Christmas Letters: Christmas Eve Service of Candles and Carols
Worship
A Christmas Journey
A Collection of Resources for Advent and Christmas
Object:
Order of Service
Gathering Music
Singing Of Christmas Carols
Welcome And Greetings
Call To Worship
Leader: What if God wrote a letter?
People: And Moses descended with two tablets written by God.
Leader: What if God wrote a letter?
People: And the Word of the Lord came to the prophets.
Leader: What if God wrote a letter to fulfill the law and the prophets?
People: Come to Bethlehem and see if such a letter comes special delivery.
Christmas Carol
"Angels From The Realms Of Glory"
Special Delivery
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 40:3-8
Meditation
"Christmas Letters"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Faith
The Advent wreath reminds us that there is a time of waiting and preparation before we enter the land of Christmas. The candle of faith encourages us to look back and see how God has been faithful. It reminds us that the God who promises an advent is the one who comes. God shares his intention through the letter of his word. The first candle reminds us that God keeps his Word, thereby inspiring the light of faith.
Christmas Prayer
O Lord of Christmas, there is so much mail at Christmas as flyers, advertisements, and catalogues fill our mailboxes. The typical Christmas letter, sent or received, seldom helps us focus on faith. Faith may be there, but it's usually hidden between the lines. Forgive us for conveniently keeping our faith out of sight. Give us the grace to keep faith in the forefront this Christmas. In the name of the Christ. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"O Come, All Ye Faithful"
Delivered By UPS
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 35:1-6
Meditation
"Christmas Boxes"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Joy
Joy. It's uninhibited wonder. It's the awe inspired by a gift that makes the eyes dance. It's the exuberance and delight that makes the soul soar. In Bethlehem such a gift was delivered; a gift so precious that it was announced by angels. For through this gift, God provided the solution to humanity's sin problem. The second candle reminds us of the gift of God's presence in Christ.
Christmas Prayer
Most gracious God, we learn about giving from you. Help us to see the love behind each gift given this Christmas. Enable us to see beyond the gift to the joy of the one who gives. May that thoughtfulness and joy warm our hearts. Help us, O Lord, with all the giving and gifts to have hearts filled with childlike wonder at the gift you have given in Christ. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
The Christmas Wait
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:26-35, 38
Meditation
"Waiting For Christmas"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Love
Waiting. That's what the love of God does. He has been waiting for us to come to him. The third candle is the candle of love. We might get impatient for Christmas to come or be tempted to rush right through it. But this candle reminds us to wait, to be still in God's presence; for it is then that we experience the God who comes, the very God who has been waiting for us to receive his gift of love in Immanuel.
Christmas Prayer
O Lord, we anxiously wait for Christmas to come. While it seemingly takes forever, time quickly slips by. In the hustle and bustle of preparations, it is easy not to take the time to be in your presence, to ponder the mystery and miracle of your coming, or to be wrapped in the wonder of your love.
Forgive us, we ask. And give us the grace to first experience and then share your love in the fullness of this time of Christmas. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"Love Came Down At Christmas"
Their Arrival Said It All
Scripture Reading
Matthew 1:18-25
Meditation
"Letters From Home"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Hope
It is one of the principles of life that spurs us to action and guides us through life's journey. It is represented in the fourth candle, the candle of hope. Hope expresses the deepest of the desires of the heart and the longings of the soul. It goes to the core of life's meaning. Without hope we are prone to question whether life is worth living. This candle reminds us that our hope rests in the one born in Bethlehem.
Christmas Prayer
When we are far from home, O Lord, hope can seem so distant. But being far from home can be more than a matter of geography. It can be a matter of the heart. We need to find our way home, not only in terms of family but also in our relationship with you.
Help us to hear your word; that through the gift of Jesus there is hope for us. May the hopes and fears of all the years be met in you this night. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"O Little Town Of Bethlehem"
Letters That Give
Receiving Of Christmas Offering
How often as children do we open the mail and shake the card to see if there is any money? You, O Lord, spared no expense in sending your Son. Bless these gifts, we pray, that others may come to know the richness of life in Christ. Amen.
