On Christmas Eve I joined another small church pastor and his wife in celebrating the birth of our Savior. Their organist was out of town so I brought along my portable CD player and my collection of hymn accompaniment CDs.
Theirs is a rural church. A portable generator provides electricity to light the building and propane gas heaters provide warmth to heat it. The temperature had been dropping all day. By the time I arrived at their church it was below freezing.
The building is on a windy hill with no trees to protect it from the wind. The wind was howling around the church. Even with the heaters going full blast, the interior of the building did not warm up.
We were the only people in attendance. A pickup truck pulled up in front of the building and then drove off. My pastor friend had expected a light turnout. He hazarded that the cold must have kept away anyone who might have come.
Undaunted we sang Christmas carols and celebrated the Holy Eucharist. We listened again to the Christmas story and reflected upon how the early Church had picked December 25 as the day on which to celebrate Jesus’ birth. We gave thanks for Christ’s saving death on the cross and shared the sacrament of his Body and Blood. After the service, we gathered in the fellowship hall and warmed ourselves with hot apple cidar and hot rooibos tea.
When I left the building, the grass crunched under my feet. It had frozen during the service. I drove home, thankful for the heater in my car.
As I was writing this article, I remembered this prayer from Prayers For The Church Service League Of The Diocese Of Massachusetts Seventh Edition, Revised and Enlarged, 1952.
O Father Almighty and God of all comfort; Look with compassion, we beseech thee, upon the little companies of our faithful brethren who, in lonely places of the world, are striving to uphold the banner of the Cross. If the comfort of human sympathy seem far from them, be thou their close companion, and pour into their hearts the spirit of hope; that they may steadfastly persevere, and be of good courage because of thy word, knowing that their labor is not in vain; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A very merry Christmas to you wherever you serve Christ. May he fill your lives brimming full with his joy and peace.
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