Rock and Roll
Stories
Contents
“Rock and Roll” by C. David McKirachan
“Smile” by C. David McKirachan
Rock and Roll
by C. David McKirachan
Isaiah 9:2-7
Every time I hear this scripture, it raises the hair on my arms. Christmas is upon us. Part of it is having sung it in Handel’s Messiah, but the words and the occasion have their own meanings for me and I’m sure for many of us. So, it’s hard to peel this away from its own power. It stands by itself.
There is a huge Tibetan prayer bell, at the top of one of the Himalayan peaks, in an ancient shelter. It is rung by pulling back a log attached to the ceiling with thick ropes. When the single monk who tends it feels the moment appropriate, he draws back the log and lets it go, filling the valleys all around the peak with the low tolling of the massive bell. Such is this scripture for me.
It is interesting the way the prophet speaks in the past, the present, and the future about this stupendous moment. Perhaps this informs us of the timeless nature of this moment. Perhaps it reminds us of God’s perspective, of the timeless nature of God’s being, the mystery of that eternal nature intruding and intersecting with our perspective and our limited understanding. It has already happened, it is happening, and it will come to be all at the same time. All intersecting in this child.
When I think of the angels informing the shepherds of the birth, it seems they do a fairly good job of translating this eternal event to non-eternal humans, to a point. But they can only control their joy for a while. I think the heavenly host finally exploded in joy and praise. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth…” You know how it goes. Perhaps we have it incised into our consciousness because it is such a strange and wondrous moment. That God would focus down to specificity. The angelic chorus’ conductor lost control of the heavenly host. They just cut loose. “Glory…”
That’s what this moment is for me. It demands its own space and time. It wedges past all of the issues and agendas of our present tense. Issues that haunt our dreams when we can get to sleep. Agendas that crowd out any hope of contemplation or moments of peace and gratitude. It is a great light, blazing in a singular domination of all the dense darkness that hems and hedges our reality. There are no ‘buts’ or ‘not right now’s’ that have any hope of standing in its way. It smashes past our reservations, shouldn’ts, and ‘Oh, I can’t do that’s’. It demands that we leave behind our sophistication and slide down the slippery slope of childish foolishness and sentimentality. It’s a virus more powerful that any plague. “For unto us a child is born.” And any humbugs can go pound sand.
As we sit here in Advent, we can feel the seismic nature of this event. Advent is so hard, partly because it demands that we look at ourselves and into the small and ugly parts of our living. But it also demands that we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, soon.” And if we do that, we have unleashed the magic that is coming, that will be, that has already come. When I hear Bruce Springsteen sing “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, my rejection of its inappropriate theology seems less important than its affirmation that the spirit of Christmas is coming to town and now is the time to dance. Perhaps we can let that joy be a contrast to our small and stingy nature, we can let it be a motivator to remove the blockages in our attitudes and behaviors so that the Spirit can open us to the coming of our Lord. I doubt Bruce knew his song would mean so much to so many.
But there it is, images and traditions that make of this moment timeless, personal, and shared by so many. We are called. We are ordered. Our presence is demanded. On any level we can imagine, we are called to affirm that this is God’s doing. It was then, it is now, and it will be until there is no time. It belongs to children, to adults, and to any who should really know better. It is ancient and it is classical, and it is rock and roll.
For unto us a child is born… The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Merry Christmas!
* * *
Smile
by C. David McKirachan
Psalm 96
I had started at the new church in September. They say, ‘For the first six months, don’t do anything but smile.’ Oh well.
Worship and worship design are big deals for me. I tend to go for drama centering around the life of Christ. So, I asked the administrative assistant to dig up bulletins for Communion, Christ the King, Advent, Christmas Eve, Epiphany, The Baptism of our Lord, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. That’s when the trouble began.
American Protestants have gotten sanded down by the abrasive of our working culture. Sameness, routine, and convenience are the rules. The book says, ‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.’ ‘Other’. Keep it different. Let these moments in the life of Christ stand out, bumps in the road. Yeah, but, ‘We never did it that way before’ and ‘We always did it that way before.’ Either of these lovely phrases are the seven last words of a dying institution. In other words, so much for leaving everything the same. A lot of churches tend to stick to teaching folk to cope, be nice, and say their prayers. Besides, who has the time and the energy for ‘other’.
