Worship First
October 20, 2022
I LOVE the holiday season. Caroling, hot chocolate, parties, 6th grade band concerts, the stillness of the shortened days, baking, twinkling lights, the smell of craft stores… I love every bit of it. Well, except for The Christmas Shoes song – I’m decidedly not a fan of seasonal emotional hijackiing.
…For us worship leaders, Christmas is our Super Bowl, our pièce de résistance. I usually start my Christmas plans in August and by this time of year I’m fully buried in sheet music and inspiration videos and stage decor (and usually a lot of hot glue).
But also around this time (when the rest of the world begins to match pace with my Christmas fixation) I start to get a little uneasy. With the holiday cheer comes other things: lines at every store, traffic, event obligations, pressure to find the perfect gift, family drama, rushing everywhere. Christmas wish lists, mountains of rich food, billions of dollars spent on gifts, (did you know we spend over ONE TRILLION dollars globally on Christmas every year??). Does all that make Christmas meaningful?
Jesus told people, “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.” He came into a world where religious rules and legalism ruled over every detail of people’s lives, but just like Paul wrote, "Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again."
The holidays don’t feel very restful or free to me. Sometimes, this season is so frenzied that it can be hard to find the connection to the birth of Christ, if I’m being honest. We good Christians know that the right answer to “the reason for the season” is Jesus. But God wants us to live into that freedom of the hope we have in Christ, so how do we hold onto that (or even better, share it) in all that chaotic disconnection, and, frankly, gluttony? It’s not hard to feel a bit melancholy.
The rescuing work of Christ is the greatest gift that we ever have or ever will receive. So how do we celebrate that?
Jesus’ entry into this world was humble and modest. And every character in the birth narrative (well, except Herod) responded in the same way: worship. We don’t want to let the overwhelming stress and busyness overtake our worship and celebration of literally the most important thing that’s ever happened to us.
Oak Haven, just like every church, is a family. A spiritual family who is united by our Father at the head. So, before we enter the holiday season, I’ve planned for us to first worship together in humility and quiet.
We’re going to sit down,
all at one big family dinner table,
by candlelight,
and share a simple meal of soup and bread
before we face
the bright lights and fancy dinners.
We’re going to unite our hearts
in a posture of gratitude
before we turn our focus to our wish lists.
We’re going to sing quiet hymns together
before we go to the
big productions and events.
We’re going to spend time
encouraging each other in our spiritual family
before we argue politics and pop culture
with our own families.
I hope you’ll join me on November 20th for our Soup and Bread Meal of Gratitude. I’m really looking forward to spending this sweet time of spiritual rest with my church family before the hustle and bustle of the holidays kick into overdrive.
Comments