On Christmas Eve, Pastor Evan couldn’t just preach this year – he had to make things a little more…lyrical. Here’s his “poem” for Christmas this year:
Refrain: (x2)
You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!
God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!
Verse One – The Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20)
What a crazy story / St. Luke does tell
for most of us here it’s a kinda hard sell
Emperors and governors rule the land
But the heroes of the story are our little band
Mary and Joseph / on the road together
got plenty on their minds – not just the weather
Mary bears God himself / and God’s coming tonight
But Joe, there’s no decent room anywhere in sight!
No vacancy they say / well at least not for you
a pregnant girl next door? My guests would sue!
Not a room to be had / nothing left to do
so Mary and Joseph trudged off to the zoo
Maybe it was a barn / kinda like a stable
One thing’s for sure – we know it didn’t have cable!
They lay all alone / two scared teenagers
They’re not even old enough to declare their majors!
It couldn’t be less holy / it seemed all wrong
Gabe’s promises felt like they were from a different song
Won’t you show up now, God? / She screamed in her mind
Now she was in labor and it was like God declined
To follow through on his words / it seemed so cruel
But then something happened that was just so cool
Some shepherds barged in / almost knocked down the door
Talking ’bout angels and the glory of the Lord
They had good news of great joy for all the people
To you is born a Savior – shout that from the steeple!
It all started to click / God had done God’s part
so Mary treasured their words and pondered them in her heart
God had given her this child / she held him with love
now she was ready to praise God above:
Refrain:
You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!
God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!
Verse Two – The People Who Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light!
In the past God sent lawgivers, priests, and prophets
Moses and Jeremiah did lots of God’s projects!
Micah and Isaiah spoke God’s holy Word
teaching that the poor were God’s preferred
To love your neighbor / and all humankind
To love God with all your heart and all your mind
The people listened / sometimes they obeyed
but usually what they did left God dismayed
You know what I’m sayin / you’re catching my drift
what we do to each other makes God pretty miffed
The wars go on, the situation is dire
The refugees yearn for freedom and we make the walls higher
The poor cry out for what God says is theirs
But we’re more worried about our own affairs
Yeah we gotta be honest / we gotta keep it real
That’s why confessing our sins is such a big deal!
But what comes next is what you ought to remember
God forgives ALL your sins not just those from December!
How would we know this love, God wondered?
We wouldn’t get it if only from on high God thundered
No, God needed to get closer / no one else could God send
God wanted to show us we could all call him friend
Christ came down to feed the hungry, heal the sick, raise the dead
Pretty impressive for a baby who doesn’t even have a bed!
There’s no stairway to heaven / it’s not up to God you ascend
No, God came down to find you and attend
to all your hurts, your doubts, and confusion
to free you from all the devil’s delusion
You are who God says you are: his beloved child.
Baptized into Christ, you and God reconciled!
This wasn’t free for God – no, this good news caused him loss
Because when Christ committed to the cradle, he committed to the cross
The law tells you “do this” and you’ll never be done
Christ came down to say you’re my daughter, you’re my son!
No matter how deep the darkness you feel
No matter if death for you is all too real
It’s this Christmas gospel that sets you free
Now God’s gift is all you will do and be
Out of love for Jesus we will walk his Way
and share his love to at least one person each day
Not because we have to / but because we get to
God’s not ordering from on high, he’s walking with us it’s so true
The people who walked in darkness / have seen a great light!
God’s saving us himself because God wants us saved right!
Refrain:
You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!
God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!
Verse Three – God Really Does Love You – Go Tell It on the Mountain!
I’ll give it to you straight / I ain’t frontin’ my man
Some days I feel like I’m in the garbage can
I’m sure you can relate / you’re just glad you weren’t late
with your to-do list growing at a geometric rate!
With too many people who seem to only hate
you feel like life has got you in checkmate
There’s a reason why I get up in the morning and put on my collar
It sure ain’t because I’m makin’ top dollar!
It’s because there’s a God who really does love you
loves you enough to come close and be one of you
A God who doesn’t ask you to get right first
because then you and I would only be cursed
No he became a curse for us and we’d become the righteousness of God
All that’s left to do is come and adore him who saved the flawed
God doesn’t expect you to have miraculous powers
Jesus shows us how to live, loves us when we don’t, makes our death his, and his life ours
Those shepherds left the joint to reach every address
to tell everyone the miracle of Christmas is that God’s in this mess
we call life – yours and mine. God’s committed to humankind
things always change but you can have this peace of mind
The baby born in the Bethlehem manger
will never be a stranger
though we do face danger
Because though we hung the Bethlehem baby on a cross
On Easter morning there was no loss
The baby rose from the dead so that whomever
receives him will have life forever
One day God will be all in all
So go tell it on the mountain: God loves us all!
Refrain:
You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!
God loves us! Everybody: God loves us! AMEN!