From The Pastor - January/February Spire

"The Work of Christmas"

When the song of the angels is stilled;

when the star in the sky is gone;

when the kings and the princes are home;

when the shepherds are back with their flock

the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to rebuild the nations

to bring peace among the brothers and sisters, to make music in the heart.

Every Christmas I find myself returning to these words by Howard Thurman. They serve as a reminder that Christmas is more than a month long fanatic season of activity and consumption. It is God’s way of reminding the world that there is much work to be done. If we want to experience the hope and promise that is offered in the birth of Christ, then we must receive the gift in a way that allows it to transform our lives.

It is not enough to bask in the glow of Christmas. It is not enough to rejoice and celebrate. While we need to pause and experience the wonder of God’s gift, our pausing and rejoicing and celebrating will mean little if we don’t then “do the work of Christmas.”  

The generosity exhibited by so many during this season is touching. There are even moments when it is truly heart-warming, but if it stops there then the gift does not do all it was intended to do.  The charity associated with the season is not the same as justice. The good will is not the same as hope. The sentimentality of the season is not what transforms lives.

“Nothing changes if nothing changes.” This old adage reminds us that the hope of Christmas is that people will be changed, transformed. The hope is that we will be touched and healed in a way that will free us to live the work of Christmas, not as an afterthought, but as an intentional way of life.

Most folks have the holiday spirit until the New Year. As Christians we are called to have the Christmas spirit all year long. As we begin a new year and the season of Epiphany, my hope and prayer is that each of us will find a way to share the light of life and hope where it is needed most. Sharing the light means we can not pack away our Christmas spirit with our Christmas decorations. Long after the lights on our tree, in our windows and around our doors are taken down and packed away, God’s light in us needs to shine. This reminds me that we need to be a light to one another. We need to strengthen and encourage each other so that together we may be about “the work of Christmas”.

Amid all our New Year’s resolutions, I hope and pray that you will covenant with me to be each other’s light amid the darkness, so that whatever the future may hold we will be led by the hope of Christmas. For when we are, “the work of Christmas” is really not work, but rather an opportunity to tell the story of God’s love for all humanity.

Peace,

Eric