I had to cross my fingers behind my back a
good deal in church the Sunday before Christmas as we sang our way through the
traditional Christmas carols. They are so full of concepts that no longer true
for me. My integrity is challenged in singing them. But perhaps crossing my
fingers behind my back makes it OK to sing them.
Of course it was mainly for the children
that we acted out yet again the Christmas stories. Today’s service was entertainingly
devised with symbolic Christmas presents brought forward for each element of
the service. There was a lot of involvement of the congregation. Our curiosity
was aroused as each parcel was unwrapped. And there were some whole-hearted
laughs: after all, introducing the “Quirinius census” with an Inland Revenue
Tax Return form was good for more than a bit of a giggle. And I can tell you the
whole thing was a lot better than our recent Village Christmas service themed
around a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
It’s OK to tell children stories that the
adults understand are not “true”. There are usually elements of fantasy that
are clues to help adults recognise fact from fiction. People can put imaginary
quotation marks around these clues. But in the Christian stories the elements
of fantasy or impossibility aren’t seen in that way by most people. Because
they are found in the Bible, they seem to have become tests of our faith. Their
acceptance has become a measure of our orthodoxy. No matter how improbable,
unhistoric, or theologically unacceptable they seem, the fantasy elements of
the Christian story have taken over the
story.
I have no problem with re-presenting the
story for the children at Christmas. But, let it be story. And when there are adults present let us be open and clear
about what is most likely to be mythic. Maybe all we needed for the handful of
progressives in the congregation this morning were one or two simple phrases.
We could have been told that, “Of course, not all of us believe all these
things actually took place like this... We’re telling a story that was created
by simpler minds in a world of different truth… and so on”. Such comment was not there in this service. But
perhaps I was the only person in 50 who felt a bit alienated because of it…
And what shall I say in ten days when I am
invited to conduct the Christmas service in our former parish? How will I
re-tell the story?
I guess the highlight for us all was the
three minute video clip from the children of 
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