Turkey Trot...

What's Advent and Christmas season like for pastors? Crazy. I know some clergy get freaked out over the Lenten and Easter seasons, with Holy Week being a particular stressor, but personally? I pretty much lose it over December.

I saw a video posted on Facebook the other day of a small boy on his way home from school, and he was being chased by a wild turkey. You could tell the child was in a panic, as the big (dumb) bird was gaining on him. A Good Samaritan driving down the road, pulled his car onto the brim between them, cutting off the turkey, and ending the boy's anxiety. This is a great metaphor for clergy--at least for this one--in December. I am the small boy, Advent and Christmas are the turkey. Where, O where is our Good Samaritan?

I'll probably have to spend a weekend in purgatory for equating these Jesus-oriented seasons with a marauding turkey, but planning Advent themes that are meaningful without being trite is a challenge. I am blessed to work with a great Leadership Team here at St. Paul's, and we have a Music and Worship Director who leads us in putting together themes, services, and liturgy, but still, keeping it all focused in one's head, while preparing sermons and aiming at "The Show" on Christmas Eve wears one down.

We have five worship services each weekend at St. Paul's--one on Saturday night, and four on Sunday morning. Typically, I preach at three, and Pastor Karen at two, but we flip-flop that from time to time so each congregation gets to hear a different perspective. It's a little daunting that each of the services is a different format, and that the sermon is best "tweaked" and at worst sometimes totally revamped to fit the aesthetics of each. Yours Truly likes to use a little humor, from time to time, and I get a kick out of the fact that in one service, a planned moment of levity in a sermon is liable to fall totally flat, while being greeted by guffaws in another. One must also learn that a proud moment of "inspired" biblical exegesis doesn't seem as awe-inspiring to an 8:30AM wake-up crowd as it may to a 10:30AM pre-lunch assembly. And, of course, these congregations expect a few real stem-winders over the December holidays. After all, Advent and Christmas are about Jesus, past, present, and future.

What complicates matters for this clergyperson is that I love these seasons, personally. I think it was Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes who said, "If you have a big cannon, SHOOT it!" Christmas is our "big cannon" in the church. While Easter is endowed with much more theological significance, Christmas is the holiday that has won universal acceptance. It's when a church of 1,200 members here in Allison Park usually has about 1,500 show up for worship on Christmas Eve. Finding time to personally revel in the revelry is like trying to find the red needle in the green haystack. Usually, Christmas Day is a time to recuperate, especially after getting home around 2:00AM the night before.

Still, I love the season, and usually DO find time to thank God for the gift of Jesus, who came into the world to rescue us all. The life of Jesus inspires me, the teachings of Jesus guide me each day, and the sacrifice of Jesus--which I'll never fully understand--amazes me. Preaching about Jesus is not hard, but doing it in such a way that people "meet" the Christ rather than just hear a lesson or a news report about him is, well, hard. I know, I know, "rely on the Holy Spirit." Sure, that's easy? Over thirty-four years of preaching the Good News on Christmas Eve, though, I have learned to do two things: stick to the story, and "keep the main thing the main thing." As one of our hymns proclaims, "love came down at Christmas!" Indeed.

Ever wonder what goes through the mind of a minister while she or he is navigating December? Well, here you have it. Pretty disjointed, isn't it? Where IS that Holy Spirit when you need her? To all my pastor friends, may the Spirit give "kick" to your Advent and Christmas sermons, and may you find time to enjoy God's love and grace with your partner and your family. To my non-pastor friends, just push through the bustle and celebrate like there is no tomorrow. Experience God's love that DID come down at Christmas--and has never left. Say a prayer for peace. Commit a few of those random acts of kindness. And let joy fill all of the empty spaces.

Oh, oh, here comes that turkey again. I'm off...another sermon beckons. Shalom, Yinz. And if I don't get to update this blog before it happens, Merry Christmas!