Faithfully Yours - What the story's all about

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Published on Sunday, December 7, 2014

By Neil Strohschein

As I write these words, I am busy putting together the worship service I will lead on Christmas Eve. It will contain many familiar components. We will read the Christmas story, sing Christmas carols and light candles; just as we always do. At the end of the service we will exchange our Christmas greetings and then go home to prepare for family gatherings the next day.

But this year’s services will be different because the people are different. Life has not been kind to some families. Sickness and death have taken important people from us, leaving behind a hole that seems to get bigger as the holidays get closer. Having family close by helps, but nothing can replace a husband or wife, a father or mother, a grandma or grandpa, a brother or sister who will not be in his or her place at the table. Those we dearly loved will be greatly missed.

Some will spend part of this Christmas serving others. Nurses and doctors will care for patients who must spend Christmas in hospital or in a Care Home. Emergency personnel will be on duty or on call. Highways crews will be out making sure that the roads are safe for Christmas travel. And the Richardson airport in Winnipeg will have extra staff on duty. Christmas Day is their busiest day of the year.

There are many who will spend Christmas alone. Some will do so by choice. They will spend the day watching Christmas specials on TV or listening to the holiday tunes on radio. A frozen turkey dinner (heated in the oven or microwave) will be eaten and enjoyed. It won’t be much but it will be enough to make this a merry Christmas for those who choose to celebrate this way.

Others will have no choice but to spend Christmas alone. What family they have is scattered across this country. Their only contact may be a short phone call or an exchange of email or text messages (assuming those options are available). For these people, Christmas is a time when, unlike any other time of the year, they feel lonely and alone. These words are for you.

The New Creed of the United Church of Canada begins with these words: “We are not alone; we live in God’s world.” It ends with the words: “In life, in death and in life beyond death, God is with us.” These words beautifully summarize the central truth of the Christmas story.

The Christmas story is about the God who created and controls this entire universe coming to earth in human form—in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s a story of love, mercy and grace--the story of a God who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

The Christmas story is about a God who, by his spirit, comes to live within all those who believe in his Son, so that our bodies become his temple—the place where God continues to live among the people of this world. The Christmas story is about a friend who will never leave you, never turn his back on you, never forget your name or what you need. It’s about a friend who will always be close by, ready to offer his help the moment we cry out to him when in distress.

These gifts of Christmas are available to all. All we must do is receive them with joy.