Blue Christmas Invite

I have a attended a funeral for a family member on Christmas Eve and also on Good Friday, and let me tell you it’s a lot easier to mourn and to hear about life eternal on Good Friday than it is at Christmas. And after the Christmas Eve service, which had the worst funeral message I have ever heard, I said one of the stupidest things I have ever said, and that was, as I was leaving to drive back to New Mexico for Christmas, saying to my Aunt, “I hope you have a good Christmas.” My only excuse is that we tend to say dumb things around death because we don’t know what to say.

Mourning at Christmas is hard because we are told that we are supposed to be filled with holly, jolly and merry because it’s the most wonderful time of the year after all. Except that for many people it’s none of those things. Christmas simply reopens wounds or reminds us of the things and people that are no longer present for us. And so Christmas ends up being a time of pain and sorrow rather than jingle bells, ho, ho, ho, mistletoe and all that stuff.

This coming Monday, which is the longest night of the year, we will be holding our Blue Christmas service which gives space to name those hurts and pains and losses, and also to hear of God’s hope for the world and for us. As I have said before, while this is often the least attended service we do each year, I think it is one of the most important that we do. It’s also the one I always feel least adequate to lead, but trust in the Spirit to speak even with sighs too deep for words.

So, if you need to be reminded of Christ’s light that shines most especially in the darkness, I would encourage you to “attend” the service online. And please make sure to invite others you know who may need this service wherever they are in the world. It will take place at 6 pm on Facebook and YouTube, and for those who are not regular attendees, the worship guide may be found on our website. We will conclude the service with the singing of Silent Night, so we encourage you to have candles available as well.

And speaking of candles, candles for our singing of Silent Night on Christmas Eve will be distributed this week. We encourage you to keep one bag of candles for yourself and deliver the others to neighbors and ask them to join us in singing Silent Night at 7 pm on Christmas Eve. If you need more candles, we have more available at the church and can deliver them to you as needed.

We will have our Christmas Eve service, which will be a combined traditional and contemporary service, streaming at 4 and 5:45 pm on Christmas Eve on Facebook and YouTube. Both times will have the same service. You may also watch the service at your convenience after the first service ends. Unfortunately, we will not be holding our open house or labyrinth as we had originally planned.

I wish you all a continued blessed Advent, and a transition to a merry Christmas as we celebrate that the light of Christ has come into the world and darkness cannot overcome it.