Offertory
The Ultimate Letter
Scripture Reading
John 1:1-5, 14
Meditation
"The Letter Is Sent"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Christ Candle
"The letter is in the mail," was just not good enough for God. This letter was special delivery, taken care of personally. The Christ candle reminds us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The joy of Christmas with its faith, joy, love, and hope is fulfilled in the Christ who comes to hearts who receive him still.
Christmas Prayer
We give you thanks, O God, for the special delivery on a Christmas so long ago. It is humbling to think that you could love us that much. A letter written on stone would not do, nor would a letter spoken through the prophets. Instead, you sent the most unusual letter: your Son. May he light up our lives, we pray. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"What Child Is This?"
The Letter Is Being Sent
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Meditation
"A Christmas Letter Revealed"
Lighting Of Candles
Congregational Candles
The Christmas story begins with God sending his Son, but the story does not end there as we, too, are God's letters. Let the love of God's letter shine through you as your light comes from the Christ candle to the ushers to you. After all the candles are lit, we will sing the first verse of "Silent Night" and then listen in silence as the organ and piano play the last verse.
Christmas Carol
"Silent Night"
Benediction
O God, it was through the letters of the lives of others that we first came to learn of your personal letter to us in Christ Jesus. Their lives opened your letter of salvation to us. As we celebrate the birth of Immanuel, may your Spirit use our lives to be letters that invite others to experience new life in Christ. We ask it in the name of the Living Letter, Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Sending Music
Christmas Letters
Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Most of the year the children are oblivious to the mail. But, as Christmas approaches, the mail takes on great significance. With the arrival of the catalogues, the dreaming begins.
Not everything in the mail generates such joy. The envelopes graced with Christmas décor meet the same fate as the plain white ones: a carol of sighs complete with a refrain of moans. The children dismiss them with a frosty dismay: "We don't even know these people. Do we have to read the letters as a family?"
It takes time to appreciate the Christmas letter ritual. As the years pass, the children begin to identify certain styles with certain names. There's "so and so" whose family letter is like Lake Wobegone fiction. Then there's the travelogue letter with its extensive itinerary with places we recognize and lists of people that leave us asking, "Who are they?" Then there's one that the others can't hold a candle to. Unlike form letters, this one is concise and it's verse is poetic. It's entertaining and fun to read.
So what makes a Christmas letter "special"? It's the one time of the year that we make the effort to contact people who are dear to our hearts. It is an investment of ourselves in the lives of others. That handwritten note on the bottom or the back of the form letter makes it personal. The Christmas letter helps hold us together. Without it, some would just drift apart.
But the Christmas letter can be so much more than a recital of the year's highlights. The best Christmas letters affirm a love that tells faith's story. They own up to life's disappointments, shattered dreams, and the seemingly unanswered prayers, but they do it in a way that, in spite of it all, shows how God has been faithful. They do it in a way that hangs on to God's promises. After all, there were years of waiting before the promise of Christ's coming was fulfilled. That's the faith conveyed by the best Christmas letters.
Christmas Boxes
The voice on the television commercial asks, "What can Brown do for you?" There is no hesitation as the children reply, "Come to our house!" When the UPS truck shows up in December, it means one thing and one thing only: presents!
One never knows what size the box will be or from what part of country it comes. It might be a cereal box from the prairies, a paper products box from the great northwest, or a singer's sausage box from the south. It's all a mystery until it's brought to the door. A quick check of the label identifies the sender. But, wait, he's bringing another box!
The excitement is not dimmed by the task at hand; that is, cutting through the tape. For it seems that some in the family take great delight in making sure that the package, would not and could not, accidentally open. How many roles of duct tape, strapping tape, and packing tape were used remains a mystery. Regardless of the size of the box or the amount of tape used, one thing remained certain. Hidden inside were individually wrapped presents, each with a nametag.
The children's eyes would light up as the pocketknife sliced through the tape revealing the treasures within. Even though the individual gifts could not be opened until Christmas, it was a joy to place them under the tree. With each stop of the UPS truck, the open space under the tree became smaller.