Our church mothers and fathers used the drama and thus the liturgy of worship to teach their folks about the life of Christ. To proclaim the good news. Yeah, but that was when the people couldn’t read. Tell me this, how many people know the Bible in these days of The Grinch, Charlie Brown, and sale! sale! sale!?
My study of the bulletins revealed, Christ the King hadn’t been mentioned, Advent was a long-term Christmas, & etc.… It was time to pull on our big boy pants and start changing a few things.
The biggest issue of contention I remember was Christmas Eve candlelight service. Until the minister from hell (that is yours truly) showed up it had been peaceful: music, scripture, music, and the atmosphere of peace, peace, peace overlaying “Silent Night.” Then they left. “After the congregation woke up!” (That comment I kept to myself.)
Now, peace is a wonderful part of Christmas. It’s part of what we need to experience. It is ‘other’ in our world of rush and wrap and entertain. It needs to be a part of Christmas. Yup. But what brings us peace? What offers us peace? What are we celebrating? Why are we sitting, standing, singing here in the middle of the night on this day?
I’m not known for my Episcopalian leanings. They’ve got nice robes. They have some cool liturgies. But… Anyway, every year we try hard to listen to the lessons and carols service from King’s College. If you’ve never, it’s worth the pause in the insanity. At its end, it tells in song how the shepherds heard the announcement of what God was doing. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory… ”
Our service ended around midnight. So, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!,” was followed by an intrusion into the calm and silent night. We’d ring the church bell. A lot. Hark! But it’s midnight. It’s the time when people are getting their rest. Well…..
“The heavens proclaim God righteousness.”
“And suddenly there was with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, saying ‘Glory to God in the highest!’
I think the heavenly plan was to announce the event and send the shepherds on their errand. But the host was watching and got so excited they blew the doors off the plan, sky dived with joy, and stopped following the agenda. ‘Glory to the newborn king.’
“The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice.”
We rejoice because of what God is doing, just like the shepherds did. I told the organist to blow out the windows. God bless him, he did. I think it sprained the organ. So much for, ‘We never did it that way before.’ There are times when we need to be in harmony with the glory. It doesn’t make everything better. It doesn’t solve any of the crushing problems of the world. But it proclaims that God is alive and well among us.
Hey, it’s Christmas.
God bless us everyone.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 25, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“Rock and Roll” by C. David McKirachan
“Smile” by C. David McKirachan
Rock and Roll
by C. David McKirachan
Isaiah 9:2-7
Every time I hear this scripture, it raises the hair on my arms. Christmas is upon us. Part of it is having sung it in Handel’s Messiah, but the words and the occasion have their own meanings for me and I’m sure for many of us. So, it’s hard to peel this away from its own power. It stands by itself.
There is a huge Tibetan prayer bell, at the top of one of the Himalayan peaks, in an ancient shelter. It is rung by pulling back a log attached to the ceiling with thick ropes. When the single monk who tends it feels the moment appropriate, he draws back the log and lets it go, filling the valleys all around the peak with the low tolling of the massive bell. Such is this scripture for me.
It is interesting the way the prophet speaks in the past, the present, and the future about this stupendous moment. Perhaps this informs us of the timeless nature of this moment. Perhaps it reminds us of God’s perspective, of the timeless nature of God’s being, the mystery of that eternal nature intruding and intersecting with our perspective and our limited understanding. It has already happened, it is happening, and it will come to be all at the same time. All intersecting in this child.
When I think of the angels informing the shepherds of the birth, it seems they do a fairly good job of translating this eternal event to non-eternal humans, to a point. But they can only control their joy for a while. I think the heavenly host finally exploded in joy and praise. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth…” You know how it goes. Perhaps we have it incised into our consciousness because it is such a strange and wondrous moment. That God would focus down to specificity. The angelic chorus’ conductor lost control of the heavenly host. They just cut loose. “Glory…”
That’s what this moment is for me. It demands its own space and time. It wedges past all of the issues and agendas of our present tense. Issues that haunt our dreams when we can get to sleep. Agendas that crowd out any hope of contemplation or moments of peace and gratitude. It is a great light, blazing in a singular domination of all the dense darkness that hems and hedges our reality. There are no ‘buts’ or ‘not right now’s’ that have any hope of standing in its way. It smashes past our reservations, shouldn’ts, and ‘Oh, I can’t do that’s’. It demands that we leave behind our sophistication and slide down the slippery slope of childish foolishness and sentimentality. It’s a virus more powerful that any plague. “For unto us a child is born.” And any humbugs can go pound sand.
