UNITY SUNDAY: Service and Foretaste

It is, hands down, my favorite Sunday morning of the entire year—the Sunday during the Martin Luther King, Jr weekend when Central gathers with folks from Fountain Baptist Church and Wallace Chapel AME Zion Church to praise God together. This year, the service will be on Sunday, January 15 at 10 am in the Sanctuary at Central—our only worship service of the day—and the music alone most years lifts my spirit to a place so holy, so joyous.

And I’ve reflected on why that is, and why it is that a holy joy like I experience on that Sunday is not a regular thing in my life. And I suppose it has something to do with reality. Reality is that racism—what has been called our nation’s “original sin”—is still very much in force in our country today. There’s no way for me to escape the realization that my life as a white person has been very different from the lives of people of color even though we went to school together and live in the same neighborhood and share the same profession. I didn’t ask for things to be this way, and so this is not a call to a guilt trip. However, it is a call to wake up to the reality of racism in our country—a reality that brings us all down, no matter our race.

The Bible is clear that God has made us all, and commands us to love each other without exception. Our diversity in color and culture and creed—this richness that God has created—is not something merely to be tolerated, but is something to be celebrated. Despite the deep stain of the reality of racism, God intends for us to be one, respecting each other no matter our differences, embracing each other.

And on that Sunday morning each year during the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, when we gather to praise God together, it’s more than a mere worship service, it seems to me. It is a foretaste of the life to come under the Reign of God—a holy, joyous life. I hope that you will join us and taste it for yourself.

--Pastor Don Steele           

EPIPHANY

As we tell the story, Christmas is over—as of December 25, or January 1, or this year, January 2. Christmas is over. Put the tree by the curb and the other decorations back into the attic, all of which makes the ancient customs of the Church rather interesting. According to those ancient customs, December 25 is the beginning, not the end, of a season of Christmas lasting for twelve days and ending on January 6—the day of Epiphany, which is again not just a day, but the beginning of a season lasting for weeks, almost until the beginning of Lent.

Of course, we don’t make much of Epiphany, though in some cultures, it is quite a big deal, known as “Three Kings Day,” reflecting the Church’s ancient practice of relating the story of the coming of the three kings, not to Christmas, but to Epiphany, which has a lot to say for it from a Biblical standpoint. Read the Bible carefully, and you will find that it simply does not say that the wise men showed up Christmas night at the manger with the shepherds and the angels, but they came later. And the Bible doesn’t claim that they were kings. The word in the Bible is “magi,” from which we derive our word, “magic,” making them more Madame Zelda with your horoscope than Queen Elizabeth. And they were “from the East,” according to the Bible, meaning that they were foreigners. And they knew about Jesus’ birth, not through the study of Scripture, but by the appearance of a star—a star that God had put in the sky, meaning that God had specifically invited them to come to Jesus in a “language” that they would understand.

All of which makes Epiphany important, it seems to me. For as Christmas ends and as a new year begin, what the Church has wanted us to remember is that the whole reason for Christmas is that God wants to invite everyone to come, using whatever language it takes. “No matter who you are,” God is saying, “no matter where you’re from or what you’ve done in life, you are invited to come. You are welcome here.”

--Pastor Don Steele

Imperfection

With December comes the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. At church that means advent calendars, the Sharing Tree, Unity concert and of course pageant is prepped and ready.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the children’s pageant. In this open, walk on pageant every child is encouraged to take a part in telling the story of Christ’s birth. I love the costumes and the singing and the waving of light sticks, the children’s voices and their dancing, and I love how messy it is.

Don’t get me wrong, our children share their talents with us, and they transport all of us as they lead us in worship that is at times solemn and beautiful. Our staff and volunteers do an amazing job of organizing costumes, preparing music, choreographing dancers and planning with families and children to make sure that everyone is welcome and included- but in the pageant itself- it’s the little moments of imperfection that remind me of who we are as God’s children.

It’s the strange costume combinations (donkey ears and angel wings), kids who decide at the last minute to run off to sit with mom, kids who really want to be a part of the pageant but are afraid that they might be too old that remind me of God’s grace. In these moments it’s easy to know that imperfections don’t take away from the pageant- they make it what it is. It’s easy to feel God’s grace in the stunning realization that God is smiling on all of it. 

In our yearly striving for a beautifully decorated house and lovely gatherings with family and friends, the right gifts, the tree- I hope that we can also remember the imperfect, lovely faces of children who have come to lead us in worshiping God- imperfect just like us. 

This Advent as we prepare our hearts and our homes and our children to welcome Christ in our midst- I hope that when we look at the faces at the manger- all of the faces- that  we can came to see ourselves there too.

Home for Christmas

He was munching on a cookie when he said it to me, this teenage boy. “I never realized before how sad so much Christmas music is.” And it was a profound insight, delivered by a teenage boy standing in Central’s Auditorium, his one hand filled with Christmas cookies, the place packed with the crowd from the Living Nativity. It didn’t last for long, this moment of insight, as both of us soon turned back to the table in search of some more chocolate chip cookies, but that teenage boy was right. So much Christmas music is kind of sad, melancholy.

            And I think that sadness comes from the difference between the ideal of what we think that Christmas should be and the reality of what it is. Take the song, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” “You can count on me…. I’ll be home for Christmas,” the lyrics affirm, before taking this sudden twist, “if only in my dreams.” For despite the ideal of what we think that Christmas should be, the reality for some people is that being home for Christmas is only a dream, and that’s sad.

            You can think of the ones who won’t be home for Christmas—soldiers serving far from home—folks doing time in prison—refugees displaced by natural disaster and by war. This week, due to our participation with other interfaith congregations in the Homeless Sabbath, Dec. 16-18, I am thinking of homeless people. 

Here in New Jersey, of course, it’s easy for folks to end up homeless, since we are the 6^th most expensive state in which to rent an apartment. According to a study, working at a minimum wage job, a family would have to work 127 hours a week in order to afford the average two bedroom apartment in New Jersey, which equates to 3.2 full-time jobs! That’s why so many of the families we encounter when we host Family Promise guests are employed. They just don’t earn enough to afford to live here. And that’s why our local Interfaith Council has been working so hard these past six months on affordable housing. This situation simply must change, but it starts with a moment, a flash of insight, the reality, the dream beyond the sadness. “I’ll be home for Christmas….”

--Pastor Don Steele

Feeling Closer to God Through Music

I'm writing this blog post tonight, Thursday evening, following an exciting rehearsal at Fountain Baptist in preparation for the Gospel Christmas concert that we are presenting together. And when I wake up in the morning, I will be getting ready to play a children's concert at Central, for which the last couple of times more than 100 kids have attended. Each event is totally different, but both are the same in purpose...bringing people together. One brings together the children of the community, from different nursery schools (as well as adults!), to sit together for 30 minutes and enjoy a story and some music. The other brings together our two congregations, their music programs, and the community at large as everyone gathers together to enjoy utterly amazing music. 

Both are opportunities for neighbors and friends to be together. Both are opportunities for differences to be forgotten. In each of those events, music and fellowship are the primary focus, and both are chances to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the season. 

I feel very grateful that we at Central can present these kinds of outreach events, because these events are what make me the most proud of my role here. When people can gather, regardless of race, gender, age and sexual orientation, and enjoy music, and perhaps feel closer to God because if it...that's when I feel like my work has true meaning.

-Dr. Charity Wicks, Director of Music Ministries