In When This Day Comes, Lily is asked her opinion on the Christmas Day service she attended with her Aunt Emily, and her aunt's friend, Hannah. ...
“If that was special, then I would hate to experience the usual,” Lily blurted without thinking.
“Then you were not impressed with our service today?”
They were back to this again. Lily had been congratulating herself on not having to say anything more on the topic of church, and here she was the one to steer the conversation back to it! Across the table she could not read her aunt’s face. Did she want Lily to be honest or diplomatic? As before, Lily chose honesty.
“Well, no. The preacher did not say one word about the reason for Christmas and the great marvel it is that God sent His only Son to this world to reconcile us to Himself. We were in need of a Saviour, and He loved us so much that He sent Jesus. The babe in the manger was not just any babe, but the Son of God! And the preacher didn’t even touch on that today. He didn’t even mention the wonder of God in human form or the fact that He came to save us all from our sins.”
“Isn’t that more an Easter message?”
Lily noticed Aunt Emily lower her head. Was she praying? Embarrassed? Alarmed? Offended? After all, they were guests in Hannah’s house. It wouldn’t be right for them to repay her hospitality with criticism.
“I don’t believe it is. I don’t believe we can celebrate Christmas without remembering Easter or why He came. I believe the reason Jesus came and the great gift He freely gave us should never be forgotten in all the stories we tell about the first Christmas. But the preacher didn’t even talk about those events. Instead, he spoke about gift-giving and how we should give gratefully and unstintingly.”
“And so we should.”
“Yes, but it’s not what Christmas is truly about.”
Lily had been horrified by the number of small children who had obviously been allowed to take newly acquired gifts to church to fidget with and fight over. There had been one family in front of her where the youngest daughter had dissolved into tears after her sister had rudely grabbed her doll. The child had snatched it back and then used it to hit her sibling on the head. To Lily’s horror, the parents had seized the doll off the younger child and thrown it on the floor, before slapping the legs of both girls.
Behind them in the congregation, some boys had obviously received marbles, which they noisily sent down the aisles and then furiously scrambled after to locate. She had been startled when a small body had suddenly materialised from under her seat, arrogantly pushed her feet apart to get at a marble that had lodged in the floorboards beneath her heel, and then forcibly pinched her on the ankle as he turned around and crawled back from whence he had come.
“Regardless of what you think of the sermon, you must realise that the choir sang magnificently.”
“Yes, they did.” Lily agreed. She had enjoyed listening to the familiar songs and carols, even if during the singing a number of adults were squirming, obviously wanting to get home to their Christmas food and gift-giving. She thought she could offer something positive to Hannah. “The elder who prayed at the end – his prayer was very touching.”
“Oh, him!” Hannah dismissed him with a wave of her hand and then helped herself to a second serving of chicken from the platter in the centre of the table. “He’s the town drunkard and everyone knows he has broken every single one of his marriage vows on top of that.”
Lily turned to her Aunt Emily, grateful to see that her eyes mirrored her own shock.
“Oh.” Not knowing what to do, she picked up the gravy boat and passed it to her aunt who took it and held on to it but obviously had no more idea than Lily as to what to say or do. Beth began taking away the used dishes, thus rescuing both Aunt Emily and Lily from any further awkwardness. Much to Lily’s relief, the conversation soon drifted into neutral topics and discussion over how to spend the remainder of the day.
As wonderful as the Christmas story is - the birth of Jesus our Saviour - God with us - God in human form - and just take a moment to think how amazing, how incredible that is - what is even more amazing is His love for us and the sacrifice He paid on our behalf. The cross and the resurrection - how incredible that God Himself paid the price for my sins.
This Christmas, let's not forget the reason He came.
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