Twelve Drummers Drumming: sermon 5 Jan 2025

 

Born and raised here, I’m a Panama City native, and growing up in the Florida sunshine is taking a toll on my face: frequent trips to the dermatologist, who is not done with me yet. Please ignore my face and listen up, because I have things to say that I hope you will enjoy. I'm more disorganized than usual, because the new microphone is hanging over my left ear, competing with my glasses, and the microphone tore out my left hearing aid, so I can only hear from the right side. I'm not rattled, but here we are, kindly bear with me!

Tomorrow is Epiphany, which, along with Easter, Christmas, and four other days, is one of seven principal celebrations of the church year. In the Western Church, historically centered in Rome, we celebrate The Epiphany as the Wise Men seeing a star, recognizing a king, bringing gifts. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Baptism of Christ is The Epiphany, the voice from heaven, “… my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

An epiphany is a manifestation, a revelation - - theologically, biblically, a showing forth, as in light come down from heaven, the Star of Bethlehem, the Voice at Jesus’ Baptism, the Voice and shining brightness at Jesus’ Transfiguration on the mountaintop: revelation and realization. There are many epiphanies in the Bible - -> 

Through the Epiphany Season, our Sunday lessons tell stories showing who Jesus is. Sometimes a story is difficult, or painful, and you need to pause and recognize the literary device that a gospel writer is using to get his Epiphany across. That's part of the intellectual fun of competent Bible study. Today is an example: it’s the Holy Family’s Flight to Egypt, and Matthew has three points, but unfortunately the lectionary framers cut out the middle part of Matthew's story, "The Slaughter of the Innocents," which is too bad because it's a key part of what Matthew does to help his audience see who Jesus is.

Next week when the bishop is here, it’ll be Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism, the voice from heaven, “You are my beloved son.”

In every writing, the author has agenda, reasons for writing; and in all four gospels the agenda is the epiphany that Jesus is Messiah, God's anointed; the Son of God, even God the Son. Christianity is a religion of stories, and these are our stories, my stories, your stories, they belong to us, they belong to me, they belong to you: they become your personal property at your baptism, gifted to you as part of who and what you are as a Christian. Come to church and enjoy the stories together through Epiphany Season - - which goes all the way through January and February until Lent begins Ash Wednesday, March the 5th, two months from today! Come enjoy the stories and sing the songs!

However (!), Epiphany is not until tomorrow, January 6th. Today is still Christmas Season, the Second Sunday. Today, January 5th, is the Twelfth Day of Christmas!

You may remember the song Father John Tober talked to the children about several Sundays ago:

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings - - -

Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree - -

where eccentric and forced Christian symbolism says the twelve drummers are the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed, our Baptismal Covenant - - someone really stretched imagination to come up with that - - all the way down to Jesus as the partridge in a pear tree. 

I learned a lot from John Tober, including that change does not have to be scary, change can be exciting, fun and good. I loved having John here as our Interim, and I personally appreciated him as a fellow military officer turned Episcopal priest! His sermons were bright and challenging - - and I’m still struggling, both with Jesus as a partridge, and with twelve drummers drumming as twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed, our Baptismal Covenant. 

We may like to think there's something cryptic and holy in the song’s history, but actually, the Church has usurped, taken over a secular, memory, rewards and penalties counting game song, maybe for children, maybe sung in taverns. I went to a Lutheran Theological Seminary, where the professors joked about Luther taking over lusty beer hall songs, Luther asking "Why should the devil have all the best tunes?" It's so with Twelve Days of Christmas, no matter how much you may want Jesus to be a partridge!

I‘ve known that song a long Time, first singing it in the bar at a December 1958 Christmas party with other Navy officers of the eight ships in our destroyer squadron, at Norfolk Naval Base Officer’s Club. Each wardroom had a verse to pop up and sing as we murdered the song verse by verse, over and over again. My ship's verse was to stand and sing raucously at the top of our voices, “FIVE GO-OLD RINGS.” With what Father Steve called Episcopal Beverages, it was a bunch of rowdy, drunken sailors, and Linda drove us home that night!

Eighty-nine now, I was twenty-three, a Navy ensign in love with my ship and the US Navy. My plan since I was ten years old had been to go to seminary and ordination after college graduation; and when I turned eighteen, the rector, vestry, and bishop endorsed me into the process; but at college I realized and decided I was too clumsy and shy to get in a pulpit and preach sermons. Instead of seminary, I went in the Navy and stayed twenty years, our last Navy tour being in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Linda and I were quite active in our Pennsylvania church. I was a reader, and a chalice bearer, and the rector actually had me preach now and then. I got into a study program at our bishop's diocesan school for lay ministry, but parishioners kept telling me I should go to seminary, and I began struggling again with the idea of ordination. Obviously, in the end I lost the struggle! 

After Navy retirement, though, I started my own business, not so much to pay the mortgage and put food on the table as so I could buy the cars I wanted. I love cars, and my business did fine, and we soon had two new Cadillacs, a red one for Linda, a black one for me that I was driving thirty-to-thirty-five thousand miles a year on business. But one morning the rector of our parish called me into his office and confronted me with the question, “How many Cadillacs are enough? How much longer are you gonna ignore God’s call on your life?!” I threw up my hands and said, “Oh What the Hell, I give up!” That fall, I started seminary at Gettysburg Lutheran, and here I am more than half my lifeTime later.

Most clergy have personal Call Stories, that’s a small part of mine.

But the Twelfth Day of Christmas and Twelve Drummers Drumming beliefs of the Apostles' Creed!

Here at Holy Nativity we’ve had a Time of exploration since Father Steve retired last May. Seven months to discover, with John Tober and others, that change, which at first seemed so scary, change is an adventure. Change is an adventure. 

Along with Mike Harding, who is helping me this morning, the Harding family, and Linda and I and our families have been members here since the doors opened in 1955, seventy years ago. Linda and I were married here, our children were baptized here, I officiated my parents’ funerals here. Every Time the rector retires or leaves for another church, there’s worry and tension about who the new rector will be. This Time, I'm not worried at all! My hopes and expectations are high, and I’m as excited as you are about the next chapter of our life as God’s people here together! I love Holy Nativity, and I hope you'll stay on with us for the new adventure. 

Anyway, back again to the 12th Day of Christmas and the Apostles’ Creed, our Baptismal Covenant. We’ll stand and say it together. And as we do, for an epiphany, maybe you’ll try to identify (and count) those twelve articles of belief!! If you succeed, tell me at the door as you leave, because I could not do it.

Page 304, the Red BCP in the pew rack in front of you, stand as you are comfortable. Page 304. And the prayers that follow.

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Sermon, homiletic endeavor by the Rev Tom Weller, retired Episcopal priest, in Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida on Sunday, 5 Jan 2025, Christmas 2C, the Twelfth Day of Christmas.