The Pastor’s Piece, Pastor Kevin Cernek – Chaplain

December 9, 2024

FCFI

December 8, 2024

What do hip-hop artists do on Christmas? (They unwrap).

Decorating outside for Christmas is something I enjoy. Some people like to decorate early when it’s still warm. But to me, part of Christmas is decorating in the chilling cold and stringing lights until my fingers are numb and my toes are about to fall off. My wife takes a different approach. But when we put our heads together, we get it done! And, if I don’t say so myself, it’s beautiful all around our house – both inside and out. One of my proud achievements is how I have connected all the lights from the bushes in front, to the windmill on the side, to the bushes in back of the house, and all the way over to the pine tree that is growing next to the shop – they are all connected together and plugged in to one plug outside the house that works from a switch inside the front door. I don’t even have to step outside to plug them in or unplug them before going to bed. Nope, just flip the switch on or off from the warmth inside the house. (It’s the little things in life).

Christmas is a happy time of year. I like Christmas because my wife is always baking, the kitchen is warm and smells good and the family is always around helping and laughing a lot. I like laughing. I like Christmas because of the happy memories I have as a child with my mom and dad and siblings and grandparents, and also with my aunts and uncles and cousins. With our own children we made our own traditions that are very similar to the ones my wife and I had with our families. We love these days!

Our Christmas theme at church this year is “The Songs of Christmas” from Luke, chapters one and two. Every year when the holidays roll around, in an effort to be original and unique, I get a little stumped on what exactly to preach on during the Christmas season. I mean, it’s obvious what to preach about – but everybody knows the Christmas story. In fact, where most holidays are specific to certain countries or regions, Christmas is a holiday celebrated all over the whole entire world at the very same time. There is a special presence of the Holy Spirit all over the world at this time of the year. And I always like to draw everybody’s attention to the fact that Jesus is the Light of the World and we celebrate Christmas by hanging lights everywhere and lighting them up.

I had the privilege a few years ago of introducing someone to the Lord who was a very religious person by his own standards, but really had no idea what it meant to have a living and thriving relationship with the One True God. When I first met him, I asked him about his background and he told me he was a regular church attender. I asked him what that meant and he said he regularly went to church every Christmas and Easter. He proceeded to tell me that he’s only heard two sermons his whole life – but he’s heard them over 60 times. One is about the birth of Jesus. The other is about Jesus’ resurrection. That’s funny. But in reality he thought that was all he needed to fulfill his minimum religious requirements in order to please God.

When I was younger, my wife and I had a very effective pastor who was very much a straight shooter. I loved his preaching. I remember one Christmas as he spoke to a packed church, at the end of his message he said he was happy to see all the visitors there that day, but he had just one question for them – Where were they the other 51 Sundays out of the year?

So my goal is to not preach the same sermons every Christmas season. But to mix them up so if you’re like my friend, you won’t hear the same message 60 times in your life. But maybe you’ll hear one that piques your interest and you’ll begin to search for the Christ of Christmas and find Him. After all, it was God who said in Jeremiah 29:13: “If you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.” I have a sign hanging on my wall that says: “Wise men still seek Him.”    

Our Christmas theme is fitting because Christmas is a time for music and especially a time for singing. I know we do a lot of Christmas shopping on the Internet now, but if you happen to go out to the stores you will hear them playing “Silent Night,” “Jingle Bells,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” along with all our favorites like “Joy To The World” and “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” and “What Child Is This?”

I don’t spend as much time in my shop as I might like, but when I’m out there I have the radio on. This week as it scanned it landed on a station playing a Christmas song from AC/DC and Iater they played an Iron Maiden Christmas song. It was a very heavy metal Christmas. I also heard soul and jazz and rap and country.

Before it’s all over in the next two weeks, we’ll hear Christmas carols in every possible variation. It’s all good in my opinion because music and Christmas go together. It has always been so, even from the very beginning because the very first Christmas carols go back 2,000 years to the very first Christmas in the story of the Nativity. The tradition of singing at Christmastime is as old as Christmas itself.

So have yourself a merry little Christmas Day!

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin).