There's a good possibility that I'll be singing those words this next Sunday.  Chances are many of you will be as well.  I think making the time to walk through Advent affords us a level of awareness about how we are and who we are in a world that has been singing "You better watch out, you better not pout" since the day after Halloween.  During this time of preparation, we are called to do more than the baking and cooking and shopping that is, depending on your personal taste, either joy or chore.  We are called to think about things like how we spend our money, or our time.  We are reminded that while Jesus did indeed come once, so we believe he will come again.  All of our Advent preparations are time well spent and I wouldn't replace them.  But I wonder .... Have you thought about how you plan to behave at Christmas Eve service?

I know.  It's an odd question.  Let me explain:  When I was pastor of a congregation, I knew what I was doing, where I was sitting, who I was talking to and what I hoped to have happen at the Christmas Eve service.  I hoped that congregants, neighbors, visitors and strangers would all have a sense of welcome and worship.  I hoped they would come away from the service with a wonderful, warm glow that we associate with lighting the candles that fill the darkness as we sing "Silent Night, Holy Night."

I don't know how well I actually managed to help all that happen, but it's now a moot point, because I've moved to the "other side."  Now I sit in the pew, often as a visitor.  And I have come to know what it means to be actually and honestly welcomed and what it means to be benevolently ignored.  I have come to know that some churches really are friendly while others are simply friends.  I have come to see, at least a little, through the eyes of a stranger, and it hasn't always been a good experience.  Sometimes it's been just plain lonely.  And awkward.  And whatever the opposite of welcoming might be named.  And all of that is only more pronounced when we add in the dynamics and the emotions of Christmas.  What might feel difficult on a Sunday morning is really hard on Christmas Eve for the lonely ones, the grieving ones, the angry, hurt or isolated ones, the ones who are searching, questioning, wondering, doubting.

So in light of our Advent hope and our Christmas promise, I ask you to think about Christmas Eve service and how you will behave.  Who will you greet?  Where will you sit?  How will you deal with the one who you don't know?  Yes, maybe he is Fred's uncle and you just don't remember him.  Maybe she is someone who joined 4 months ago and you forgot.  But maybe, just maybe, he is missing his son, who serves in the Middle East.  Or maybe she's just lost her husband to cancer and it was all she could do to get herself to church.  What I think it comes down to is actually a different question:  Will you welcome Jesus this Christmas?  I'm pretty sure you will be afforded more than one opportunity.  I invite you to keep that in mind as you celebrate the joy that is yours.

Peace,  

The Rev. Nancy Feniuk Nelson

Bishop's Associate