Christmas Eve, 2009

I really didn't want to go to the Christmas Eve service this year. Not because I was feeling all "bah, humbug", but because leaving the house to go anywhere at 10:40 (and in pouring rain to boot) just doesn't have the appeal it used to. I marvel at young adults whose nights often begin at 10:40, and here I was wishing for a warm nightgown, my comfy bed and a good book. Well, I had agreed to read a motivational Christmas story, and couldn't just not show up.

I got to church and everyone was on typical Free Church time, which means only the folks leading the service were there setting up. The church was dimly lit and so quiet. It reminded me of our house, just moments before the kids burst through the door after school; unnaturally quiet and sort of anticipating. Well, before long, and very quickly, the church filled with people. I was pleased to see the good crowd. As I looked around I saw faces of people I hadn't seen for awhile. It seems that, like the salmon that swim upstream to return home, many of our former young people find their way back to Our Saviour Free on Christmas Eve.

As I looked around the sanctuary I saw faces going back to my earliest days at the church. Tim, who was in the youth group when John and I served as youth leaders had come back with his family. Others, who were from the time period when my own children were teens were also present. Bud, who'd recently had a knee replacement surgery, surprised us with his presence. It strangely still surprises me to walk into the sanctuary and experience the absence of some loving friends and family; my John, Karl, Robin, Carol, Jeff, and so many more.

The service began, and just before I was to share, the son of one of our Elders went to the pulpit. His parents had come to the church as newly weds, and now Brandon, their eldest, and his new fiance' retold some of the traditions that had been so important to them growing up in their respective homes, and the ones they hoped to take with them into their marriage. In those young and shining faces I couldn't help but remember John and I coming to the church in 1968, and spending our first Christmas as a married couple at Our Saviour Free (then called Wheeling Free Church). I felt really choked up as I went forward, realizing that this church has been my home, and family for 41 years. So many Christmas's, special events, marriages, births, deaths, fun, and fellowship. In my mind's eye I saw my Mark, Andy Lindman and Sean Sahlstrom, wrestling during the kids Christmas program, and knocking the head off one of the wise men. I saw John, dressed as the angel Gabriel, resplendent in a white robe, and his gold painted high tops during another Christmas performance. I saw myself, missing a chair during a Christmas contata, and falling down in front of a packed out church. My mother, sitting in the back of the church had yelled something like "there she blows", but I found out later she'd said, "there she goes". Well, I won't go on, but those memories and so many more, represented times that had formed bonds of love that are treasured to this day.

Tim's parents spoke after me, and shared about the 57 Christmas's they have had together. Talk about the circle of life visually and verbally represented. As in the life of any couple, there are tough as well as good times. And at church there have been some difficult times too - the last 2 1/2 years have been no picnic! But just like a good marriage, when you work through those difficult times, the bonds become stronger and more enduring. The difference in the Christian community is that we don't just spend the years of an Earthly lifetime together; these are the believers with whom we will be spending eternity. If we were left to our own devices there'd be no motivation or power to ever reconcile or get along. But Christmas is so special because it shows the extremes God has gone to so that we might have that experience of unity and eternity together. Jesus came as a baby allowing God to take upon himself the flesh and bone of the fallen and broken mankind He so loved. In coming, He invaded the mess that humans had made, so that He could live a perfect life, and then die on a cross 33 years later. In doing that he made a way for us to come back to him and to enter into an eternal fellowship of community.

All in all, I am so glad that I had a reason to force me out of my comfort zone at home. Going out into a rainy, dark night ended up so much better than that warm bed and book would have. I was reminded of the faithfulness of God and many of His people. I was encouraged, and renewed, and through worshiping that babe, I was given a glimpse again into God's magnificent plan. I hope that those few of you who read this had a blessed Christmas and will have a wonderful new year. May 2010 be a time of renewal for each of us and Christ's church; after all, God has become flesh and dwelt among us!