January 2011

Dear Family of Faith,
On Christmas Eve we had more than 80 visitors in our Candlelight Service! That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that most of those visitors won’t be back again until Easter. That’s the way it is for many people in today’s world. Sometimes we call them “C & E Christians” (for Christmas and Easter Christians). They appear suddenly on Christmas Eve, many with families in tow; then they disappear into the secular masses, only to reappear on Easter Sunday. One wonders whether they think the sum total of a preacher’s repertoire consists of preaching (or in our case, singing) about Jesus’ birth and about Jesus’ resurrection! Surely those two days are the most joyous in the Christian year—maybe that’s why they choose to appear only on those occasions. Maybe they are afraid of hearing something mean-spirited and condemning; maybe they cautiously avoid any risk of a sermon on hellfire and damnation (as if they would get one of those at Spring Hill UCC!). Whatever their reasoning, these C & E Christians come only twice a year.
I have heard a lot of ridicule of such two-times-per-year worshippers in my years as pastor, and on occasion I myself have lamented their lack of faithfulness to the church. Yet the older I get, the more I look on the positive side of things. (I’d hate to grow old and crotchety and become cynical like some people I’ve met!) At least these people are coming to worship twice a year, and at least their kids have been inside a church sanctuary, which is more than a lot of children have experienced today. And although they may not understand much of the Gospel and how to live in the freedom of Christ (although I’ve met nonchurch people who know more about the Bible than those who sit in the pews regularly), and they don’t contribute much to the support of the church; still they are heirs to the same grace as we are. That’s not to say that they don’t miss out on a lot—like the chance for fellowship and support from other Christians, and the chance to participate in mission work and justice causes, and the chance to learn more about who Jesus is and experience the awesome power of God in worship. Even so, Jesus’ death covers their sin just as it covers ours. And God loves them no less than any of us who delight in worshipping together every Sunday. Yet isn’t there something inherently unfair in God’s paying so much attention to those who pay so little attention to Him? That’s what grace is all about.
The week before Christmas some of the Mission Team got together to wrap all those wonderful gifts you gave to the families in need. They had brought in a lunch to share when they were finished wrapping. I showed up just at the very end and didn’t wrap a single present. I felt a little sheepish when the Team members invited me to stay for lunch. They had done all the work; I had done nothing. Like the tail-end laborers in Jesus’ parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, I had shown up at the last hour and was getting the same reward as those who worked ‘all day.’ And yet, that’s what the church is—the purveyor of grace, the herald of Good News, the embassy of God’s love. Next time you see someone in worship who comes just “once in a blue moon,” instead of condemning their lack of activity, why not encourage them by the warm welcome you offer? Sure, they don’t quite get the meaning of being a community of faith, yet; but we’re not perfect either. And who knows, maybe some of those C & E Christians may become dynamos for Jesus one day! One stranger said to me going out the door on Christmas Eve, “We’ll be back!” I’m glad she came….aren’t you?

With affection for all of you,
Pastor Carlan