Christmas is for Children

There is something very special that happens every Christmas at Central. We get to see children tell the Christmas story—during the week before Christmas, in the Christmas pageants that every class in our Weekday Nursery School and Kindergarten put on; and again on Christmas Eve, during our 4 pm worship service. And there is something magical about seeing Christmas through the eyes of children. You see it in the way the grownups react. You feel it in the way your own heartstrings are tugged.

“Christmas is for children…just for children…grownups say,” Glen Campbell sang in a song back in the 60’s. “That same tale is told every Christmas Eve again. We may think we’re old, but our hearts can almost believe again. Christmas is for children, but aren’t we all children Christmas day?”

This Christmas, I hope that you can see as a child, Not childishly, mind you, but I hope that this Christmas you can see as a child. That is, I hope that you can see something of the magic of that same tale that is told again every Christmas Eve about a poor child, of apparently no significance, born on that long ago night in some insignificant place, being for us the very presence of God, reshaping human history, reshaping our hearts so that we can almost believe again.

--Pastor Don Steele

WEEKLY COMMENTARY: What Are You Giving To Others This Year?

Hardly a day goes by when I do not receive a couple of phone calls and letters inviting me to donate some money to a worthy cause. Hardly a year goes by without one of my kids or my house or my car also needing some financial help. Sometimes the steady drumbeat of financial needs makes me wonder if perhaps the only thing important about me is is the money I have to give to others. Most of us are familiar with the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan (Luke14:25-37). A Jewish man was riding through a mountainous, remote area, when he was robbed, beaten, and left in the road "half dead". A Samaritan came along the road. Samaritans and Jews were the bitterest of enemies. Yet when the Samaritan saw the man in the road, he was moved with compassion. He braved the danger and stopped, giving the injured man emergency medical aid. and transporting him to an inn. He then paid the innkeeper and directed him to care for the man until he had fully recuperated. That would have been a substantial expense. What was Jesus doing with this story? He was showing us what it means to love your neighbor. Jesus shows us the Samaritan responding to the material, physical and economic needs of the injured Jew ---- the Samaritan planned for the injured man's recovery and paid all the related expenses. But, the Samaritan's time with the injured man was brief ---- he did not give much of himself, other than his money. I realize that this is exactly what most of my charity-giving requests are asking of me. Would I simply write a check, mail it and thus be done with this particular charity ---- until next year? This is not enough to really satisfy me, and perhaps you feel the same way. We each have more to give "our neighbor" than just our money! Three on-going activities at Central Church show us ways to help us fill this "giving gap". One is the annual Central Church High School Mission Trip, where more than 40 teenagers and adults go for a week to live in some needy place, to do some construction repairs on houses and roofs. But, most importantly they develop relationships with their destination hosts. The "hosts" are so different in life experience from the Central Church Mission trippers, that the latter must exit their shells and give something of *themselves*. So, it is no longer merely about giving money. But, *what* do they give? For the children of the "hosts," who may be seriously considering dropping out of school, or who have no real plans for their lives, our Mission Trip teenagers encourage these host kids to raise their sights ---- they can help the kids define a vision for themselves that could be more fulfilling and perhaps even more financially rewarding. But will only a week of contact and friendship do this in a lasting way? We do not know until we give it a good "college" try. Now, consider the Elizabethport Tutorial Program which meets at Central Church every Tuesday evening from October until April. On a typical Tuesday night over 100 kids gather in the Central Church auditorium. We bus 40-45 students to Summit from the Elizabethport Presbyterian Center, and they are joined by about 70 teenage tutors from local high schools. On-going relationships develop between student and tutor. The tutors find themselves encouraging their students to apply themselves more fully, and for many students the encouragement of the tutors has boosted student career goals and study habits. The tutors are not giving out money ---- they are giving something more priceless. They are giving their *own example* as achievers, and showing the Elizabethport students some of the things that are possible for *them* in the future. This is a lasting gift. A totally different Central Church practice is the "Midnight Run." Each month or so, Central youth and accompanying adults, make a hundred or so sandwiches and a supply of coffee or soup, and troop into places in New York City where homeless folks are known to gather in the evenings. It may be under bridges or in city parks. There they deliver their gift of food. But, more than that, they talk with these "friends" whom they sometimes will meet again on subsequent "Midnight Runs." The great thing about this endeavor is that each side discovers they are dealing with real people. Each shared story is different for both the Central Church participants and the homeless, but the encounter is not quickly forgotten. Which do you think is worth more? The sandwiches and soup, or the cordial human encounter? Sure, not-for-profits will continue to ask for your money and mine ---- they must do so in order to keep going. But, ask yourself whether you have something *more* to give "your neighbor" than merely your money. ____________________________________________________________________________ *These thoughts are brought to you by Central's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage some personal spiritual growth this year at Central Church.* ____________________________________________________________________________

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Glimpsing God's Reign

“This is my favorite night, not just around Christmas, but of the entire year,” the woman gushed to me as we stood in the Auditorium on Sunday night during our “Living Nativity.” I had not met her before. She had already “confessed” that she was not a member of Central. And yet, as she put it, what made the night so special was that all sorts of folks from all sorts of backgrounds and from all around the area were together, joyous, celebrating. “This is my favorite night.” And I had to agree with her.

            Of course, it is an example of what Central Church takes as its core mission—to be Central—to create space where community can gather to celebrate, to learn, simply to be. And Central takes that as its core mission in imitation of what the Bible calls God’s Kingdom, or better, given the sensitivities of language, God’s Reign—a vision of all the people of the world, gathered together with all their beautiful diversity, joyous, celebrating, at peace. “This is my favorite night,” because on that Sunday night in the Auditorium, it was like you could almost glimpse the future for which we still hope, towards which we still press.

            And I wonder, what would your December look like if you spent it on the lookout, not just for bargains to put under the tree, but for times when you could reach out to someone, reach beyond your comfort zone, reach across all that divides us? Might a favorite night be transformed into a way to beat back the deepening darkness of these days, the growing grayness of these times with the brightness of goodness and love?

--Pastor Don Steele

Christmas Cactus

CHRISTMAS CACTUS

It was not blooming when I left before Thanksgiving, but today, when I returned to the office after my Thanksgiving break, the Christmas cactus that sits on my desk was in full bloom. How unexpected! How beautiful!

I think that’s what Christmas can be if we let it—if we don’t give into the cynicism about the holiday, complaining about the commercialism, wearing a chip on our shoulder about how we greet others. If we consciously decide to turn from all of that, I think that Christmas can be beautiful, even in its corniest elements, the deep yearning to connect with the people who mean the most to us, the decency that is at the heart of folks just waiting to be revealed sometimes in small acts of breathtaking goodness.

And I think that it can be unexpected. Oh, to be sure, Christmas is always on December 25, and the countdown to that date has been going on for months, but I think that Christmas can be unexpected in the way it actually happens for us—that moment that we cannot plan when something is born again in us—call it love, call it joy, call it peace, call it hope. The heart stirs. Maybe there’s a tear in your eye, and Christmas happens for you again.

My Christmas cactus is blooming again! And I hope that something unexpectedly beautiful blooms in your life in the weeks to come.

--Pastor Don Steele