Some might say that this is what is wrong with Christmas; that it's a spending spree spurred by greed and financed by plastic. It can be that if we let it. But inside those boxes were gifts of joy as the miles that separated family melted away. Those giving the gifts participated in the joy as phone calls expressed the excitement and appreciation.
The joy of the gifts came out of hearts filled with love. One can't help but wonder if we can't catch a glimpse of God's joy as he gave his most precious gift, his Son, to the world.
Waiting For Christmas
Christmas was a little more than a month away the day it came priority mail. Because it was so light, the children were convinced that it was nothing more than an empty envelope. As they opened it, a note fell to the floor. It read, "To help you wait for Christmas. Love, Grandma."
The Advent calendar helped the children wait as each day a door on the calendar was opened revealing another verse of the Christmas story. It kept the children focused on the scriptures as the countdown continued to build up to that much-anticipated day.
Waiting -- it can be unbearable, especially when it's something the heart longs for. A grown-up's anxious pacing or mindless paging through a magazine to a child's inability to sit still or constantly asking, "Is it time?" are signs that the waiting is getting the best of us. The Advent calendar is a reminder that God waited until just the right time. Then the Angel Gabriel stepped into our time with a word: one for Mary and another for Joseph.
That word resulted in more waiting -- nine months to be exact. Then in the fullness of time, the mystery and miracle happened. God didn't send a memo filled with theological jargon that wouldn't make sense to ordinary folk. God didn't send a note filled with insider phrases. He didn't send a dossier filled with fancy formulas.
Why wait till the fullness of time? From our point of view, waiting can be anxiety driven or it can be an opportunity to quiet our hearts before God. The latter combines a deep sense of helplessness with a complete confidence that God will work through his divine power. It is through this kind of waiting that we discover the mystery of the miracle that defies our imagination and yet entices it, that puzzles the mind, and yet allures it to explore.
This kind of waiting opens the door for God to come in the fullness of our time. It allows for his advent as the love of God could conceive of no greater way to express his redeeming love than to become one of us. The waiting of the Advent season prepares us for the God who comes.
Christmas Letters From Home
A soldier serving in Iraq noted that "Mail has secret powers that are felt most by those farthest removed. I would like to let you know how much your letter means to me." That is especially true at Christmas even if it was another place and another time. This is Ted Gibson's story.
Ted was in the Repair Squadron of the Fifth Air Force Group. They were on their way to Ohio's Wright Field when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Ten days, that's what they had to settle their personal affairs before shipping out. Their point of destination changed to Australia when the Philippines fell to the Japanese.
An International Harvest plant was transformed to assemble fighter planes. A foundry enabled them to make necessary parts using broken and bent propellers for raw materials. The group was transferred north of Melbourne where they waited for several months. Once things caught up with them, they were on the move once more. After the Battle of Coral Sea, the Philippines became their destination once again.
Typically, mail was sixty to ninety days late, but the months turned into a year with no word from home. Ted was feeling desperate. Why haven't they written? Have they forgotten me? If so, is life really worth living? Pondering these questions only deepened the despair.
Was there any reason to hope? At the deepest moment of despair, three words brought hope: You've got mail! Oh, it was not just one letter from home. It wasn't even double digit letters. Would you believe that it was 200? Oh, the secret powers of the mail worked a miracle.
Hope reached across the miles and gave a reason for living. Hope pointed beyond the immediate circumstances to something greater: a love that transcended the miles of separation. Hope had compelled Ted to hang on, to seek meaning in life when none was apparent. And when it seemed most hopeless, letters from home came on Christmas Eve!
The arrival of the letters pointed to something beyond the letters themselves. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Biblical hope is directed to God, trusting in his nature and his promises.
The long-awaited coming of the Messiah is our letter from home. Only hope gained from the Eternal is eternal. Through the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, God offers us a hope that reaches through our despair while making the distance that separates us from him disappear.
The soldier's Christmas letters from home renewed hope; there was someone waiting for him at home. That first Christmas letter, of the Word made flesh, not only tells us that someone is waiting, but it shows us the way home.
The Letter Is Sent
How many times have you heard, "The letter is in the mail"? If it's in the mail, why does it take so long to show up? That is, if it shows up at all. The chances for mishap are many; from insufficient postage, to an incorrect address or the recipient having moved with no forwarding address being left, to the letter simply getting lost in the system.
How many times do we say, "The letter is in the mail"? We wait until the last possible moment to get it in the mail. Why? So there's enough in the account to make sure that the check is covered. Sometimes there is just too much month at the end of the money. The postmark becomes a matter of strategy. Get it there in time to avoid late fees but late enough that funds are sufficient.
Then the mail comes and along with it a moment of frustration. The one letter we hoped to avoid is right there on top. Its clear cellophane window tells us more than we want to know. Opening it, we are greeted with a reminder that our account is past due. So as not to be offensive there is a disclaimer: If your payment and our letter crossed in the mail, please disregard this reminder. Of course they crossed in the mail. It was mailed just before the mail arrived!
The Almighty didn't take any chances with his letter: for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! His is a personal letter who comes to seek and to save that which is lost. His letter seeks us! Regardless of how many times we move, his letter keeps coming!
God's letter is the most unique in all the world. It informs us of our insufficient funds when trying to pay for our sins. It is impossible to buy our salvation. In the darkness of this despair, God intervenes. In the fullness of time, Jesus was born. His grace is more than sufficient as he provides the way to God the Father.
The lighting of the Christ candle reminds us that God delivered as promised: for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Not only that, God continues to deliver through the Christ who comes even now.
A Christmas Letter Revealed
The story of Christmas is incomplete; that is, the Christmas letter is not finished. But, you say, we've read God's letter. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as God said. So, in what possible sense could the Christmas letter be unfinished?
Glad you asked. It's unfinished in this way. The Apostle Paul tells the believers in Corinth, "You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. [It is revealed] that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
You, who believe that Jesus is the Christ and have gathered to worship, are God's letter. You may be a letter of faith that can inspire or a letter of joy that empowers someone to embrace life once again. You may be a letter of love that is unwrapped as you share your heart or a letter of hope whose power of presence comforts as it points to the promise of eternal life in Christ.
You are God's Christmas letter. The Christmas adventure continues as you let the light of Christ shine on this silent night, on this holy night.
Gathering Music
Singing Of Christmas Carols
Welcome And Greetings
Call To Worship
Leader: What if God wrote a letter?
People: And Moses descended with two tablets written by God.
Leader: What if God wrote a letter?
People: And the Word of the Lord came to the prophets.
Leader: What if God wrote a letter to fulfill the law and the prophets?
People: Come to Bethlehem and see if such a letter comes special delivery.
Christmas Carol
"Angels From The Realms Of Glory"
Special Delivery
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 40:3-8
Meditation
"Christmas Letters"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Faith
The Advent wreath reminds us that there is a time of waiting and preparation before we enter the land of Christmas. The candle of faith encourages us to look back and see how God has been faithful. It reminds us that the God who promises an advent is the one who comes. God shares his intention through the letter of his word. The first candle reminds us that God keeps his Word, thereby inspiring the light of faith.
Christmas Prayer
O Lord of Christmas, there is so much mail at Christmas as flyers, advertisements, and catalogues fill our mailboxes. The typical Christmas letter, sent or received, seldom helps us focus on faith. Faith may be there, but it's usually hidden between the lines. Forgive us for conveniently keeping our faith out of sight. Give us the grace to keep faith in the forefront this Christmas. In the name of the Christ. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"O Come, All Ye Faithful"
Delivered By UPS
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 35:1-6
Meditation
"Christmas Boxes"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Joy
Joy. It's uninhibited wonder. It's the awe inspired by a gift that makes the eyes dance. It's the exuberance and delight that makes the soul soar. In Bethlehem such a gift was delivered; a gift so precious that it was announced by angels. For through this gift, God provided the solution to humanity's sin problem. The second candle reminds us of the gift of God's presence in Christ.
