Month: December 2023

What’s the most important word in the Bible? There are a lot of good answers: love, salvation, grace, and Jesus. We tend to think of important words in terms of belief: the most important words in the Bible must be about our belief, right? 

When I was studying at the Corrymeela community in Northern Ireland two summers ago, one thing that was said stood out above all others. It’s that we must hold relationships above beliefs. So often seminaries and churches focus so much on right belief, but we don’t spend enough time on right relationships. This idea of holding relationships above belief has changed my answer to the question: what is the most important word in the Bible?

The Christmas story reminds me of the power of this word. The angel says to Joseph, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’” And then in John’s gospel, we get the summary statement of what Christmas means: “The Word became flesh and lived with us.” It’s an unprepossessing little word, but this is the word that lies at the heart of Christmas and at the heart of the Christian faith. The word is “with.” 

Think back to the very beginning of all things. John’s gospel says, “The Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. Without him not one thing came into being.” In other words, before anything else, there was a “with.” The “with” between God and the Word, or as Christians came to call it, between the Father and the Son. “With” is the most fundamental thing about God. And then think about how Jesus concludes his ministry. His very last words in Matthew’s gospel are, “Behold, I am with you always.” In other words, there will never be a time when I am not “with.” And at the very end of the Bible, when the book of Revelation describes the final disclosure of God’s everlasting destiny, this is what the voice from heaven says: “Behold, the home of God is with mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.” 

We’ve stumbled upon the most important word in the Bible, the word that describes the heart of God and the nature of God’s purpose and destiny for us. That word is “with.” That’s what God was in the very beginning, that’s what God sought to instill in the creation of all things, that’s what God was looking for in making the covenant with Israel, that’s what God coming among us in Jesus was all about, that’s what the sending of the Holy Spirit meant, that’s what our destiny in the company of God will look like. It’s all in that little word “with.” God’s whole life and action and purpose are shaped to be “with” us.

At Christmas God said unambiguously, “I am ‘with’.” Behold, my dwelling is among you. I’ve moved into the neighborhood. I will be “with” you always. My name is Emmanuel, God “with” us.

The story of the Bible, the good news of the Gospel, the joy of Christmas is “with.” God is with us, but we are also designed and made to be with each other. We need each other. We cannot be Christian or truly human alone. 

So much of the Bible is about how to live well in this world with each other. The promised day of God looks like wolf laying down with lamb, lion and calf dancing with each other, all of God’s children at the same table with one another. 

We’ve been talking about “Home for Christmas” this Advent. Home isn’t a place; it’s a way of being and living. Home is with God and with one another not just in physical presence but in purpose and love and spirit. With is not always easy. Relationships are hard. Those who have large extended families and in-laws coming for Christmas may attest to the stress of “with.” We do not always live with each other well, as the news is quick to remind us. We are not home yet, the world is not as it should be.

God, above all, knows how exasperating, ungrateful, thoughtless and self-destructive company we can be. Most of the time we just want God to fix it, and spare us the relationship. But that’s not God’s way. God could have done it all on his own. But God chose not to. God chose to do it “with” us. Even though it cost the cross. That’s the wonder of Christmas. That’s the amazing news of the word “with.”

This fall and winter I have continued to have the privilege of making music with the kids of Derry Church.  Our schedule looks a little different this year from last year. Some parts are the same, on Sunday mornings from 9:00-9:15 am, I still make music with preschool through 5th grade children. On Tuesdays, however, we have done some rearranging.  From 5:45-6:05 pm, I make music with preschool children and their families; from 6:05-6:35 pm, I make music with K-2nd grade children; from 6:35-7:00 pm, I make music with 3rd-5th grade children; and from 7:00-7:20 pm, I ring bells and chimes with 3rd-5th grade children. All of our groups, especially our 3rd-5th graders have been BUSY!

The 3rd-5th grade group has already sung and rung in worship three times this school year, AND they are getting ready to do it again on Christmas Eve at 5 pm! We are looking forward to a slightly slower paced January. The songs they have been working on are much more complicated than what they worked on last year. The vocal range is larger, the songs are longer, and some have had multiple parts happening at once. The K-2nd group sang on Children’s Sunday and are getting ready to sing on Christmas Eve.  They are working hard on consistently staying in their singing voice, accurately echoing pitch, keeping a steady beat, and playing musical games together. Our new group, the preschool and family group, has been having fun exploring together. Adults and kids alike ride “Engine No. 9,” sing and move at rabbit or turtle speed, and learn songs together.

While all the groups work very hard to get ready to lead worship, that is never the primary focus. Rather, we are exploring our faith together and building a safe, nurturing, joyful community in the process. These kids are kind, joyful, curious, and extremely hard-working. It is a privilege to be in community with them every week.

Come, rejoice and celebrate the wonder and mystery of the birth of the Christ Child with the choirs of Derry Church as they take you on a journey to Bethlehem! 

The Sanctuary Choir and Derry Ringers will  join with soprano and tenor soloists Nina Cline and Christian Seay to present our 2023 Christmas concert, Gaudete!* The concert features works by Dan Forrest, including his settings of O Little Town of Bethlehem for choir, piano, and soprano saxophone, and Angels from the Realms of Glory for four-hand piano and violin. 

The orchestra will accompany the choir in my setting of The First Noël, and you’ll enjoy  J. David Moore’s stirring setting of Gaudete with choir, soloists, and tambourine. Harold Darke’s alternate tune set to the text In the Bleak Midwinter features Nina and Chris accompanied by our Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ. You’ll also hear accompanists well-known to Derry: pianists Mary Lemons and Kurestin Miller, and organist Mark O’Hearn.

Other works include Mary Did You Know?, Angels Carol by John Rutter, and Alfred Burt’s beloved Caroling, Caroling. The Derry Ringers will perform two well-known carols, Fum, Fum, Fum and the Ukrainian Bell Carol, more commonly referred to as Carol of the Bells. 

The concert begins this Sunday, December 10 at 2 pm** and 5 pm in the Sanctuary, but you’ll want to get there 10 minutes early to hear a pre-concert recital by our harpist, Marilla Clay.  Join us for a sojourn that begins with a star above the stable, on a cold winter’s night where Mary, Joseph, and the Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, await the shepherds and wise men. As we lift our voices together, I pray that each audience member will be caught up in the most tender warmth of love that the most humble birth of Jesus gives to each of us.

* In case you were wondering, Gaudete means “rejoice” — an apt description for this concert orchestrated to fill your heart with Christmas joy.

** You can also attend the 2 pm concert by live stream, but I heartily encourage you to attend in person, if at all possible. Click here to download the concert program.