As we sit here in Advent, we can feel the seismic nature of this event. Advent is so hard, partly because it demands that we look at ourselves and into the small and ugly parts of our living. But it also demands that we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, soon.” And if we do that, we have unleashed the magic that is coming, that will be, that has already come. When I hear Bruce Springsteen sing “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, my rejection of its inappropriate theology seems less important than its affirmation that the spirit of Christmas is coming to town and now is the time to dance. Perhaps we can let that joy be a contrast to our small and stingy nature, we can let it be a motivator to remove the blockages in our attitudes and behaviors so that the Spirit can open us to the coming of our Lord. I doubt Bruce knew his song would mean so much to so many.
But there it is, images and traditions that make of this moment timeless, personal, and shared by so many. We are called. We are ordered. Our presence is demanded. On any level we can imagine, we are called to affirm that this is God’s doing. It was then, it is now, and it will be until there is no time. It belongs to children, to adults, and to any who should really know better. It is ancient and it is classical, and it is rock and roll.
For unto us a child is born… The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Merry Christmas!
* * *
Smile
by C. David McKirachan
Psalm 96
I had started at the new church in September. They say, ‘For the first six months, don’t do anything but smile.’ Oh well.
Worship and worship design are big deals for me. I tend to go for drama centering around the life of Christ. So, I asked the administrative assistant to dig up bulletins for Communion, Christ the King, Advent, Christmas Eve, Epiphany, The Baptism of our Lord, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. That’s when the trouble began.
American Protestants have gotten sanded down by the abrasive of our working culture. Sameness, routine, and convenience are the rules. The book says, ‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.’ ‘Other’. Keep it different. Let these moments in the life of Christ stand out, bumps in the road. Yeah, but, ‘We never did it that way before’ and ‘We always did it that way before.’ Either of these lovely phrases are the seven last words of a dying institution. In other words, so much for leaving everything the same. A lot of churches tend to stick to teaching folk to cope, be nice, and say their prayers. Besides, who has the time and the energy for ‘other’.
Our church mothers and fathers used the drama and thus the liturgy of worship to teach their folks about the life of Christ. To proclaim the good news. Yeah, but that was when the people couldn’t read. Tell me this, how many people know the Bible in these days of The Grinch, Charlie Brown, and sale! sale! sale!?
My study of the bulletins revealed, Christ the King hadn’t been mentioned, Advent was a long-term Christmas, & etc.… It was time to pull on our big boy pants and start changing a few things.
The biggest issue of contention I remember was Christmas Eve candlelight service. Until the minister from hell (that is yours truly) showed up it had been peaceful: music, scripture, music, and the atmosphere of peace, peace, peace overlaying “Silent Night.” Then they left. “After the congregation woke up!” (That comment I kept to myself.)
Now, peace is a wonderful part of Christmas. It’s part of what we need to experience. It is ‘other’ in our world of rush and wrap and entertain. It needs to be a part of Christmas. Yup. But what brings us peace? What offers us peace? What are we celebrating? Why are we sitting, standing, singing here in the middle of the night on this day?
I’m not known for my Episcopalian leanings. They’ve got nice robes. They have some cool liturgies. But… Anyway, every year we try hard to listen to the lessons and carols service from King’s College. If you’ve never, it’s worth the pause in the insanity. At its end, it tells in song how the shepherds heard the announcement of what God was doing. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory… ”
Our service ended around midnight. So, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!,” was followed by an intrusion into the calm and silent night. We’d ring the church bell. A lot. Hark! But it’s midnight. It’s the time when people are getting their rest. Well…..
“The heavens proclaim God righteousness.”
“And suddenly there was with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, saying ‘Glory to God in the highest!’
I think the heavenly plan was to announce the event and send the shepherds on their errand. But the host was watching and got so excited they blew the doors off the plan, sky dived with joy, and stopped following the agenda. ‘Glory to the newborn king.’
“The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice.”
We rejoice because of what God is doing, just like the shepherds did. I told the organist to blow out the windows. God bless him, he did. I think it sprained the organ. So much for, ‘We never did it that way before.’ There are times when we need to be in harmony with the glory. It doesn’t make everything better. It doesn’t solve any of the crushing problems of the world. But it proclaims that God is alive and well among us.
Hey, it’s Christmas.
God bless us everyone.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 25, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
