Dear Passing the Peace Readers, 

Merry Christmas! 

Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is born and this is Good News indeed! 

Christmas is not just a moment, but a whole season in our liturgical calendar and we will indeed continue to celebrate Christmas this Sunday at our Church on the Road service. I hope you can be there to share the beloved story through scripture, poetry, and carols. 

It’s not that I am a grinch who seeks to take the fun out of Christmas, but amidst all the merriment,  I hold onto the fact that the true spirit of Christmas shines brighter than any of the commercialized aspects of this holiday. In Herod’s time and in this time - Jesus’ birth is a powerful disruptive message of how God is at work in the world. A newborn baby has changed and continues to change the world with a message of liberation, justice, and peace-making. 

May we pay attention to this truth so that we can share in the joy of the season with God’s love at the center of it all. 

 

The Work of Christmas 

When the song of the angels is stilled, 

When the star in the sky is gone, 

When the kings and princes are home, 

When the shepherds are back with their flock, 

The work of Christmas begins: 

To find the lost, 

To heal the broken, 

To feed the hungry, 

To release the prisoner, 

To rebuild the nations, 

To bring peace among others, 

To make music in the heart. 

-Howard Thurman 

 

“Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and sees the glory of God precisely in his lowliness. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly… God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. 

God marches right in. God chooses people as God’s instruments and performs God’s wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; God loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken."

-Dietriech Bonheoffer

 

May the Peace of Christ be with you this Christmas, 

Rev Michiko

 

PS: For all of you who have journeyed through Advent asking ourselves “What do you fear?” Here is a copy of the theme video created by Sanctified Art that was shared in last week’s service: