Christmas Program

Today is our annual Sunday School Christmas program.  This evening, our Sunday School children and youth, dressed in their Christmas splendor will share the gospel with an affirming group of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, older and younger siblings and many of our church family.  They will be wearing nativity costumes as they say their parts.  Some of the costumes will be ill-fitting.  Shepherds will use their crooks as hockey sticks or light sabers (my personal favorite).  The Wise Men's crowns will slip down around their eyes and the angels are certain to trip over their hems as they make their entrance.  In short, perfection!
One of the many perks of my ministry is the Christmas Program.  This can be a touchy subject among Sunday School teachers and Children's Ministries personnel.  All Christmas programs carry with them the unpredictability of working with children who, when in front of a large group of people, will often surprise you.  The first year I served at my current church, we had three beautifully dressed little preschool girls who presented us with our first "full contact Christmas program" as they rolled around on the floor after a disagreement.  Some children freeze with a "deer in the headlights" look when they realize that there are lots of people sitting in the sanctuary.  I always feel their terror as I break out into a sweat and pray that God would provide a miracle, or maybe a fire, to create a diversion and let them exit gracefully.
One of the biggest challenges is a "live" microphone.  Kids are attracted to microphones like bees to flowers.  They blow into them and, even burp into them.  Amplification of these noises spurs them on to more of the same. 
Getting the children to speak loudly and slowly can also be a challenge.  The same sixth grade boy who screams on the playground for 30 minutes at a time can barely be heard when singing a Christmas song in front of seventy people.  Other children, in hopes of finally being able to put their Christmas program behind them for another year, speed through their lines so quickly that it could be "Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord" or "Come this way and I'll show you a shiny new Ford". 
Yet, I look forward to this event every year.  No matter what happens during that hour, nothing can dampen the power of the Gospel.  The traditional nativity, with 1st and second grade Mary and Joseph, Wise Men with foil wrapped gifts and Shepherds with bathrobes, still brings a tear to my eye.  I love their interpretation of the sacred scripture.  I love their nervous energy before the program and the looks of relief as notes of the last song fade.  I think it's terrific that the Men's Club hands out treat bags with peanuts, candy and fruit after the program and "high-five" the kids as they leave the sanctuary.  It's a scene that has played out for years and years, and will continue long after I am gone.
Tomorrow, I will be a little bit sad as I put away the manger for another year and pack away the gifts of the Magi.  My mind will replay the program through a glossy filter, forgetting the last minute costume fittings and nervous preschoolers.  But I will remember that  unto all of us was born that day a Savior who is Christ the Lord.