Church on Christmas Day

Christmas day feels like freedom. We relish in the joy of a month of Advent. The parties have dimmed. No one is requesting an email to be returned. Business stops. Time is savored. Children and adults linger in each other’s stories. It is a beautiful day. Its beauty has such a sacred quality that causes us to ask every six years or so, “Are we meeting for worship on Christmas — a SUNDAY?”

Each Sunday, I prayerfully stroll the aisles before people arrive. I imagine where people regularly sit and offer words of prayer for them. I yearn for our worship, to be honest and true. I also often wonder: “Will anyone show up today?” You see, there is a freedom element to our worship that we embrace. I sometimes tell people to “take a Sunday off” or “maybe it would be more beneficial for you to walk through the woods this Sunday.” The sacred is not only found in the sanctuary. These details review a truth about my view of God, the Church and God’s work in the world. As with everything, we hold this truth in tension with a disciplined approach to faith.

The church is many things. It is a stabilizing fabric for many of our communities. It is a social outlet. It can be a place of education. It is a mission outpost. It is a worshiping community. It is a support system. I show up in church spaces not because I always want to but because I need to. I show up, not just for myself but for others — they need me and I need them. In this sense, “Do we have church on Christmas day?” is a diversion from a more profound reality we must establish.

In his role as President Josiah Bartlet in “The West Wing,” Martin Sheen famously said to a group of Georgetown students, “Decisions are made by those who show up.” I argue that this is not a onetime or whenever-I-feel-like-it mindset. Instead, it is a mode of operating that understands the power and importance of presence at church. Consistently committing to a healthy church week after week helps establish the foundation for our spiritual lives. Dare we be so bold to say, “You need to be here” as an act of spiritual formation? It’s worth pointing out that each of us leaders needs to do an ego check to ensure we are not making this demand for a personal boost. Instead, its source should be a place of pastoral care — a shepherd’s heart. Being present allows us to know and be known by others to experience the physical love of God’s people.

On the Advent of Christ, we must consider what our presence means to each other and our worship. COVID was a wrecking ball on our church systems. Many of us have stories of people who have opted out of church altogether. Many left without a return date because they experienced little difference in their lives without church. This sad reality reveals a condemning truth about what many churches have become — a place of social acceptance without requiring social change. We have opted for softening the edges of commitment to spare people the rigor of a disciplined approach

By Rev. Scott Shelton

to faith. This kind of discipline can be hard to express without feeling pietistic or Pharisaical.

It may go without saying, but this is not my disciplined tone toward my congregation. Quite the opposite, these are the demands I place on my life as an example and servant. When Jesus showed up, everything changed. His presence mattered. My presence matters. Your presence matters.

I expect a small crowd on Sunday, December 25, 2022. Perhaps it will only be my family. Many sacred things will happen around tables, living rooms, backyards and sanctuaries on this day. At Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis, Maryland, there will be a simple worship liturgy to help us stay grounded on the essential truth in us — Christ in us.

Rev. Scott Shelton is the Senior Pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis, Maryland.

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