Christmas Sunday

Note: This post was updated on 12/26/11

Christmas doesn’t fall on a Sunday very often – only ten times every 100 years, but not in regular intervals.  (The next time will be in 2022, and then, not again until 2033.) This makes no difference to Catholics and high-church Protestants who always hold worship services on Christmas Day.  But going to church on Christmas morning is a bit of a novelty to most Protestants, including me.  I love our Christmas Eve services, especially the late one that ends with the lighting of the Christ candle at midnight.  Because we “sing in” Christmas with that service, we don’t normally worship together the following morning.  But when Christmas falls on a Sunday, we don’t cancel church.  We hold only one service.  The crowd is small, but those who come want to be there.

One reason Christmas Day worship is nice is that some carols are written specifically to be sung on Christmas morning.  For instance, the third verse of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” begins, “Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,” and “Good Christians Friends, Rejoice” includes the line “Give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today.” 

And then there are the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow set to music in “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”  Longfellow penned this poem in the depths of the Civil War, contemplating the dissonance between the gunshots of war and the

peals of church bells announcing “peace on earth.”  He lamented how his beloved country was torn apart by violence, but then found the faith to proclaim that God’s power was greater than all the hatred and weapons of human warfare. 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day their old familiar carols play/  And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom /  Had rolled along th’unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth, I said,/  For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;/  The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing, singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day/ A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth, good will to men.

I love this carol because it reminds us that Christmas is not a magical fantasy or an escape from life’s troubles.  It is a stake in the ground for peace in a violent world.  When we sing the season’s carols mindful of their words, we are steadfastly affirming God’s reign over creation despite all that is wrong.  We are professing our faith that God’s peace will ultimately prevail over all violence. 

Last night, 90,000 people from all over the world gathered in and around Manger Square in Bethlehem, a city all too familiar with violence.  Pock marks made by Uzi submachine guns during the Second Intifada are visible in the stone walls of the Church of the Nativity.  The celebration of Christ’s birth in this West Bank city cut off from Jerusalem by a 25-foot steel “separation barrier” is a powerful witness of faith, as are the brave Christmas gatherings in Iraq, Nigeria, and the Philippines, where Christians have recently suffered persecution, particularly on their holiest days of worship. (*Update: this year, 26 Christians were killed in a terrorist attack during Christmas services in Nigeria.)

Gathering for worship on Christmas Day centers us in the message preserved in all those carols and in the biblical texts about Christ’s birth.  To be honest, I’m not ready to say I would like to hold worship every Christmas morning.  I relish the sabbath that Christmas has become for me – a time to rest from all the pastoral labors of the holiday season and pass the hours easily in the presence of my family.  On the other hand, I welcome these occasional Christmas Sundays.  Worship on this day comes naturally and leaves no doubt about the meaning of our celebration.  “Peace on earth” is more than a sentimental Christmas card greeting.  It is a stubborn acclamation of our faith that, “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.” 

We believe that God will have the last word in creation, and the word will be “peace.”

Copyright 2011 by J. Mark Lawson