It is fitting
at a Carol service
to remember
that ballad
written by Gill Bowman
from Bellyeoman Primary
in Dunfermline.
It is called
the School Nativity play
and goes like this:
A wise man opened the curtain too soon
The star in the east fell down with a boom
The innkeeper said ‘There’s plenty of room’
Oh, it all went wrong on the day
Joseph’s wee brother was violently sick,
He nearly choked on his lolly stick
So, I held out Mum’s handbag quick
And it all went wrong on the day
A shepherd made a dash for the loo
The rickety platform split in two
It was just a stage we were going through
In the school nativity play
A spotlight fell and I got the blame
Gabriel’s wings made a pretty blue flame
And we all went home when the firemen came
To the school nativity play
Oh, the donkey sneezed and the stable fell down,
One of the three Kings broke his crown
Primary two were the talk of the town
In the school nativity play.
Nativity plays then
are part and partial
of our own Christmas stories.
They are blessed
with a naivety
that speaks of the child
in all of us
dreaming of trees
and parties
and presents.
They speak of Christmases past
with their myriad of memories.
They speak of a simple faith
that is nice to have
at this time of year
Nevertheless,
it is too easy to place
in the whole shebang
of stables, shepherds,
donkeys and wise men
in the fairy tale category.
It is too easy
to see it
as little more than
a cute scene
for a sparkly Christmas card.
And, thus,
we dismiss it
as having no deeper message
to us.
For it could be said
we all go home
when reality comes
to the school nativity play.
Nevertheless,
that forgets the dream.
The dream that has
Somehow
got people
to be less like people
and more like God
for two thousand years.
The dream that
somehow
the world was changed
by that story
from Bethlehem.
The dream indeed
that we ourselves
can and will be changed
by the ultimate truth
behind wee boys in towels
and girls in mum’s old curtains.
For the essence of this story
is that the world
is not made better
by the great,
the successful
and the mighty.
The human experience
is not improved
by the globe’s outstanding thinkers.
Your life and my life
isn’t brought in touch
with transformational love
by the chief executive,
the director
or the government minister.
That is done
by ordinary people
being extraordinary
in the muddle
and trouble of life.
It is done simply
because God is with us
in the muddle
and trouble of life.
Moreover, Christ
is most clearly seen
in the muddle
and trouble
and even rubble of life.
Last year
at our Christingle service,
Ken, Daryl and I
cast the nativity story
into the set
of the latest Star Wars film.
Hopefully it was fun
and entertaining.
Yet some years earlier
I wrote the same narrative
into a real conflict zone.
Since even as we speak,
the UN private jet
is landing amongst
the regime’s fighters
and cargo planes.
The corridor
into the besieged district
will only be open
for less than an hour.
So as the convoy of land-cruisers
speeds through
the dark and rubble
of a once thriving city,
the diplomatic team
know time
is desperately short.
Even before they stop,
the bodyguards are out
with their assault rifles
securing
the graffiti scarred block’s entrance.
The visitors are almost
man—handled
up the stinking stairwell
and into a freezing room
lit by a single battery lantern.
There, for a moment,
the rush turns to hush
as the grandees
take in the new born child
lying in a Red Cross aid box.
In the gloom,
they sense the unease
of the father;
an older man
in builder’s trousers and fleece.
Yet the young mother
is somehow serene
even as the wind
whistles through
the broken window.
In a moment,
those representatives
of the world’s government
s drop to their knees
and worship.
But it is only for a second,
for an explosion
is heard in the distance,
radios cackle
and the guards
start to push
the panicky civilians
out of the enclosing danger.
A helicopter clatters overhead
with sinister intent.
Suddenly, one diplomat
recovers enough composure
to remember
they have brought a gift –
one of the most precious things
on planet earth.
As he offers it,
the father stares
hungrily
at the unbelievable treasure.
Since it is none other
than
a visa for the United States.
Come he says
and bring the saviour
of the world
out of here!
Come he can do
so much good
from safety.
Come this is no place
for a child!
No – says the mother,
he was born here,
he is born for here
and he will stay here.
For this is the place
of this child.
Now for his sake go
and make it safe.
As we return to our world
of cardboard crowns
and plastic cribs,
let us not forget
that other world
of the real nativity play.
Let us not forget
that Christ came
for the muddle
and trouble of life.
Let us not forget
that Christ too
wants to be with us
when we face
life’s muddle and trouble.
Above all,
let this story inspire us
to make our ordinariness
extraordinary.
Let this story
transmute us
from wanting to be great
to wanting to be good.
Let this story
permeate our being
so that we to go home
now
and make
this crazy mixed up world
safe –
safe for every primary two child –
safe indeed
for God to be with us.
Amen
