here is made word again
A word made word in flourish and arrogant crook.
See there King Calvin with his iron pen,
And God three angry letters in a book,
And there the logical hook
On which the Mystery is impaled and bent
Into an ideological argument.

There's better gospel in man's natural tongue,
And truer sight was theirs outside the Law
Who saw the far side of the Cross among
The archaic peoples in their ancient awe,
In ignorant wonder saw
The wooden cross-tree on the bare hillside,
Not knowing that there a God suffered and died.

The fleshless word, growing, will bring us down,
Pagan and Christian man alike will fall,
The auguries say, the white and black and brown,
The merry and the sad, theorist, lover, all
Invisibly will fall:
Abstract calamity, save for those who can
Build their cold empire on the abstract man.

A soft breeze stirs and all my thoughts are blown
Far out to sea and lost. Yet I know well
The bloodless word will battle for its own
Invisibly in brain and nerve and cell.
The generations tell
Their personal tale: the One has far to go
Past the mirages and the murdering snow.
Edwin Muir