Of all the things I have ever written, I think the following was my favorite thing. The church had passed through the pandemic year pretty well, but in 2020 and 2021 we had suffered some very hard deaths and there were others who were ill. It had been a tough two years. Now, as Christmas neared, we had nothing special to present to the congregation. Then, one morning I awoke very early with an idea. I went to the computer and in three hours I had written a little program for our little choir. Nothing hard, but something we could handle. Even though I had slept but two hours, I felt good and even renewed.

The music would be the old standards, but the narration would go along with the songs. We could do it!

And so we did. Imagine ten or twelve people who did not sing together often, but on this special day they gathered at the front of the church. Our musician was ready, our singers were in fine voice (Well, most of them, anyway. Those who were struggling know who you are!) And our narrator was well prepared. This was God's gift to me and the choir was poised to give a gift to God. Perhaps you were there, perhaps not, but here is the Christmas program from 2021 as given in the middle of the night to an old preacher who would see only one more Christmas as an active pastor. 

Read the narration and then sing the songs in your mind.

Merry Christmas!

                                       Christine's Christmas 

Christine was eight years old and very grown up, at least in her mind. Christmas was coming and she was excited, but she was trying her very best to hold the excitement down. Not her stupid brother, though. He was ten, so he should be acting older, but there he was, looking on-line at all the new toys and deciding he wanted this and that. There was no way Santa could bring all that. Her brother was just stupid.

Still, the excitement gripped her, too. She had been on-line and had already messaged her list to Santa. It wasn’t too much. The sleigh was pretty large. It would all fit nicely and not put Santa out.

The house was all decorated and the tree was up! Daddy had put up the outside lights just in time, for snow was starting to fall. She looked out the window and thought how beautiful their house would look once it was dark and the lights came on!

It was exciting! So, how was a grown up eight year old girl supposed to wait three weeks?

Everything was exactly right, except Mommy was not playing Christmas music. No ‘Jingle Bells’ and no ‘White Christmas.’ Nothing like that. Mommy and Daddy were both different this year. Not ‘bad’ different. They were smiling more and seemed calmer. They had bought this thing with little toy people and a donkey and some sheep. All the people and all the animals were turned and looking at this little holder that had a little tiny toy baby in it. When they had taken it out of the box, they had been very quiet, but they had looks on their faces that Christine wondered about. Little smiles, knowing glances to one another. Little things like that Christine didn’t really understand. One morning early she had turned the people so that the men were facing each other like they were talking. That seemed more normal. Mommy didn’t seem to like that and she turned all of them back to that little toy baby. Christine, being pretty grown up for eight, decided that it was best to leave it alone. It seemed nice and it seemed to make her parents happy, so it was good.

But no Christmas music. What was up with that?

Mommy was playing music, of some kind. Kind of sounded like the stuff at church. Just after school had started, they had started going to a church. Christine didn’t really care for it. Boring! But she was pretty grown up, so she sat there and endured. Her stupid brother had been pretty rude at first, falling asleep when the man got up to talk, but for the last little bit he had been better. Mommy said that he had a great Sunday School teacher. Christine’s teacher was even more boring that the man who got up to talk. But they had this music that was OK, but different. And now that Christmas was coming, the music was really different.

Christine decided she would talk to Mommy about the music, so she went into the bedroom where Mommy was cleaning.

“Mommy, aren’t we going to have Christmas music this year?”

“This is Christmas music, Chrissy. It is just different from what you are used too.”

“I just don’t get it, Mommy.”

Christine’s mother looked around a little nervously. Then she went over and picked up a little book. She sat down on the bed and patted the place next to her, letting Christine know she could come and sit with her.

“This book came with the music we are hearing and it explains the songs. Let’s start at the beginning and listen to the music and then see what the song is all about.”

The first song was called, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” (Choir sings the song.)

When it was over, Mommy read the story in the book. It was an old song, almost three hundred years old! The music sounded funny and the words didn’t make much sense, but Mommy explained that Jesus had been expected for a very, very long time and His people would be looking to Him to save them.

“In fact, in our new Nativity set, that’s the thing where you turned the men around to talk to each other,” Mommy made a stern face and Christine blushed. Then Mommy went on with a smile, “the little baby is Jesus.” Christine was confused. “But there are animals there!” “Yes, sweetie, Jesus was born in a barn.” “If they expected Him, why was He born in a barn?”

“Well, Chrissy, the world really didn’t want Jesus to come right then. They were living lives that God wasn’t happy with and they figured Jesus would make them stop. They expected Him, but they really didn’t want Him.” Here is the next song.

