Dramatic Reading of Creator Sophia/Logos

This is a liturgical reading that my colleague the Rev. Sharon Benton and I did for Christmas 2A, when the gospel was John 1 and the OT and Apocrypha readings were a variety of Wisdom/Sophia texts.  This was inspired by a dramatic reading at the Reverend Mommy blog, which blended John 1 and Genesis 1, but we reworked it significantly to include the Sophia material.  I've been favorably impressed with the potential of a Sophia Christology for many years, even wrote a paper on it while in seminary (1989).  This reading juxtaposes much of the scriptural raw material, and I invite you to enjoy it as a narrative window into a much larger theological discussion.

A dramatic reading of Creation honoring Logos/Sophia/Christ

(Sharon): In the beginning God (beat)

(Mark): In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(Sharon):  Ages ago I, Sophia Wisdom, was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

Unison : In the beginning

(Sharon): (no pause) God created

Unison : the heavens and the earth.

(Mark):  Christ is the Sophia and power of God.

(Sharon):  Sophia is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty.

(Mark): Through the Word all things were made; without whom nothing was made that has been made.

(Sharon)  I, Sophia, came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist.  Alone I compassed the vault of heaven, and traversed the depths of the abyss.

(Mark): Now the earth was formless and empty,

(Sharon): When God established the heavens, I was there. When God drew a circle on the face of the deep, when God marked out the foundations of the earth, I was there.

(Mark): For in Christ all things in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, all things have been created through him and for him.

(Sharon):  Then was I beside God, like a master worker, daily God’s delight, rejoicing together always.

(Mark): Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was

(Unison): light.

(Mark): In him was life, and that life was the light (beat)

(Sharon): light

(Mark): of humanity.

(Sharon): God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the

(Unison): (staggered/irregular) darkness.

(Mark): The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

(Sharon):  Wisdom is radiant and unfading, she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her.

(Mark): God called the light "day," and the darkness God called “night.”

(Sharon):  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

(Unison):  And God saw that it was good.

(Mark): And a second day, making land and sea, was good.

(Sharon):  The third day, spreading forth vegetation, was good.

(Mark):  The fourth day, honoring the sun and moon as God’s creations, was good. 

(Sharon):  And the fifth day, teeming with fish, birds and animals, was good.

(Mark): Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness.”

(Sharon):  Sophia is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God and an image of God’s goodness.

(Mark):  Christ is the image of the invisible God

(Sharon):  In every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with Wisdom, yes, great Sophia.

(Mark):  So God created humans in God’s own image, in the image of God they were created; male and female they were created.

 (Sharon):  I rejoiced with God always, rejoicing in the inhabited world, and delighting in the human race.

(Mark): God saw all that had been made, and it was very good.

(Unison): Very good!

(Sharon):  Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and chose a tent for me:  “My Sophia,  make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.”  So I took root in an honored people, in the portion of the Lord, our heritage.

(Mark): The Word became flesh and made camp among us.

(Sharon):  And Mary brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

(Mark):  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and it divine and human favor.

(Sharon):  I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon, like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.  Like the vine I bud forth delight, and my blossoms become abundant and glorious fruit.

(Mark):  I am the true vine, and you are the branches. Those who abide in me bear much fruit.

(Sharon):  You, that are simple, turn in here!  Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mixed!

(Mark): This is my body… this is my blood.

(Sharon):  Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates.  For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord!

(Mark):  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(Sharon):  She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars.

(Mark):  No one has ever seen God.  It is God, the only begotten

(Sharon): Sophia, who is close to the Most High’s heart

(Mark):  The Word, who is close to the Father’s heart

(Sharon): Jesus Christ, who has made God known.

(Unison):  In the beginning.

(Texts from Gen. 1, Prov. 8, Wisdom of Solomon 7, Sirach 24, John 1, John 15 and I Cor. 1, Col. 1)