‘Best Christmas Pageant Ever’
characters teach us lots

Reflections on the church

Do you know the Herdmans? They are a wild and unruly set of kids from an underprivileged family who crashed the rehearsals of the local church Christmas pageant, showing up and taking over mostly because they heard there were refreshments for the participants.
The Herdmans are characters in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and I think they have a lot to teach church folks.
We who know the Christmas story by heart take it so for granted that we may be the ones, rather than those who hear it for this first time, who actually miss its deeper truths and the sense of wonder it produces.
There are many surprises, pleasant and unpleasant, that are part of the process of rehearsing and performing this old, old story with the unchurched Herdman bullies in the most important parts.
For instance, when the three Herd-man boys playing the kings finally get what it means to bring gifts to the Christ child, they come down the aisle bearing their welfare ham to present to the baby in the manger. To their way of thinking, this baby will have a lot more use for the ham they offer than all that other silly stuff the Bible says the kings brought to him.
Of course, their gift was true sacrifice, bringing home to the congregation the meaning of bearing such gifts to Christ in a new and powerful way.
Years ago, plans were being made at the church I served for the usual unrehearsed Christmas pageant to be produced. Children were told to come to the service dressed as any of the animal or human characters in the typical nativity story. As readers announced parts of the story, all the sheep and the shepherds, all the Marys and Josephs, came down the aisle and took their places as directed in the chancel area.
It was a little chaotic, but everyone had fun under no pressure to perform, and it was pretty much the same each year.
But one year, we had a surprise. A young mother called the church to ask if her son could be the star. He was about 3 years old, and when his parents described what would happen at the service they would attend, he made it clear that he wanted to be the star that guided the kings.
No one had ever been the star before. As a matter of fact, the star was never even represented in the nativity scene. We were more than happy to have a star, which this child carried on a stick held high in the air as he processed down the aisle ahead of all those children dressed like kings. The star took center stage in more ways than one.
This child reminded us of our complacency about the story we’ve read, heard and acted out for years. We hadn’t even noticed that the star that shone so brightly over the manger that it could guide these travelers from the East to the Christ child was missing.
You and I must be the star this Christmas, the star that shines so brightly that we guide visitors, maybe even those who are hearing the story for the first time, to the Christ child. We could be the star all year long, bringing others to Christ.
Dear ones, if you shine brightly in this season and bring just one to Christ, then maybe you will shout with joy the proclamation that Gladys Herdman, the angel announcing the miracle birth, makes from the depths of her soul: “Shazam!”
“Glory to God in the highest!” would be fine, too.