Mommy hit PLAY and the next song started. It was called “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It was an old song, too, but not as old as the other one. Christine understood it better. (Choir now sings this song.)

“OK, this Jesus was born in some little town with a funny name and He was born in a barn. They must’ve really not liked the little guy.” Mommy laughed out loud at Jesus being called a little guy. “Well, Jesus was going to be born kind of in secret. He was God’s Son, but he wanted to be known first to regular people.”

Christine was startled. “God’s Son??? Everyone in the world should have been there!” Mommy smiled. “You would think so. But it was just His mother and father, Mary and Joseph, and some shepherds there.” “Shepherds? What is a shepherd?” “Oh, that is someone who watches the sheep in the field and takes care of them.” “That’s silly! Why would those guys be there?” Mommy smile again. It seemed Mommy was smiling a lot these days. “Let’s listen to the next song. It’s about the shepherds. It is called “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.” (The choir sings this song.)

“Mommy, how were the shepherds dressed? If they were out in the field with a bunch of sheep all the time, they had to be wearing some old, ragged clothes.” Mommy nodded her head. “I have that picture in my mind, too. I bet they even smelled worse than your uncle Bill when he gets home from work!” Christine made a face. Uncle Bill had lived with them for a while. Mommy laughed at the face, but Christine was serious.

“But Mommy, on that toy set of people and animals you have next to the tree, there are three men who look like they are dressed really good. Who are they?” “Those are the Wise men who came from a land far, far away. They weren’t actually there for the birth of Jesus, but they got there eventually. They are usually included to show that Jesus was sent by God for the poorest of the poor and for the richest of the rich. They brought very valuable gifts. Sometimes they are referred to as kings. The next song is called “We Three Kings.” (Brian, Ed and Jim sing.)

Christine looked at her mother and said, “I haven’t heard that one before.” Mommy sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, to be honest, I don’t really like how that one sounds, so I took it off my play list.” “Thank you, Mommy!”

“Thinking about babies always makes me happy!” Christine was your typical grown up eight year old girl. Mommy chuckled. “Yes, me too. But there were two people who were worried. The Mom and Dad, Mary and Joseph. An angel first came to Mary and told her that she was going to give birth to God’s Son. She went and told Joseph, who she was engaged to, and he didn’t believe her. They were just common people! Why would God choose them? And it was the wrong time! They knew that that their leaders didn’t Jesus born yet. They were afraid they would lose their jobs. But then, the angel came and told Joseph the good news, too. Now they were in a barn because there was no room for them anywhere else. Stinky shepherds were there and animals and who knows what else? No, Mary and Joseph had to be a little scared. But they could think back to the angel who came to them. That was real. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Joseph, but this next song kind of tells about Mary and the Baby. (The choir sings “What Child is This?”)

“That is a really good story, Mommy, but it was a long, long time ago. Who is it important to now?” “Well, it is important to me and to Daddy and to millions and millions of others. In fact, the story has change the way your Daddy and I see things now. And it has helped people for all these years. In fact, there is a song in here that was written by a famous American writer. He was depressed and really sad and he was going to kill himself right on Christmas Day!” Christine jerked back in surprise and shock. “That’s right. He was so sad! But on Christmas morning, as he laid in bed thinking of how best to end his life, he heard a church close by playing their bells that played out these very songs. He listened a long while, and he was so moved that he changed his mind about killing himself. Do you want to hear that song?” Christine, fascinated, nodded her head. (Choir sings “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,”)

Mommy was surprised to see that her little girl had tears in her eyes. “Honey, would you like me to tell you the story of Jesus and how He gave His life for us. Little Christine could only nod her head. And right there, on the bed, Mommy told her daughter about Jesus. And right there, on the bed, Christine took Jesus as he Savior.

When Christine went back into the living room, it had gotten dark outside. Someone, probably her brother (she didn’t even think of him as stupid), had plugged the tree in. She looked down at the Nativity Set and smiled at the reflections of the different colored lights on the characters. But on Jesus, one of the white lights seemed to be shining right on Him.

Just then there was the sound of singing coming from outside. Christine grabbed her coat and ran out to the porch. There, walking down the sidewalk in the softly falling snow, came a group of people singing. They had just finished one of the songs that she and Mommy had just heard and were starting a new one. “Joy to the World!” (Choir sings this song as they exit out of the sanctuary and sing as they walk down the hall.) Yes! Christine lifted her arms as the group walked off in the snow. Joy to the World!