Tag Archives: christmas eve

December 24, 2011 · 8:36 pm

Christmas Eve in Krum

Christmas Eve worship ended a little while ago for us at Krum First United Methodist Church.

The worship team had decided that it would be good to have a separate time of Holy Communion with the choir and tech people beforehand so they could lead with their voices and other necessary work during that time.  Rarely do I get to face them when giving the words of consecration. Tonight as I did so, love flowed through the choir room.  I find it great privilege to be in worship leadership with them.

They give so much, all volunteer hours, and to ask for their entire Christmas Eve seemed too much, so we decided to have just one service. We figured we could handle however many came. Many in the congregation were out of town, and we assumed it would balance out.

Fifteen minutes before the service began, nearly every seat was taken.  Extra chairs were grabbed from the storage room and filled every possible corner.

Fortunately, I had remembered to switch the thermostats from heating to air conditioning.  We soon needed it.

The service was simple, the theme “The Anointing,” the songs familiar. We didn’t even make hymnals available–all was intentionally well-known, and the words on the screen. The goal was comfort in that familiarity with the challenge to enter into actual worship of the God of all creation by those words and rhythms.

It was simply beautiful.  Exquisite in tone and pace, solemn where important and touchingly joyful at the end as we lifted our candles and saw how much the room lit up when we did.

We’re just a small church in a small town. I laughed as I hugged my Baptist friends at the end of the service–their church in Krum was not having a service, so once a year, I get the privilege of having them in worship with us. I wept when I wrapped my arms around the family that had seen such loss just two weeks ago when one my church members found that her son and mother were killed in a car wreck. I rejoiced to see some people I have not seen in a while–there are good reasons why they are not in worship more often and it was a delight to greet them and catch up a bit.

It was one of those days when I think that this size church (around 400 children and adults) is as good as it gets.  We can know each other, love each other, and not get lost in the crowd.  There’s always room for more, but in growth, we stay personal and connected in worship and service, in giving and mission.

I am in a state of gratefulness that almost transcends words.

Thank you, God.

 

 

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· 11:50 am

The “supposed to” of Christmas Eve

There was a steady stream of people in my office yesterday, just needing to talk.  Many of them were battling the “I’m supposed to feel . . . ” syndrome of Christmas Eve, that idea permeating the air that everyone is supposed to be happy, carefree and excitedly anticipating the morrow.

So not true.  So very, very not true.  More and more churches are holding “Blue Christmas” services to seek to honor that fact that not everyone is having a holly, jolly time.  While I understand the intent behind those types of worship experiences, I don’t want to hold one because I think sadness should be embraced during this time, not run from and the experience of it belongs in worship for all.

Honest sadness, held and loved, opens our soul to the power of the moment we celebrate tonight and tomorrow: that gift of God becoming human, to experience with us all the sorrows of life, to walk with us as we go through the valley of the shadow of death, to weep with us when we weep–and to laugh with us when we laugh.

The world around us devalues the power of sadness and sorrow, not understanding that such emotions often serve as the catalyst to profound change. Sadness becomes something to medicate away rather than a companion to teach and deepen us.

Listen to real Christmas music–the hymns that accompany the season, not the “Here comes Santa Claus” stuff that messes with our brain.  Those who wrote those hymns recognized the solemnity of the moment. Many are in minor keys, the musical acknowledgment that sorrow accompanies the entrance of the Savior.

The angels rightly say to the terrified shepherds, “Don’t be afraid.”  They don’t say, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Instead they are called from their extremely hard, lonely, hungry and dangerous lives to go and worship.

That they do.  And that we must also do.

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December 20, 2011 · 12:53 pm

Christmas Is About Worship

Before leaving for work, I was listening to a radio station that plays lovely, classical Christmas music. Several times during the broadcast, I heard commercials from large churches inviting all to come to their Christmas Eve worship services. These are services where concert-quality music in exquisite environments present the story of the birth of Jesus once again.

I started thinking about the nature of Christmas Eve worship in relation to church advertising and the push for high attendance. Pastors have been told by church marketing and church growth specialists that Christmas Eve and Easter are the times to rope ‘em in.

They suggest that we start a new sermon series on those occasions that will so entice the people there that they will decide to attend church every Sunday in that place. Simply, it’s the pastor’s job to motivate people to come to worship.

Can you tell by that last sentence that I’m a bit troubled by this? If the pastor becomes the prime motivator for the actions of others, then we have a set-up for devastating burnout. When motivation for worship stands on pastoral performance, all the pastor has to do is have an off Sunday, which most definitely happens, and all who depend on the pastor to get them going and into worship will have every excuse necessary to simply drift away.

Do I want to see full worship services? Sure. But why I want them is the real issue. Do I want them because it makes me feel good or successful? If so, that’s a real problem. Do I want them so my reports to my superiors look better? While those reports must be done, if they are the motivating factor then my character issues need to be addressed.

Do I want them because I know that without times of worship, we as human beings become entirely too centered upon ourselves? Yes, this is much closer to a holy ambition.

Worship is the one thing the church does that no other organization can do. The church can and does feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick and dying, provide places to form rich friendships, and teach our children. But organizations other than the church can do these things as well.

The primary task of the church is to provide a means for people to acknowledge that we ourselves are not God. Worship gives us the place and means to reconcile with God, to move into the mystery of awe and thankfulness, to be renewed in our understanding of God’s love for us, and to decide yet again that we will seek to live faithfully to offer that love to others.

This the church, and the church only, can do.

That is why we need to be in worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and regularly all year, not just to hear a performance or find some to motivate us to get going.

Many travel at Christmas. Go into a different church, worship in unfamiliar ways with unfamiliar people, hear the familiar story and be renewed in the telling of that story.

Go where there are perfect acoustics, comfortable seating and glorious sound systems, or go to a crumbling building, barely heated, with candlelight as a necessity rather than a planned part of worship.  Join with others in giving praise and thanksgiving.

Just go someplace.

Family time has great importance in this season, but when the excuse of skipping worship is family, then we have once again followed the pattern of breaking relationship with God. Family has become the object of worship.

Christmas is not primarily about family. Christmas is about the entrance into the world of the very presence of God to offer us something this world is in desperate need of: peace on earth, goodwill to all.

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