The day which causes great rejoicing in most children and much trepidation in many adults is at last upon us. Christmas is here once again, and we gather in praise of a God who takes it upon Himself to send an infant into the world who will grow up to change everything about how we perceive God and His purposes for us. Christmas is God’s greatest surprise to a world long grown cynical. Shall we accept the surprise, or not? To find an answer, let us, with Christmas confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord God of Christmas, we pray that Thou wouldst move in our hearts to give us the excitement we had long ago when this day at last came, but a maturity of judgment and understanding which turns it into a different, more encompassing kind of excitement. However we comprehend the historicity of Christmas, enlarge our understanding of its theology and its christology. Whatever pleasure we once felt by the arrival of this day, may we be given an even greater pleasure by contemplating what it means for the world as opposed to what it means for us personally.
We thank Thee that most of the world finds itself at relative peace this Christmas. We praise Thee for Thy spirit working within political leaders and diplomats who are determined to do everything of which they are capable to keep the peace. But this Christmas we pray particularly for the people of Ukraine and for their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Be with every Ukrainian who is suffering, which means every Ukrainian. Move within the heart of the man who has caused all this suffering, who considers himself to be a practicing and observant Christian. Enlighten all of us in the ways in which we deceive ourselves about who we really are, so that the power of the transforming Gospel may turn us into the people Thou wouldst have us to be rather than merely the people we have chosen to be.
We pray that the teachings of the baby whose birth we celebrate today may enter more positively into us, transforming us into people who are more reconciled to Thee because of those teachings. Put Christ into Christmas, O God, so that Christmas may connect us to Thee once again with all its power and transformative traditions. When we reflect on our own lives, we realize how truly blessed we are, and for that we give Thee thanks. Help Christmas to be a gift to everyone, and especially help us to give proper and informed thanks for The Gift. We ask it all in Jesus’ name. Now together we pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father….