Christmas Prayer
Most gracious God, we learn about giving from you. Help us to see the love behind each gift given this Christmas. Enable us to see beyond the gift to the joy of the one who gives. May that thoughtfulness and joy warm our hearts. Help us, O Lord, with all the giving and gifts to have hearts filled with childlike wonder at the gift you have given in Christ. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
The Christmas Wait
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:26-35, 38
Meditation
"Waiting For Christmas"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Love
Waiting. That's what the love of God does. He has been waiting for us to come to him. The third candle is the candle of love. We might get impatient for Christmas to come or be tempted to rush right through it. But this candle reminds us to wait, to be still in God's presence; for it is then that we experience the God who comes, the very God who has been waiting for us to receive his gift of love in Immanuel.
Christmas Prayer
O Lord, we anxiously wait for Christmas to come. While it seemingly takes forever, time quickly slips by. In the hustle and bustle of preparations, it is easy not to take the time to be in your presence, to ponder the mystery and miracle of your coming, or to be wrapped in the wonder of your love.
Forgive us, we ask. And give us the grace to first experience and then share your love in the fullness of this time of Christmas. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"Love Came Down At Christmas"
Their Arrival Said It All
Scripture Reading
Matthew 1:18-25
Meditation
"Letters From Home"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Candle Of Hope
It is one of the principles of life that spurs us to action and guides us through life's journey. It is represented in the fourth candle, the candle of hope. Hope expresses the deepest of the desires of the heart and the longings of the soul. It goes to the core of life's meaning. Without hope we are prone to question whether life is worth living. This candle reminds us that our hope rests in the one born in Bethlehem.
Christmas Prayer
When we are far from home, O Lord, hope can seem so distant. But being far from home can be more than a matter of geography. It can be a matter of the heart. We need to find our way home, not only in terms of family but also in our relationship with you.
Help us to hear your word; that through the gift of Jesus there is hope for us. May the hopes and fears of all the years be met in you this night. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"O Little Town Of Bethlehem"
Letters That Give
Receiving Of Christmas Offering
How often as children do we open the mail and shake the card to see if there is any money? You, O Lord, spared no expense in sending your Son. Bless these gifts, we pray, that others may come to know the richness of life in Christ. Amen.
Offertory
The Ultimate Letter
Scripture Reading
John 1:1-5, 14
Meditation
"The Letter Is Sent"
Lighting Of Advent Candle
Christ Candle
"The letter is in the mail," was just not good enough for God. This letter was special delivery, taken care of personally. The Christ candle reminds us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The joy of Christmas with its faith, joy, love, and hope is fulfilled in the Christ who comes to hearts who receive him still.
Christmas Prayer
We give you thanks, O God, for the special delivery on a Christmas so long ago. It is humbling to think that you could love us that much. A letter written on stone would not do, nor would a letter spoken through the prophets. Instead, you sent the most unusual letter: your Son. May he light up our lives, we pray. Amen.
Christmas Carol
"What Child Is This?"
The Letter Is Being Sent
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Meditation
"A Christmas Letter Revealed"
Lighting Of Candles
Congregational Candles
The Christmas story begins with God sending his Son, but the story does not end there as we, too, are God's letters. Let the love of God's letter shine through you as your light comes from the Christ candle to the ushers to you. After all the candles are lit, we will sing the first verse of "Silent Night" and then listen in silence as the organ and piano play the last verse.
Christmas Carol
"Silent Night"
Benediction
O God, it was through the letters of the lives of others that we first came to learn of your personal letter to us in Christ Jesus. Their lives opened your letter of salvation to us. As we celebrate the birth of Immanuel, may your Spirit use our lives to be letters that invite others to experience new life in Christ. We ask it in the name of the Living Letter, Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Sending Music
Christmas Letters
Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Most of the year the children are oblivious to the mail. But, as Christmas approaches, the mail takes on great significance. With the arrival of the catalogues, the dreaming begins.
Not everything in the mail generates such joy. The envelopes graced with Christmas décor meet the same fate as the plain white ones: a carol of sighs complete with a refrain of moans. The children dismiss them with a frosty dismay: "We don't even know these people. Do we have to read the letters as a family?"
It takes time to appreciate the Christmas letter ritual. As the years pass, the children begin to identify certain styles with certain names. There's "so and so" whose family letter is like Lake Wobegone fiction. Then there's the travelogue letter with its extensive itinerary with places we recognize and lists of people that leave us asking, "Who are they?" Then there's one that the others can't hold a candle to. Unlike form letters, this one is concise and it's verse is poetic. It's entertaining and fun to read.
So what makes a Christmas letter "special"? It's the one time of the year that we make the effort to contact people who are dear to our hearts. It is an investment of ourselves in the lives of others. That handwritten note on the bottom or the back of the form letter makes it personal. The Christmas letter helps hold us together. Without it, some would just drift apart.
But the Christmas letter can be so much more than a recital of the year's highlights. The best Christmas letters affirm a love that tells faith's story. They own up to life's disappointments, shattered dreams, and the seemingly unanswered prayers, but they do it in a way that, in spite of it all, shows how God has been faithful. They do it in a way that hangs on to God's promises. After all, there were years of waiting before the promise of Christ's coming was fulfilled. That's the faith conveyed by the best Christmas letters.
Christmas Boxes
The voice on the television commercial asks, "What can Brown do for you?" There is no hesitation as the children reply, "Come to our house!" When the UPS truck shows up in December, it means one thing and one thing only: presents!
One never knows what size the box will be or from what part of country it comes. It might be a cereal box from the prairies, a paper products box from the great northwest, or a singer's sausage box from the south. It's all a mystery until it's brought to the door. A quick check of the label identifies the sender. But, wait, he's bringing another box!
The excitement is not dimmed by the task at hand; that is, cutting through the tape. For it seems that some in the family take great delight in making sure that the package, would not and could not, accidentally open. How many roles of duct tape, strapping tape, and packing tape were used remains a mystery. Regardless of the size of the box or the amount of tape used, one thing remained certain. Hidden inside were individually wrapped presents, each with a nametag.
The children's eyes would light up as the pocketknife sliced through the tape revealing the treasures within. Even though the individual gifts could not be opened until Christmas, it was a joy to place them under the tree. With each stop of the UPS truck, the open space under the tree became smaller.
Some might say that this is what is wrong with Christmas; that it's a spending spree spurred by greed and financed by plastic. It can be that if we let it. But inside those boxes were gifts of joy as the miles that separated family melted away. Those giving the gifts participated in the joy as phone calls expressed the excitement and appreciation.
The joy of the gifts came out of hearts filled with love. One can't help but wonder if we can't catch a glimpse of God's joy as he gave his most precious gift, his Son, to the world.
Waiting For Christmas
Christmas was a little more than a month away the day it came priority mail. Because it was so light, the children were convinced that it was nothing more than an empty envelope. As they opened it, a note fell to the floor. It read, "To help you wait for Christmas. Love, Grandma."
The Advent calendar helped the children wait as each day a door on the calendar was opened revealing another verse of the Christmas story. It kept the children focused on the scriptures as the countdown continued to build up to that much-anticipated day.
Waiting -- it can be unbearable, especially when it's something the heart longs for. A grown-up's anxious pacing or mindless paging through a magazine to a child's inability to sit still or constantly asking, "Is it time?" are signs that the waiting is getting the best of us. The Advent calendar is a reminder that God waited until just the right time. Then the Angel Gabriel stepped into our time with a word: one for Mary and another for Joseph.
That word resulted in more waiting -- nine months to be exact. Then in the fullness of time, the mystery and miracle happened. God didn't send a memo filled with theological jargon that wouldn't make sense to ordinary folk. God didn't send a note filled with insider phrases. He didn't send a dossier filled with fancy formulas.
Why wait till the fullness of time? From our point of view, waiting can be anxiety driven or it can be an opportunity to quiet our hearts before God. The latter combines a deep sense of helplessness with a complete confidence that God will work through his divine power. It is through this kind of waiting that we discover the mystery of the miracle that defies our imagination and yet entices it, that puzzles the mind, and yet allures it to explore.
This kind of waiting opens the door for God to come in the fullness of our time. It allows for his advent as the love of God could conceive of no greater way to express his redeeming love than to become one of us. The waiting of the Advent season prepares us for the God who comes.
Christmas Letters From Home
A soldier serving in Iraq noted that "Mail has secret powers that are felt most by those farthest removed. I would like to let you know how much your letter means to me." That is especially true at Christmas even if it was another place and another time. This is Ted Gibson's story.
Ted was in the Repair Squadron of the Fifth Air Force Group. They were on their way to Ohio's Wright Field when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Ten days, that's what they had to settle their personal affairs before shipping out. Their point of destination changed to Australia when the Philippines fell to the Japanese.
An International Harvest plant was transformed to assemble fighter planes. A foundry enabled them to make necessary parts using broken and bent propellers for raw materials. The group was transferred north of Melbourne where they waited for several months. Once things caught up with them, they were on the move once more. After the Battle of Coral Sea, the Philippines became their destination once again.
Typically, mail was sixty to ninety days late, but the months turned into a year with no word from home. Ted was feeling desperate. Why haven't they written? Have they forgotten me? If so, is life really worth living? Pondering these questions only deepened the despair.
Was there any reason to hope? At the deepest moment of despair, three words brought hope: You've got mail! Oh, it was not just one letter from home. It wasn't even double digit letters. Would you believe that it was 200? Oh, the secret powers of the mail worked a miracle.
Hope reached across the miles and gave a reason for living. Hope pointed beyond the immediate circumstances to something greater: a love that transcended the miles of separation. Hope had compelled Ted to hang on, to seek meaning in life when none was apparent. And when it seemed most hopeless, letters from home came on Christmas Eve!
The arrival of the letters pointed to something beyond the letters themselves. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Biblical hope is directed to God, trusting in his nature and his promises.
The long-awaited coming of the Messiah is our letter from home. Only hope gained from the Eternal is eternal. Through the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, God offers us a hope that reaches through our despair while making the distance that separates us from him disappear.
The soldier's Christmas letters from home renewed hope; there was someone waiting for him at home. That first Christmas letter, of the Word made flesh, not only tells us that someone is waiting, but it shows us the way home.
The Letter Is Sent
How many times have you heard, "The letter is in the mail"? If it's in the mail, why does it take so long to show up? That is, if it shows up at all. The chances for mishap are many; from insufficient postage, to an incorrect address or the recipient having moved with no forwarding address being left, to the letter simply getting lost in the system.
How many times do we say, "The letter is in the mail"? We wait until the last possible moment to get it in the mail. Why? So there's enough in the account to make sure that the check is covered. Sometimes there is just too much month at the end of the money. The postmark becomes a matter of strategy. Get it there in time to avoid late fees but late enough that funds are sufficient.
Then the mail comes and along with it a moment of frustration. The one letter we hoped to avoid is right there on top. Its clear cellophane window tells us more than we want to know. Opening it, we are greeted with a reminder that our account is past due. So as not to be offensive there is a disclaimer: If your payment and our letter crossed in the mail, please disregard this reminder. Of course they crossed in the mail. It was mailed just before the mail arrived!
The Almighty didn't take any chances with his letter: for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! His is a personal letter who comes to seek and to save that which is lost. His letter seeks us! Regardless of how many times we move, his letter keeps coming!
God's letter is the most unique in all the world. It informs us of our insufficient funds when trying to pay for our sins. It is impossible to buy our salvation. In the darkness of this despair, God intervenes. In the fullness of time, Jesus was born. His grace is more than sufficient as he provides the way to God the Father.
The lighting of the Christ candle reminds us that God delivered as promised: for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Not only that, God continues to deliver through the Christ who comes even now.
A Christmas Letter Revealed
The story of Christmas is incomplete; that is, the Christmas letter is not finished. But, you say, we've read God's letter. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as God said. So, in what possible sense could the Christmas letter be unfinished?
Glad you asked. It's unfinished in this way. The Apostle Paul tells the believers in Corinth, "You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. [It is revealed] that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
You, who believe that Jesus is the Christ and have gathered to worship, are God's letter. You may be a letter of faith that can inspire or a letter of joy that empowers someone to embrace life once again. You may be a letter of love that is unwrapped as you share your heart or a letter of hope whose power of presence comforts as it points to the promise of eternal life in Christ.
You are God's Christmas letter. The Christmas adventure continues as you let the light of Christ shine on this silent night, on this holy night.
