Posts Tagged ‘12-25-2020’

Christmas 2020 12-25-2020

Friday, December 25th, 2020

It was time for the annual Nativity pageant put on by the children
of the church. The manger was located in front of the alter steps. Mary
was there in a blue mantel and Joseph in a cotton beard. The wise men
were there with a handful of shepherds, and of course, in the midst of
them all was the Christ Child, lying on the straw. The nativity story was
read by the pastor with carols sung at the appropriate places, and all
went like clockwork until it came time for the arrival of the angels—a
“heavenly host” of the children of the congregation dressed in white and
scattered throughout the pews with their parents.
At the right moment the angels were supposed to come forward
and gather around the manger to sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will among men”, and that is just what they did—
except there were so many angels that there was a fair amount of
crowding and jockeying for position. One angel, about nine years old
who was smaller than most of the other angels, ended up so far out on
the fringes of things that not even by craning her neck and standing on tiptoe could she see what was going on. “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will among men,” they all sang on cue, and
then in the momentary pause that followed, the small girl electrified the
entire church by crying out in a voice shrill with irritation and frustration
and enormous sadness at having her view blocked, “Let Jesus show!”
The wise pastor decided to end the pageant right there. “Let Jesus
show!” the child-angel had cried out, and while the congregation sat in
stunned silence, the good father offered a quick final prayer and
blessing, and everybody filed out of church with those unforgettable
words ringing in their ears.
May the little angel’s cry be our prayer in the year ahead: “Let
Jesus show!” in our families and work places and schools; “Let Jesus
show!” in our compassion, forgiveness and joy. May we not “lose”
Jesus in the many demands on our time; may we not “hide” Jesus when
the difficult decision has to be made; may we not “pack” Jesus away
until next Christmas, but may the “Word made flesh” make his dwelling
place among us here, now and always filling every one of our days with his wisdom and grace. Let Jesus Show.