Church: Open on Christmas, Easter and Every Other Day In Between

 I want to address something that occurs usually twice a year - this great, wonderful thing that we should rejoice in - but I often find myself snarling about.  I walk into my church, or the church I am attending on Christmas Eve or Easter Sunday, and it is packed.  People are sitting hip to hip in the pews.  There are faces I don't know; faces I haven't seen for a long time.  I want every Sunday to be like that when I walk into Church.  I want to have to set up more chairs, because the pews can't contain everyone.

I'll just throw something out there - yes, there have been names made up for those who only choose to attend church twice a year.  There's the plain old "twice-a-year Christians."  There's "Creaster" - a goofy melding of the words Christmas and Easter.  I need to apologize.  Because I've used these terms.  My heart has been hard.  I don't know why I get frustrated and make these bitter statements.  I love God's Church and I want to see it grow.  I shouldn't spite you because you don't have a spotless attendance record.  That's not what it's about. 

This has created what my pastors in Bloomington call an "us and them" culture.  It's not a good thing.  I should be overjoyed to see people I don't know and people who I haven't seen in a long time in Church.  You are not different, or part of an outcast group - you are welcomed as part of God's church, always, whether you attend every Sunday or just twice a year. 

Now let me say this, genuinely: I would love to see you again.  The Sunday after Christmas.  The Sunday after that.  Actually, all of the Sundays in between Christmas and Easter.  Then after Easter, I'd love to see you at Church all the Sundays between Easter and Christmas...see what I did there? :)

Let me offer you this: Church is a lot more than just sitting in the pews and being there to Celebrate Christ's birth, death and resurrection.  It is about a community that I want you to be a part of, and more importantly, that God wants you to be a part of.  I want you to experience the way God works throughout the entire year, not just on the Holidays.  There are so many wonderful things that God is able to do through the body of His Church - come and find out.

What if life was like this: what if people were only nice to you on your birthday.  They only affirmed you, supported you or paid any attention to you on that day.  You only get one day out of the year.  Would you survive?  I couldn't.  Jesus lived a whole life in between His birth and His crucifixion.  He had big days, like the Sermon on the Mount and the day He fed 5,000.  He had less glamorous days - like the day He met the woman at the well, and the day He visited Zaccheus' house.  Those days were still important.  They were a big part of Jesus' life and story and they were a big part of the lives of the others involved.

All those Sundays in between are important.  The Sundays when you have joys to share and the Sundays when you are hurting.  We don't just want to celebrate Christ's birth and death in community, we want to celebrate everyday in community.  Everyday is a gift.  Jesus is not just there for the milestones - He is there for the journey.

Merry Christmas!

~SP