The Unholy of Christmas

Hello Emmanuel,

Thus begins a holy week… in an unholy church?

In a world where there is so much wrong, how can there be so much right?  The 53rd Hallmark Christmas movie was shown the other day (or approximately that many).  I didn’t watch them all (only about 1/3 of 1), but I didn’t see too much about Christmas.  I did see a lot of conflict and googly eyes and misunderstandings and flirting and ‘I thought we had something!!!’ … to … ‘oh… we do have something’ (and then more kissing).

I pick on these movies because it is a microcosm of a bigger picture.  There is so much wrong and yet so much right.  It’s confusing, which is why I usually walk into another room to read a book (that has conflict and misunderstandings, but no googly eyes or kissing… bluk).

This brings me to why I love the Church during such a holy week.  For one hour there is a bubble created around the worshipping community.  In this bubble we are invited to stop everything we are doing and focus on one event that affected the world for all-time.  We get to forget our mistakes and personality flaws.  We can forget who we don’t like and who we do like.  We get to forget about presents and traffic and lights that don’t work and whether it is too cold or too warm for December and movies that are sort of about Christmas, but not really.  Life gets to pause for about an hour so that we can focus on the one event that affected the world for all-time without the drama or flair or need for entertainment.  For about an hour, everything is about Christmas in its purest sense.

We get to focus on the Holy even as we live among the unholy.

We don’t have to pretend that we are better than we are (though sometimes thinking we need to becomes a great distraction).  We don’t have to smile (especially when the lights are turned down low to sing Silent Night).  We don’t have to feel guilty because we haven’t been in church for 8 months.  We don’t have to look down our noses because we’ve been in church the last 51 Sundays.

Why?  Because no matter who we think we are, all of us are just as unholy compared to the one event that affected the world for all-time.  And THAT is why I love the Church.  God’s love for us permeates any miniscule differences between each of our rights and wrongs.  The holiness of Christmas makes us all look bad and then turns around and says it okay.  The holiness of Christmas comes quietly in the night in a barn so that the coziness we feel in the sanctuary isn’t just for show, but has a legitimate place in our relationship with God.

I look forward to worshipping with you this week.  Why?  Because experiencing the Holy with all of us unholy people helps me experience again the redemptive power of an ever-loving God.  And it brings me joy.

I hope it brings you joy too. 

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Dec. 22^nd, 7:00 – Blue Christmas (for those feeling sad this season)

Dec. 24^th, 7:00 – Kid-Friendly Christmas Eve with candlelight

Dec. 24^th, 10:00 – Traditional Candle-light

Dec. 27^th, 9:00 and 10:30 – The First Sunday of Christmas

Jan. 3^rd, 9:00 and 10:30 – The Second Sunday of Christmas

'Tis the Season

Hello Emmanuel,

Welcome to the first edition of Monday Afternoon Pulpit…..

I find myself in a semi-state of nostalgia.  Hope is now a cheerleader.  She cheered for the Jr. High football team and is now cheering for the basketball team.  So now I have the privilege of going to games again for the purpose of cheering on the cheerleaders.  O Joy…

Our eldest child was a cheerleader.  Leah spent 6 years cheering.  I haven’t calculated the time or money spent in such the endeavor, nor will I.  I am about to repeat such the 6-year endeavor.  Thus, the nostalgia.

As the years pass me by, it is interesting to me what triggers my most intense memories.  School sporting events often take me back to my glory days (you know… how I got those scars on my knees playing baseball… or remembering that one coach who taught me invaluable life lessons).

The moments that trigger our deepest memories differ for each person.  For some it is the Christmas season that brings back floods of thoughts and feelings that we may have thought were gone forever.  Some memories are warm and fuzzy.  Other memories are sad or funny or joyful or embarrassing.

In any case, there is one event that I hope also triggers nostalgia for you and I pray it is a positive one:  worshipping on Christmas Eve and celebrating as a community the arrival of baby Jesus.  Granted, maybe some of you do not have a rich tradition of church on Christmas Eve, but I know that, for some of you, it is a climactic moment in an evening that is wrought with tradition.

Either way, I invite you to worship with us at Emmanuel through the Christmas season and let Jesus be the trigger that brings you feelings of hope and peace.

Dec. 20^th, 9:00 – Worship

Dec. 20^th, 10:30 – Worship with Children’s Program

Dec. 22^nd, 7:00 – Blue Christmas (for those feeling sad this season)

Dec. 24^th, 7:00 – Kid-Friendly Christmas Eve with candlelight

Dec. 25^th, 10:00 – Traditional Candle-light

Dec. 27^th, 9:00 and 10:30 – The First Sunday of Christmas

Jan. 3^rd, 9:00 and 10:30 – The Second Sunday of Christmas

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Parable of the Unobservant Husband

Hello Emmanuel,

The nativity scene didn’t get put up on time this year.  Kim was distraught… ok.. not distraught… but unhappy enough to mention it.  In our house, the nativity scene gets put up on our sofa table on the 1^st Sunday of Advent.  Even if there are no other decorations out of their boxes yet, the nativity scene is to be in its place.  This year the 1^st Sunday of Advent came and went and there was no nativity scene.  I would shame Kim to no end.  Except….

Yesterday I noticed the nativity scene was up.  Normally, when I notice something, I don’t speak up for fear of being made fun of because I am so unobservant at times.  But this time I threw caution to the wind.  ‘Oh,’ I said as I sat in the family room, ‘the nativity is up’.  Kim looked at me, rolled her eyes, thought a brief moment, then said, ‘You gotta be kidding me’.

This is a classic illustration of what can happen when you don’t notice Jesus when He is sitting in your own family room.  He had been there for days (not hours) and I was led to believe that I was an unobservant idiot.  While this is not altogether untrue, my feelings were a bit hurt and I quickly looked around the room to see if anything else had changed.  Nothing had (I don’t think).  Then again, not noticing Jesus when He is sitting in your own family room is a rather big deal… evidently.

So this MMP is a no-brainer.  Invite Jesus into your room.  And when He shows up, take time to notice Him.  It will lead to much healthier relationships…. With your spouse and with other people too.

May the presence of Jesus fill your December.  More importantly, may you take the time to pay attention enough to see Him when he is right in front of you.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe