Stations of the Christmas Story

Many people find praying the Stations of the Cross to be a meaningful and worshipful practice during the Lenten season. I too have found such practices to be helpful during the seasons of the church year. In light of this, I began wondering if there might be a set of stations that could be used with the Christmas story during the season of Advent (a type of Christmas Stations of the Cross). I searched for a while on the internet for this and came up with very little. Thus, I thought it might be a good idea for me to develop my own. The following is what I came up with based on my reading of the gospels and prayers that I wrote for major events in the Christmas story. These stations could be used on their own or with art in a church or home setting.

Stations of the Christmas Story

1. Promise of John’s Birth (Luke 1:5-25)
Lord, God, the promise of John’s birth reminds us that with You all things are possible. Even the barren and the elderly are able to enjoy the gift of new birth. May we also look to You for provision when situations seem impossible.

2. Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth (Luke 1:26-38)
Lord, God, through Your servant, Gabriel, You revealed to Mary that she was to bear Jesus, Your Son. May we respond to You with the same willingness that Mary had. May we carry Jesus in our lives as we fulfill Your calling.

3. Mary Visits Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56)
Lord, God, just as Mary found comfort when visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, help us to encourage one another in the ways of Your kingdom. Your Spirit is at work in each of us. Help us to have eyes to see Your signs and ears to hear Your voice.

4. Birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80)
Lord, God, You sent John to be a voice to prepare the way for Your Son. May we hear his words and follow his example as we prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. May we reorder our lives around the coming of Your Kingdom through Jesus, Your Son.

5. Journey to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-5)
Lord, God, Joseph and Mary went on a journey to reach the birthplace of Your Son. At many places the trip was difficult, but You were with them. Help us to endure in our journey of faith, knowing that You are with us. Bring us to where we need to be.

6. The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:6-7)
Lord, God, at the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph witnessed the fulfillment of Your promises of salvation and grace. Help us to witness Your promises through faith in Jesus and to celebrate His presence with us.

7. The Shepherds Worship the Savior (Luke 2:8-20)
Lord, God, You revealed to the shepherds the birth of Your Son through the choir of heavenly angels. Reveal to us also the joy and the blessings of Jesus. May our voices sing of the great deeds that You have accomplished.

8. Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:21-40)
Lord, God, Your confirmed the importance of Your Son through Simeon and Anna. Like them, may we bear witness to Jesus in a world that needs Him. Instill in us a passion for Your kingdom so that we may become a blessing to others.

9. The Wise Men Bring Gifts (Matthew 2:1-12)
Lord, God, just as You gave gifts of knowledge and understanding to the wise men, help us to respond as they did with giving and adoration. Let our lives be worship to You and our gifts an offering of praise.

10 Flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-18)
Lord, God, just as You protected Jesus from Herod’s wicked plans, protect us also from those who would seek to harm us or disrupt Your work in our lives. Guide us along paths that fulfill Your purposes for us.

11. Return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:19-23)
Lord, God, Your timing was perfect for calling Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to return to Nazareth. Help us to follow Your timing in our life decisions and priorities. May we follow Your voice unconditionally each time that You speak.

12. Jesus Teaching in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52)
Lord, God, You blessed the teachers in the temple with the wisdom of Your Son. May we also learn from Him. Help us to hear His voice in the important places of our lives and follow His example in all that we do.

An Ecumenical Prayer for the Local Church

I came across the following ecumenical pryer for the local church in David du Plessis' book The Spirit Bade Me Go (pgs. 177-178). The prayer was originally published by the World Council of Churches and drafted by the Commission on Faith and Order for the week of prayer for Christian unity in 1960. The theme for the prayer is the unity of the local congregation in the unity of the universal Church based on 1 Corinthians 12:27-28. This prayer is very unique. I found it quite interesting.

My congregation is a manifestation of the universal Church in this place.
My congregation is a diversity of different members with different spiritual gifts.
My congregation is is a unity in which this diversity is bound together in an organic whole for the common good.
My congregation is an ecumenical microcosm which in its unified diversity shows forth the essential oneness of the Church of Christ and identifies it with "all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," whether in the congregation around the corner or at the ends of the earth.

An Ecumenical Prayer for the Gifts of Various Churches

Recently, I came across a most interesting ecumenical prayer composed early in the ecumenical movement by the Federal Council of Churches, U.S.A. It is entitled: “Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Gifts of the Various Christian Churches.” The full text of this prayer is provided here and can be found in the New St. Joseph People's Prayer Book. I have not seen other ecumenical prayers expressing the same level of enthusiasm for the diversity within Christianity. It makes me wonder how Christian ecumenism has developed from that time until now.

Let us give thanks for the gifts and graces of each great division of Christendom:

For the Roman Catholic Church: its glorious traditions, its disciplines in holiness, its worship, rich with the religious passion of the centuries; its noble company of martyrs, doctors, and saints;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Eastern Orthodox Church: its secret treasure of mystic experience; its marvelous liturgy; its regard for the collective life and its common will as a source of authority;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the great Protestant communions; We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name. For the Congregationalist jealousy for the rightful independence of the soul and of the group;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the stress in the Baptist Churches upon personal regeneration and upon the conscious relation of the mature soul to its Lord;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the power of the Methodists to awaken the conscience of Christians to our social evils; and for their emphasis upon the witness of personal experience, and upon the power of the disciplined life;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Presbyterian reverence for the sovereignty of God and their confidence in his faithfulness to his covenant; for their sense of the moral law, expressing itself in constitutional government;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the witness to the perpetual real presence of the inner light in every human soul borne by the Religious Society of Friends and for their faithful continuance of a free prophetic ministry;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Lutheran Church: its devotion to the grace of God and the word of God, enshrined in the ministry of the word and sacraments;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Anglican Church: its reverent and temperate ways, through its Catholic heritage and its Protestant conscience; its yearning concern over the divisions of Christendom, and its longing to be used as a house of reconciliation.

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name. Amen.

Taking Cues from the Byzantines: How One Mennonite Congregation Celebrated the Mystery of Christmas

This past year we chose to do something different at Wooster Mennonite Church for our Christmas Eve service. Typically, we have scripture readings, traditional hymns, and dramatic readings, representing the various, important characters of the Christmas story. Many of these elements were present in our service this year. The different elements however came from the texts we selected for the dramatic readings. Instead of contemporary interpretations of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men we examined the ancient Christmas poems and hymns from the Byzantine Christian tradition. Many of these texts can be found in the book Byzantine Daily Worship. The interesting aspect of using these texts is their exalted language and sensitivity to mystery.

While many contemporary renderings of the Christmas story communicate the basic truths of the gospel message in an accessible way the ancient poems and hymns do so with a certain profound sense of awe and wonder. Sometimes contemporary nativity plays and skits seem to draw excessive attention to the audience and modern culture whereas their ancient counterparts seem fully focused on the centrality of Christ and the incarnation. This Christ-centeredness can be seen in the following selection of Byzantine hymnody, which imaginatively represents the thoughts of Mary: “The One Whom the universe cannot contain, how was He contained within my womb? He Who is in the Father’s bosom, how can He be carried in my arms?” Mary’s words represent the human longing for understanding of God’s mysterious gift in Christ, who is fully human and fully divine.

The worshipful reflections of the wise men is another of my favorite examples of Byzantine Christmas hymnody: “By means of a star, heaven has called and led us wise men, the first-fruits of the gentiles, to this little Child lying in a manger. Astounded, we beheld, not scepters and thrones, but extreme poverty. What indeed is lower than a cave? What is humbler than swaddling clothes? Yet the splendor of God shines forth in them resplendently.” In this passage we are confronted by the counterintuitive nature of the gospel: in human weakness God’s strength shines through. Though the baby Jesus seems poor and weak from His outward appearance, the glory and power of who He truly is cannot be hidden or overcome.

As I listened to these readings during our Christmas Eve service I enjoyed the feelings that they evoked in me. I felt that they were helpful in reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas. One challenging aspect about using them though was integrating their distinct language and rhythm into the broader service. It seems that if we were to use similar materials in the future we would have to think more intentionally about where to position them in the order of the service. They fit naturally into a liturgical context (they are Byzantine hymns after all coming from the liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox churches). A less liturgical church like our own may have to think of ways to adapt the texts or present them alongside some additional material to enable their true beauty to communicate most effectively to the people. I am happy to say though that we were able to draw on the rich Christmas traditions of another Christian community just like many of the traditional hymns that we sing are written by composers from various church backgrounds.