The Case of the Missing Sanctus Bells - A Sermon for Christmas Eve (Luke 2:1-20)
A great mystery has been unfolding here at Christ Church. It’s a bit of a whodunnit. In order to bring you in on what’s been going on, I have to give you some background information first. You need to know that historically, Christ Church has been what we call “low church” - meaning there was a deeply Protestant aversion to anything too fussy or ornate in the liturgy. When I first came, someone described that history here as not just low, but “snake belly low.” Over the years, Christ Church has moved a little bit higher in worship style, albeit very slowly and not without controversy. When the beautiful brass candle holders were first introduced on the altar, for example, the church nearly split in half. Whatever flourishes we have in our worship today, that low church streak still runs strong through this place, which brings us to the mystery at hand.
Several years ago, a member of the altar guild noticed that the sanctus bells were missing. Perhaps a little background information on those is in order, too. In higher church settings, special hand held sets of bells are rung at various moments during the Eucharistic prayer. They create a joyful noise to give thanks for the miracle taking place at the altar as the bread and wine are consecrated into holy elements. They are often rung during the Sanctus hymn, the “Holy, Holy, Holy” song we sing, thus the name sanctus bells. They were also used to alert the faithful that something important was happening, which was particularly useful when services were in Latin and people didn’t speak Latin. Sanctus bells are used in many Episcopal churches to this day, but not Christ Church. I think there have been a few rectors over the years who used them, but mostly the bells have sat in the very back of a high shelf in the sacristy, collecting dust.
Until they went missing, that is. It happened maybe twenty years ago when our bishop Larry was the rector. Given his low church leanings, many of us assumed that he put them somewhere for safe keeping, which is a nice way of saying somewhere that no one would be able to find them. A few weeks ago, we had a celebration in honor of Larry’s retirement. I called him out about the missing bells in the sermon, adding of course, that I couldn’t prove that he was the one who hid them. Two weeks later, the bells mysteriously returned to their spot on the top shelf. I’ve set them up here so you can see the proof. To date, no one has confessed. Several people heard that sermon, so the list of suspects has grown quite a bit. Including a long-time employee with an equally strong Protestant streak whose friend on the altar guild could have been an accomplice. We may never solve the mystery of the reappearing sanctus bells, but these events are a fitting way into the Christmas story tonight.
A classic whodunnit is good background information for why we need Christmas in the first place. Let’s say someone did steal or hide the bells. At best it was mischief, and at worst, out right thievery. Let’s call that a window into the human condition. Humans are known for misdeeds and going in the wrong direction. The classical word for this is sin, which points to our need for a savior, the arrival of whom we celebrate tonight. Or let’s say that the people who searched the sacristy over the years simply overlooked the bells year after year. Mistakes and forgetfulness are also part of the human condition, especially when we forget just how connected to God we really are. To overcome this forgetfulness, Christmas arrives each year like a ringing bell, reminding us that God is with us, Emmanuel.
Every Christmas, next to the arrival of the infant Jesus, the angels always capture my attention the most in Luke’s gospel. Luke was using important background information in his description of them, namely a passage from the sixth chapter of Isaiah. The prophet had a vision, in which he saw “the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him… And one called to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The voices of the angels shook the place, and the house filled with smoke. There is nothing meek nor mild when angels show up. And the song they sang is what we have come to call the Sanctus hymn, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” the same song that sanctus bells here on earth ring along to.
When an angel appeared to the unsuspecting shepherds on the first Christmas night, followed by the glory of the Lord and then the whole heavenly host, a bit of that thundering splendor broke into our ordinary world. The angel came with a message so powerful that it could reach into every complication of the human condition and into every corner of the human heart. “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” For all of our misdeeds and mistakes and forgetfulness of God, the glad tidings have come to us once again.
My friends, all the bells in heaven are ringing tonight, loud and clear. I think it’s safe to say that the angels are pretty high church. Maybe they had something to do with our sanctus bells reappearing just in time for Christmas, so we can join in their joyful noise. On this holy night, the angels are rejoicing once again at God’s magnificent plan to come to us as one of us, as Emmanuel, in order to draw us back to God.
Such tidings can be difficult for us mortals to take in. And given our penchant for wandering far from God and one another at times, it can be hard to believe that this good news really is for us. But whatever worries or rebuttals we might be tempted to offer, they are no match for the the good news that is ringing loud and clear tonight. “For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”