December Update from Pastor Mark

I confess that the only radio station I listen to is NPR; on road trips I push seek/scan on the radio dial until I hear a familiar voice or program (it’s been 20 years, but I still miss Bob Edwards in the morning). Which means I do not know precisely when some local stations began playing Christmas music – the classic and the more contemporary holiday hits by Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Jose Feliciano, Brenda Lee, Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, and a certain Australian singer/songwriter by the name of Sia (you can google any number of “complete lists” of 75 holiday favorites!). Word is, some of these songs could be heard either just before or immediately after Halloween. You likely have your favorite holiday song on the radio, with which you sing or hum along. (You know you do!)

You likely also have favorite Christmas carols to sing in church. Such as? What memories of people and places do these songs of our faith hold for you? Which carols always bring a smile to your face? Or a tear to your eye? We’ll join our voices in celebration and sing many of these during the upcoming Christmas season (December 24 – January 6). This year, in addition to learning a new song for Advent (“More Than Words,” from Barn Geese Worship), we’ll have the opportunity to experience a new song at Christmas from our All Creation Sings worship resource: “In a Far-Off Place, Jesus Comes” (908). You can google this song, too, and hear it for yourself. Mary Louise Bringle wrote the words to accompany a new tune by Sally Ann Morris. It is quite lovely.

In stanza 1, we sing about how it was not among the powerful and prominent, nor in any capitol city; but in a small village in an insignificant part of the ancient world, in a stable, in a manger – it was there that Jesus was born. Not where anyone would expect this newborn king, this savior of the world, this Son of God to take on our flesh and come to dwell among us. Yet, in that “little town of Bethlehem,” Jesus comes. In the second stanza, we will sing that it is for the poor in heart, and to humble shepherds; to a young unmarried mother and as a homeless child, that Jesus comes. Who could imagine that? The Son of God comes for the most vulnerable and marginalized among us, who have no standing in the world. And finally, in stanza 3, we claim the gift of Christmas as our own, singing “in our darkest night Jesus comes to earth.” We sing not just in the early darkness of the winter solstice (the longest night), but in the darkness of a nation divided; a world where countries rage against another, at war and in conflict; of our stressed and splintered families; our bodies wracked with pain and disease; and of our hearts broken with loss – a chair or two around the table will sit empty for the first time this Christmas. This is the Good News of Christmas: Into the darkness, Jesus comes. Jesus comes into a world that needs him still. Jesus comes to you and to me in our deepest need.

Hear the familiar proclamation of the angel to the shepherds: “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord.” In that far-off place, to all the poor in heart, in your deepest night: Jesus comes!

Won’t you journey with the shepherds to find for yourself, once more, the “newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger?” And this year, won’t you invite a friend or neighbor to worship with you on Christmas Eve so that they, too, might hear the Christmas Gospel of the Savior’s birth? Our traditional Christmas Eve Festival Worship for all ages is at 4:00pm – there will be a special Christmas pageant at this service. At 6:00pm, we are trying something a little different, though it will be familiar to many. This later worship service will be more contemplative in spirit; we will gather around Holden Evening Prayer and a mix of meditative songs and favorite Christmas carols, with a time for Prayer around the Cross and candle lighting. Both worship services on Christmas Eve will be celebrations of Holy Communion. All are welcome at the table where Christ is the host.

In unexpected places, to those with deepest need, into our own darkness: Jesus comes.

Blessings on your Advent journey, and may Peace be yours at Christmas.

+ Pastor Mark 

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