The annual Christmas pageant is one of my ministry highlights every year in the congregation I serve. The youngest children dress as sheep and angels, older children play the parts of the shepherds and magi, and high-school-aged youth embody the roles of Mary, Joseph, and the angel Gabriel. For several weeks, we meet on Sunday afternoons to rehearse, learning lines and practicing where we will sit, stand, and walk. Our very creative Director of Children's Ministries helps to add some humor and sparkle into the script — this year, a weary magi lagged behind the others on the journey to Bethlehem, and after some cajoling from the others, she remarked, "It's taken thousands of years for this star to appear. What's one myrrh minute?!"
The best and most surprising part of this year's pageant, though, was the addition of a new, intergenerational scene. After the magi had found the Christ-child, and after I'd offered a brief meditation on the wonder of Christmas, children returned to their pews and I pointed down the center aisle of the sanctuary. "There's one more part of this story I want you to hear," I began. "This part of the story comes from the gospel of Luke, and it involves two new people: Simeon and Anna. Look, I think Simeon might actually be here with us tonight!"
At that moment, an older adult member of the congregation walked down the aisle, beheld the sleeping baby in the manger, and proclaimed the words of Simeon from Luke 2:28-32, which begin, "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation." There was also a part for Anna, the older, faithful woman who praises God and shares the good news of Jesus's birth. This new Christmas pageant scene invited the congregation into a different moment of praise and wonder, as we wondered together how we might respond in our own lives to the mystery of the incarnation.
The Latin title for Simeon's song is the Nunc Dimittis, and it has become over the generations an indispensable part of the Christian liturgy. Countless musical settings of it exist, and we hear two of those settings on our February 1 Sing For Joy program, a portion of which celebrates the Presentation of the Lord. Through the music of Gustav Holst and Bryan Kelly, we experience the joy and wonder of Simeon's encounter with the infant Jesus. As you listen, I wonder what you will hear, and I wonder how you will be moved to respond.
Blessings to you this month, Sing For Joy listeners!
