Sermon. Christmas Carols Service.

Sermon. Christmas Carols Service. St Mary’s, Little Ilford, 22 December 2019

In a few moments  - it’s fine if you may say it cannot come too soon - we will sing Away In a Manger.

Looking forward to it? [Positive response.]

Maybe it's not so straightforward.

·       For some, it may be the essence of Christmas,

·       for others it may be tired and old and due for retirement, or (more realistically) reserved for “Children’s Services”.

Truth to tell, controversies about carol-choices are themselves a Christmas tradition - in almost every church in the country.

I have only recently come to see just how controversial Away In A Manger is. It goes way beyond the question of whether it is one "for the children" or for absolutely everybody (and woe betide you, if you don't sway as you sing, and get a little moist around the eyes as you sway and sing)…

.

One historic controversy has been - hold on to your Christmas-craker crown - whether it was written by Martin Luther, founder of the Reformation. It turns out in not a few books of hymns/carols, it is called Luther's Manger Song or something similar.

This, though, is a controversy without any substance. There is not a shred of evidence that Luther wrote it. It is not his style. The earliest "sightings" of the carol are in late 19th century North America. And those surely are the time and place of its origins. The earliest known German versions are later, and they give all the appearance of being a translation from the English; the German does not flow.

So we'll deny Luther the privilege - or relieve him of the burden - of authorship, depending on how you see things.  

Away In A Manger is also disputed territory in that many if not most of the words have had alternatives in one version or another.

How about:

"the stars in the heavens"

"the poor baby wakes"?

Minor changes, maybe, but then there’s:

"watch o'er my bed while in slumber I lie"?

You can even face a fierce debate about which the correct tune is. Already in the “Good Book” [shows Oxford Carols for Choirs 1] there’s an alternative, one in the minor key, from Normandy [sings – choir spontaneously join in].

Once you've heard it – at least if you can wholly factor out my singing - it might be hard not to prefer it.

I've also heard our bishop, soon to be archbishop, preach against it. At Carols in Chelmsford prison last year, he opposed it. Now, I CAN'T DO BISHOP STEPHEN'S ACCENT, ESSEX OR OTHERWISE, BUT I DO KNOW THAT HIS PREACHING STYLE AND VOLUME, AT LEAST IN THAT PLACE, IS LIKE THIS.

So my erstwhile Catholic colleague and our friend, Sister P, said to me in jest (she loves to jest): “Do you know, I couldn’t hear a word your bishop said!” We call him the whispering bishop.

Regardless of style, his point was one you can also hear from Archbishop Rowan. He spoke on Christmas at St Paul's a few years ago. (It’s on YouTube.) He was asked which was his least favourite carol, and one contender was... Away In A Manger. He did add: "This is the sort of thing that will get me in the Daily Mail."

Both bishops (archbishops) were raising the same objection. It's about two lines. Maybe you can guess which…

"The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes."

Brothers and sisters, it just doesn't have the ring of truth about it, does it?

Parents, it just doesn’t have the ring of truth about it, does it?

Archbishop Rowan says [paraphrase]:

"You’ve been born only a few hours, you wake up, there are some rather huge animals making their noises round about you. I think you’d cry. If you don’t cry, I think that might count as the first miracle.”

And – Bishop Stephen was stronger on this - one thing we do know about Jesus (if the gospels are right) is that he did cry.

·       He cried over his friend Lazarus [John 11.35].

·       He cried on entering Jerusalem [Luke 19.41].

And, by the way, there is nothing unmanly about men crying in the Bible. Read (say) the book of Genesis again: the menfolk are often crying there - without shame.

So, it's not labouring the point to say that, if we are really utterly serious that Jesus was utterly human (utterly Gd but also utterly human) then the baby Jesus must have cried, at least at times and probably often. Why would we want to deny that? Why would we want to draw any attention away from that?

The little Lord Jesus, like all babies, much crying he made!

Now, fear not! I am not proposing that we regularly (week by week) change the words of our carols and hymns! But, if you wanted to sing: “The little Lord Jesus, much crying he makes”, I say: knock yourselves out!

I am not going to make a final judgement about whether Away In A Manger is Good Thing, or a thing best left unsung. But! But, if only in the interests of balance, I will finish by saying one thing in its favour.

I mean the last verse. Yes, it is right and proper that we understand the incarnation of the Son of Gd as a divine mystery, and proclaim it with all solemnity, especially as the Prologue of John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Gd...

But the message of the incarnation is also that Jesus comes to us as one of us, just like us, as a friend, as a playful, crying, laughing human being, to be with us, to be a child among children, children of whatever age – 1, 12, 120, 130, 140…

So let us pray:

Be near us Lord Jesus, we ask thee to stay

close by us for ever, and love us, we pray.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care

And fit us for heaven to, live with thee there.

Amen.