Our Sunday school's annual Christmas program is in the books. As you can imagine, a flute and clarinet duo by two beginning music students, it was a joy in all the ways a Christmas pageant should be. A late start, do overs, missed cues, technical difficulties and all kinds of wiggly kiddos who couldn't keep quiet at all the wrong times. ... Simply the best!
I know that there are churches out there that spend weeks in rehearsal for their big budget programs that bring in high tech tools, professional lights and live animals. ... But, frankly, that's just not us. We are your little rural parish whose just excited we still have kids in Sunday school and an older youth group comprised of early teenagers who are still young enough at heart that they will volunteer to participate in the program to bolster our acting ranks.
Our Sunday school teachers are volunteers, and they get a couple of live practices with all the kids at best -- and that's including the one that happens an hour before the program begins -- to produce the most faithful and joyful program that they can. It's a tall task, and our teachers never fail to produce!
Our situation inevitably means minimally detailed costumes, that our actors will be reading their lines from scripts during the performance, some of the kiddos won't be heard because they do know how to speak into the one microphone that we will pass between the kids, and there will be a high degree of real-time guidance from the Sunday school teachers taking place throughout the program.
And, you know what? ... None of that matters! The programs never fail to elicit smiles and laughter at all the right moments all program long. No one gets bent out of joint because of the lack of professionalism in our Christmas programs. And all of this suits me just fine! ... I still love seeing how the Holy Spirit steps up every year to help our kiddos and teachers deliver a joy-filled show that doesn't disapoint.
And this year, I thought the message in this year's program was especially poignant. In the play, there was an angel named Harold, who LOVED to sing and practiced all of the time. His only dream was to be able to use his signing in service of serving God, and he badgered his supervisor angel Samuel for an opportunity to do so. However, there was just one tiny problem: Harold REALLY can't sing! ... Like Harold is a cringeworthy bad singer! And his supervisor is aware of it. So he assigns a long list of angel tasks to Harold that have NOTHING to do with singing.
Long story short, eventually another angel bursts on the scene with the breaking news that the day to announce the birth of Jesus has come, and God announces that there will be an "all call" to the heavenly angels to particpate in the announcement of the new Christ child. And so Harold eventually gets to utilize his song in service to the Lord. As you can imagine, he is ecstatic!
And we, as the crowd, learn that it doesn't matter what your skills are, or how good you are at them, if you are using them to praise God. ... It's not your talent that matters, it's your joyfull intention and effort to praise that God loves and cares about!
You see where I'm going with this? ... This is exactly the message we take to heart at our church when it comes to our children's program. Sure, some might turn their noses up at our less-than-polished program, but I have to say that it is the marquee start to the Christmas season to me. Once we've seen our kids perform the Christmas program, then I know it's the Christmas season. And it fills my heart to the brim every ... single ... year!
Great job Faith Lutheran kiddos! My hats off to you for such a stellar effort! ... Now, it's Christmas time! Amen!
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