Twelve Days of Christmas

Last night the elementary age children of the church performed the Christmas pageant. It is a simple telling of the Christmas story without many frills. There are costumes and a few simple props. There are preschool sheep and first and second grade shepherds. This year all of the girls wanted to be angels and so they were, resulting in a true multitude of heavenly hosts. We had three prophets, three innkeepers, and three wise men who arrived perfectly on cue. Mary had a real baby to hold and Joseph was at her side just observing all the fuss.

Like many things about Christmas, a simple pageant is never simple. There were parents and teenagers crouching behind the organ, in the choir loft, behind the entrances and just beyond the piano to help with wings and calm nervous performers, to help with lines and to gently encourage little ones to go out front and smile. This years' influx of angels required the last minute sewing of ten angel costumes. The halos from years past kept breaking so an alternative had to be found. An innkeeper insisted at rehearsal that he would need to hold the mic like Elvis. Ceasar August wouldn't wear his crown because it looked like a girl crown to him. Mary's sudden onset of a cold required a heavy dose of over the counter medication. One wiseman had the flu so a townsperson, after delivering his line, slipped out the back and around the side, changed into a fancy cape and hat and was transformed into the third wiseman, without ever rehearsing it. A simple telling of the Christmas story, but not a simple few day, few hours in the approach to it.

In this general state of loosely controlled chaos, it is easy to forget the point. The point is not to have the best show ever. I'll leave that to Broadway and Hollywood. The point is to teach the children, through active participation, the story of Christ's birth. Each year one shepherd responds to the line,"What can we bring him?" with the line ,"Brothers we can give him our faith." Each year as I hear a little child's voice say that line, I am reminded that faith in Christ is the point. Despite all of the distractions and chores that lead up to Christmas, the point is not the accomplishment of that work, but faith in Christ.

As the evening of the 25th is now coming to a close and the pageant has been performed, the gifts unwrapped, the beef roasted, carved and eaten with family and friends and it seems as if Christmas is coming to an end, the Christmas season has just begun. Luckily for us Christmas is not over on the 25th of December, but it begins that day. When the maelstrom of shopping and cooking and gatherings subsides the church season is beginning. While the rest of the world is moving on we still have eleven more days to remember and reflect on Christmas. We can take this time to remember that faith in Christ is the point and rest in the peace we find in Christ's love for us.


Merry Christmas,
Michelle

Advent - From Darkness to Light

Advent is a season of moving slowly from darkness into light. Each week a new candle on the Advent wreath is lit and a bit more light is shed. If the church were dark and the Advent wreath the only light, the effect would be that, week by week, we would see more and more of the church. The darkness would recede in stages to reveal the church as it is, for better or for worse.

It is an apt metaphor for the Christian walk. Slowly, in a process that can not be rushed, the nature of Christ is revealed throughout our lives. As we embrace the love of Christ more and more we see who we are, for better and for worse.

It is also a metaphor for church life. The longer you stay, the more you see of a church, for better or for worse. The church is made up of fallible people. People can create knots of contention and throw well aimed spears of rancor, but, likewise, people can create a nest of comfort for the wounded and protection to the weak in spirit. Amazingly, we can do it all at the same time. Our hope and prayer is that the better parts increase and the worse parts decrease.

Just as the light of Christ shines brighter and brighter as time moves forward in each individual life, so then the light of Christ will shine brighter in the aggregate of Christians that is the church. It is not magic. It may be mystical. It is definitely work. We each do not become a beacon of light by wishful thinking, though certainly thinking on those things which are good and holy is extolled in scripture. We do not incrementally increase the light of Christ in the world by being the best read or studying the most though those things add to the conviction and assurance of the the correct path. We increase the light of Christ through our actions and our words. We can pray for forgiveness. We must also forgive. We can seek to see Christ more clearly and in so doing we may be shown the weakest and least desirable in society.

The children of the church are not any more or less a part of this process. Children need to be included in the process. We need to take their hands and lead them through the ups and downs of the church and the Christian life. They need our guidance and honesty. Share the truth of Christ's enduring and patient love with your children. Acknowledge errors and hypocrisy and act to correct them so that our children will be the next step in creating a church full of light. Humility is instrumental in the movement from dark to light. The church is not perfect as no place made up of humans is perfect. The life of a church is a path, often a winding one. The life of a Christian is a path, often a winding one. While it might start with the sudden and abrupt recognition of the light, with patience and humility and steadfastness the light will increase. This advent season let us look for the next candle to shine on our path for us and for our children.

Enjoy this season of moving from the dark into the light,

Michelle