ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
December 23, 2021
One of the great characters of old TV was Barney Fife. Just recently I was watching an old episode of the Andy Griffith Show. In it, Barney was the only tenor in the choir, and by default, he was given the tenor solo. Barney’s ego was pretty puffed up, especially because of the encouragement from his voice teacher, Miss Poulitice. The choir director was looking for anyone else who might be able to sing the tenor part as Barney was not a real solo voice. They are actually singing part of the traditional song Santa Lucia (I learned it in Swedish as I prepared to go to college in Sweden, though I didn’t even sound half as good as Barney). I was two minutes into the show, and even before we got to the conflict in the specific episode, I could tell you how it was going to play itself out. Even feeling confident I knew the outcome, I watched the entire show with a sense of anticipation. And yes, it pretty much concluded as I thought it would. Well in just a few days, we will once again tell the story of Jesus’ birth. There might be someone at a Christmas Eve Service who has never heard the story, and that would be awesome! But for most all of us, the story will be well known. There won’t be an unexpected twist. Yet, at least for me, I enter the Christmas Eve experience with a spirit of excitement, even a hint of giddiness… as if to be shocked by the Angel’s announcement. We should never say, “I already know the story. No reason to retell it.” Actually, in our retelling we are invited into the story in a new way. Who knows, we actually might be surprised by something we had never before seen.
No matter how well I know your story, O Amazing God, lead me into the story with fresh eyes and an open mind. If you can, surprise me this year as your love enfleshed speaks to me in a way I never previously imagined. Amen.
