One of the most memorable Christmas sermons that I have heard was preached by the songwriter, activist and pastor, John Bell. He began by asking; “I wonder who among us was once a shepherd?” A quick glance around me didn't see any hands being raised. We were, after all, sitting in the middle of a large urban area not exactly renowned for its shepherds. Then he asked; “I wonder who among us was once a wise man?”. People began looking slightly uncomfortable, as it didn't appear by the lack of hands being raised that wisdom was in any more plentiful supply than shepherding skills. He went on with other questions, before there began to be a gradual sense of where these questions were leading. My thoughts were confirmed when he asked; “I wonder who among us had once been the hind legs of the donkey”. So, which nativity characters have you played?
For many people, their introduction to the Christmas story will have been while taking part as a child in a school or church nativity play. For me this annual event was always a highlight of the year, if only for the opportunity to create headscarves out of tea towels, and to challenge each other off stage to duels with our shepherds crooks. The artistic standard wasn't particularly high in my elementary school. One year, the memory taken away by the audience wasn't of a fine retelling of the greatest story ever told, but instead of the little girl playing Mary declaring at the top of her voice “this baby isn't even real” as she looked at the doll in the manger.
The irony of the school nativity play however is that besides the Christ child, there are no children with leading roles in the Christmas story. Many of the characters in the nativity narratives are seniors – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon and Anna have their elderly status clearly underscored often during the account. The Shepherds were certainly not toddlers; and the Magi certainly would not have been considered wise unless they too were old. In these days wisdom did not come through attaining a Ph.D in your mid-twenties. The story of the birth and early years of jesus' life center around God expecting and trusting older people to enable new and surprising things to happen. So, if you were once a shepherd or an angel or even the hind legs of the donkey, don't let Christmas simply be a time for regression therapy…..particularly when now as always, God is looking for older adults to be the midwives for the new ways that love, hope, joy and faith can be born into our world. *
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