Epiphany
Isaiah 60: 1 - 6
Matthew 2: 1 - 12
Unusually this morning, we have sung “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. While we might consider it a Christmas Carol, and while it may have made its way into the pages of “Carols for Choirs” it is very difficult to justify as a carol that we might sing as part of morning worship. However this morning it is my gift to you,
a little bit of seasonal fun as we consider the gifts of the Magi to the Christ child.
As a youngster, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was an important part of Christmas tradition. During the five year period that we sang in the choir of a Church of England congregation, this “carol” or nonsense song was always part of the annual choir Christmas concert that took place on the Saturday evening before Christmas. During that concert we sang all of the music that we had been learning from October onwards for the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany season, some that would have been used during Sunday and Christmas worship, and some that was purely for the concert. It was also an opportunity to allow a little showing off amongst the young people, and those of us chosen to sing solos had an opportunity to show the full range that our voices could muster.
However, the Twelve Days of Christmas marked a moment in the concert when we were allowed to break free from our choir stalls, and sit in amongst the congregation. In the week prior to the concert we would have been told which of the twelve gifts we were to be, and in twos and threes we would have rehearsed our own section adding in our own finesse and fun. Some of it was about vocal finesse, while the other part was about imaginative fun. During the concert we made our away into the audience and were then there to encourage the small section of the audience roundabout us to sing our part along with us. Sometimes it was merely about getting them to stand up at the right time, while other times there was some fancy note work or some actions to encourage them in.
So for youngsters it was an opportunity to have fun with music. A carol never sung at any other time, as it seemed to have no real message or purpose within the Christian tradition.
Or does it?
As is often the case with nonsense songs, there is often a story that goes along with them that may dispel the thought that it is nonsense, or may further add to the belief that it is nonsense.
The story can be found in many places, and yet my version of it is found in “Uncle John’s Great Big Bathroom Reader”. It suggests that the song originates from the mid 16th Century, at a time when expressing your Catholic faith was difficult. The song was written and used as a way of expressing belief and teaching the catechism. And so each of the gifts speaks of a marvellous gift given by God.
Twelve drummers were the 12 points of faith in the Apostles’ Creed.
Eleven Pipers were the 11 faithful disciples.
Ten Lords were the 10 commandments.
Nine ladies were the professed gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Eight maids were the eight beatitudes.
Seven swans, the seven sacraments of the Roman Church.
Six geese represented the six days of creation.
Five gold rings reminded the believer of the first five books of the bible,
the Pentateuch.
Four calling birds were the four gospels and the four evangelists who wrote them.
Three French hens were faith, hope and charity or love.
Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
And finally a partridge in a pear tree spoke of Jesus Christ.
Investigating through books and the internet, there are a variety of sources that would agree with these thoughts on a seeming nonsense song. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes does not go as far as to suggest that it is a catechism song, but instead suggests that the 12 gifts may have significance as foods or sports for each of the months of the years.
Matching the positive thoughts on the song though, there are other views who see this thought of a catechism song as folklore or a modern urban myth. The debunkers of the myth look at the period into which the song is said to have been important as a catechism song, and point out that while there is truth in the persecution of the Catholic faith, there is little merit in the belief that this song highlight truths that were remarkably different from the Church that would emerge from the reign of Henry the VIII onwards. There would also seem to be little correlation between the differing gifts and the tenet of faith it represents, and so there are questions as to how each of the items would enable a child to remember.
Whether or not the song is a catechism song, or a forfeiture song – a song whereby people took their turn and wither sang the verse right, of paid a forfeit, it has an opportunity though to speak of the giving of God.
For in the multiplicity and extravagance of the gifts, we are asked to remember the overwhelming nature of God’s gifts given to us.
So from a song of gifting, we move to our Biblical gifts as we move towards the twelfth day of the Christmas period and journey to Epiphany. Our readings focus on Isaiah and Matthew, and Matthew itself draws on the book of Isaiah as an opportunity to demonstrate that Jesus was the fulfilment of ancient prophecy.
It is not new to say to this congregation that there is a possibility that the Nativity narratives found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke may not speak of historical events, but are instead stories that reveal the truth of who Jesus is in the world. And as we approach the house where Jesus is to be found with the magi
perhaps it is worth bearing that in mind. For the physicality of the gifts they offer may not be the important thing, but instead the truth that they unveil about Jesus is prime.
In the book “The First Christmas” by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, much time is spent examining closely what it is that each of the Nativities stories seeks to do if they are not history. Perhaps I should say
that by a good number of people Borg and Crossan are considered maverick in their thoughts, and yet I suspect that what they say perhaps fits comfortably with the views of people sitting in the pew.
There view of both Nativity stories is that they are both parabolic overtures to the story of Jesus. For the musicians and musical lovers that notion of an overture us perhaps important, for in an overture the style of music for a show or opera is set, and highlights of what is to come played out. In the gospels, Jesus speaks in parable of what the kingdom of heaven is like, and so in these birth stories that style is borrowed, and the highlights of what the purpose of Jesus’s life will be is played out in the telling of a story of the beginning. When we look at Luke’s narrative as an overture of the gospel then we discover three themes will be brought out in the story – an emphasis on women, the marginalised and the Holy Spirit. While Matthew’s Gospel offers the major theme of a basic parallel between Moses and Jesus. Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses.
This parabolic overture theme is of particular importance when it comes to this Sunday of Epiphany, of unveiling or revealing, for it reminds us that the gift we have been given is bigger than a human form, but instead an invasion of God into human existence to allow for an encounter of his love. The gifts themselves of gold, frankincense and myrrh are glorious gifts, but it is not the physicality of them that is most important,
but instead the story and myth around them that speak of who Jesus will be in human life.
So we recognise that the gold speaks of Christ’s kingship, and that frankincense will speak of his priestly role within the community of faith, while the myrrh, as an embalming oil, foretells of Jesus’s eventual death. We are more than happy to live with lovely gifts of gold and incenses, but do we want to live with a gift that speaks of death.
This notion of gifts saying more than the physicality of the gift is something that we live with today, although perhaps because we live with it we don’t always recognise it. We might “say it with flowers”, and we can say a variety of things from love to sorrow. Even birthday and Christmas gifts for the giver and receiver
often convey more than mere words can say. Although to suggest that a gift of bath things conveys anything g more than the receiver needs to relax, might be considered a little unkind.
But I want to wander back to the discomfort of the gift as I head to some kind of close this morning. If the myth behind the story of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” that it is a catechism song written that the faith might be passed down to those whose were being persecuted for what they believed is true, then while it is a wonderful truth it is also unpleasant as it reminds us of what we do to each other in faith. If the truth behind the nativity myths is that they reveal the purpose of God’s son from the beginning chapters, then that is uncomfortable for we are asked to encounter from the earliest words the reality that the son of God was not immediately recognised or universally accepted.
Yet the discomfort of a gift is a reality that as humanity we are asked to recognise in the story of Jesus. For life is full of uncomfortable gifts that we are asked to open and in our faith respond to. In amongst the lovely gifts of riches and sweet smelling existence, there are the tough times and choices, the living alongside poverty and ill health. These are gifts that cannot be ignored or set aside or left upwrapped. Instead from the opening overtures of the story of God’s interaction with humanity we meet that the gift is revealed when we respond to God’s love and play our part. The gift is revealed when the fullness of faith is played out in human existence.
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