So many of the people I know are breathing a sigh of relief now that Christmas is over. Decorate the house, trim the tree, send the cards, shop, wrap, bake, party, assemble toys, and be pressured to be jolly all the while; it just seems overwhelming at times! My good friend Monica used a phrase that struck a chord in my heart when she was describing how we should celebrate the birth of our Savior: “Christmas more than chaos.”Is it just me, or does it seem the season of Christmas really has become increasingly more chaotic? I remember when people complained that Christmas decorations went up at the stores the day after Thanksgiving. This year, the decorations went up the day after Halloween. How scary is that?!?
Did you see the Christian groups that mounted protests and boycotts over merchants that did not mention Christmas in their advertising? I wonder… how, exactly, do ads for tight jeans help us celebrate the birth of the Christ Child? Why protest that some store’s ads say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas?” Apparently, some Christians feel that we should bully everybody to acknowledge Christmas. Does that seem like Christmas, or chaos to you?
Amazingly, churches add their own chaos to Christmas, as well. We have extra services on Christmas (eve or day… take your pick, depending on your religious tradition). All those extra services need pastors, musicians, choirs, greeters, ushers, and all the normal support of a Sunday service… but crammed together and overlapping, so everybody can have a convenient choice of a service. You don’t know chaos until you’ve tried to sort out a church parking lot at night… when one service is running very late, and people are arriving for the next service. There’s not a lot of peace on earth, or good will toward men in the chaos of such a situation.
Oh, I saw plenty of chaos this season, but I saw Christmas, too:
On Christmas Eve, I worked out in the street and parking lots for 4 of our 6 Christmas Eve services. It was a bitter cold night for Southern California, with temperatures dipping down into the high thirties (LOL), and between stints directing traffic, I took refuge in the Joy Center to warm up a bit. Actually, I wasn’t all that cold. I had dressed in layers, and was wearing a festive Santa hat that kept my head quite toasty. Truth be told, I was in the Joy Center because it was filled with cookies, fudge, hot cider, hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and the most marvelous berry water you can imagine. Between services, it was full of families; sampling the cookies, having a warm drink of cider or cocoa, or just visiting for a few minutes before heading back out into the night. But… it was also empty during the Christmas Eve services, so those of us who were serving in one capacity or another could sit down, rest, and (perhaps) enjoy a cookie or two.
The 9:30 pm service had been going on for about 15 minutes, and I just come in from the parking lot and was anxious to sit down and rest my ankles and knees for a bit before the final transition of the night. I was looking over the cookies to see if any more of the scrumptious fudge had miraculously reappeared, when I heard crying. It was coming from outside, between the Joy Center and the Worship Center. Since I hadn’t plopped myself down yet, I stepped outside to investigate. What I saw, was a little girl and her mother. The girl was crying, and her mother had brought her out of the service so her crying would not disturb the people, or the service.
As I walked up to them I boomed out, in my most jolly voice: “Ho, ho, ho… who’s crying on Christmas Eve?” Now, except for the general physique, I don’t look much like Santa Claus (ho, ho, ho), so perhaps it was the hat, or maybe just the big figure looming out of the darkness; whatever it was, she stopped crying instantly. I bent down, and asked the little girl if she’d like to come into the Joy Center and have a cookie. She nodded, and I led mother and daughter inside where it was warm and inviting. We examined all the cookies, and I shared my thoughts about which cookies were the yummiest. Being 3 years old, the little girl wanted to try all of the cookies, but mom negotiated a more reasonable number. They ended up spending the whole of their time being warm and comfortable, sharing cookies with each other, trying a few of the available drinks, and laughing and giggling together.
As I prepared to return to the parking lot, the mother came over to me to thank me for giving them such a wonderful Christmas Eve. I felt like a shepherd. The gift wasn’t from me, I hadn’t prepared any of the goodies in the Joy Center, and everybody was invited to come, anyway. I felt like a shepherd, because all I had done was go out and tell someone: “Come, see this wonderful thing.” For a few minutes, there was less chaos, and more Christmas.
Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? God has already prepared the gift. All are invited to enter in. The angels told the shepherds to spread the good news. Jesus has commanded us to share the good news with everybody. It doesn’t take any special training, since shepherds were obviously up to the task. How hard is it to say to someone: “Come, see this wonderful thing.”? I invite you to keep Christmas in your heart, and all year long to be a shepherd and choose… Christmas more than chaos!
Your brother in Christ,
Dave
Yay for you for showing grace to the young child. I remember Marie as a toddler was *soooo* tired she was in total meltdown on Christmas, but some of the family just *had* to get a photo of Marie with the special gift from them... wail. Thinking of themselves instead of those with needs in front of them.
ReplyDeleteFor some the chaos is in the hullaballoo surrounding all the busyness to get the church stuff done. Diehl's mother was a church organist, and at that time First Lutheran had four Christmas eve services, many of the choirs and all of the staff doing more than one. Anyone old enough to answer the phone on that day answered "First Lutheran Church, 5,7,9,and 11." That was the chaos for Diehl's family. Although he loved to worship his Lord, too often the *must-ness* of it all got to him.
On the other side, my family was nothing BUT chaos. So on Christmas Eve I had a respite; I had a responsibility so the folks would deliver me to the church while they shopped or finished up, and I would be in a place separated by the holiness of why we were celebrating. When we weren't Lutheran and there was no Christmas Eve service, I really desired to find one to attend, for peace in my soul. But Diehl saw that I wasn't completely prepared for the next day and if it wasn't a responsibility I could only go if I were pretty much done with everything else, so he could have peace.
The point of coming to worship isn't merely tradition; it isn't legalistic point-keeping; it isn't about making sure you did all that was expected of you (sometimes our expectations of ourselves are beyond what others expect, sometimes others put difficult expectations upon us). The point is finding our Lord. He came in love. How accessible so that the lowly shepherds could come.
So wherever the chaos in your life, look to Him who brings peace and grace.