Much attention this month is focused on the Christmas Pageant happening on Sunday, December 21. This is a no-rehearsal pageant that will invite people of all ages to volunteer as the pageant unfolds. The pageant will tell the story of Jesus’ birth as told in the Gospel of Luke. Only two of the four Gospels include the birth of Jesus story. These two stories share some similarities, but there are also diversions between the versions in Luke and Matthew. What I appreciate about the story Luke offers is the centering of women. Much of the Bible, consisting of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testament, conveys the story and words of men. Should not a story of birth include the voice of the parent who carries the child and gives birth? The Gospel of Luke does this by having Mary speak, and Mary’s sister Elizabeth.
The Luke narrative also provides two details that might be the most memorable of this birth story. First, there being no room at an inn or guesthouse. This leads to the second detail, Jesus born in a manger. What the Gospel of Luke narrative seeks to offer is an origin story for Jesus that fulfills prophecies, and also contextualizes the person of Jesus as someone born on the margins. And in having Jesus born on the margins, someone whose family and whose community could not find a place of comfort for this newborn, the reader of the Luke text is invited to understand the Christian God as choosing to be among people who are suffering. This choice, which 1960’s liberation theology would label as a “preferential option for the poor,” implicates God not necessarily as the solution to oppression, but part of the community being oppressed and which will continually fight to overcome systems of injustice.
This story of Christmas is theologically rich. And while it is a Christian story, it is one that gives space for us to derive meaning without dogma. What I hope our pageant offers is a telling of Luke’s version of the Christmas story that connects with something meaningful within you. I also hope this pageant is delightful, and silly, and all around fun.
Looking ahead to next month, I want to share that I am going to start taking one Sunday off a month. This is something I talked about with the hiring team when I accepted this position. One Sunday off a month is part of best practices recommended by both the UU Ministers Association and the Liberal Religious Educators Association. The thinking behind this time off is to help sustain one’s ministry over time and offer a chance for renewal. I will be engaging with the Faith Exploration Committee to help navigate those Sundays off.
One of the things I appreciate about being a Unitarian Universalist minister is the support our communities offer to help us take care of each other and ourselves.
In all that this season is, and all that is yet to emerge, may you find the rest you need. And may you also find delight in this rest.
Thank you,
KYLE
Kyle M. Belmont (he/him)
Director of Faith Exploration