Grace and peace to you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear the Word of God, from Psalm 148.7-14:
"Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord."
The Church has always had a knack for giving memorable names to the various Sundays of the year. There are the Four Sundays of Advent, Epiphany Sunday, the Sundays in Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter Day, and the Day of Pentecost (just to name a few). Today is known in formal terms as "The First Sunday after Christmas." However, in certain circles it is informally known as "The Sunday We Let Our Associate Pastor Preach."
You see, large congregations that are able to afford multiple staff members and more than one ordained pastor almost always go "all-out" during the Advent season that leads into the celebration of Christmas. By the time the Sunday after Christmas arrives, the church staff is exhausted from all of the seasonal work, the church members are tired from participating in so many Sunday School and church events during December, and the worship attenders often make travel plans or simply "down-time" plans for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. As a result, attendance at worship on the Sunday after Christmas is usually low...often the lowest of the year.
Senior pastors (or "Lead Pastors") are also tired by this time...it's their job to preach most Sundays of the year and especially on the Advent Sundays leading to Christmas. So, when they look at their calendars and search for potential vacation Sundays, their eyes often spot the Sunday after Christmas and their inner voices shout, "Ah-Ha!!"
And that is when the Sunday after Christmas becomes "The Sunday We Let Our Associate Pastor Preach."
In the late 1990s I served as Associate Pastor and Minister of Evangelism on the staff of a large congregation in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was one of my best experiences in pastoral ministry; the church people were wonderful, and I enjoyed the fellowship of our weekly staff meetings (in my previous churches, staff meetings consisted of buying a Hardees ham biscuit and eating it alone on Monday mornings in my office!). The downside to the job was being able to preach in Sunday morning worship services only a few times each year, and they were usually services that were not well attended.
The Sunday after Christmas was always difficult from a preaching perspective; after all, the Scripture texts for that day usually centered on Jesus' presentation at the temple as a newborn, or His parents' trip to Eqypt in order to hide Jesus from King Herod's effort to destroy any newborn King that would threaten his rule. Choosing a different text was a concern...after all, the worship sanctuary always remained decorated for Christmas, so it was difficult to stand in the pulpit and say, "This morning, let's look at something that has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas." THAT always went over well!
I am recuperating from last Monday's quadruple-bypass surgery, so I'll spend this Sunday morning praying for the pastors and (especially) associate pastors who will be preaching today either in-person or on-line as this pandemic continues. Given the time in which we are living, along with the usual frustrations accompanying the Sunday after Christmas, I hope they will consider preaching from the Psalm that is recommended for today: Psalm 148.
Psalm 148 makes it clear: our task is to praise the Lord.
The weather doesn't matter. Our location doesn't matter. Our status or position in society doesn't matter. Our age and/or stage of life doesn't matter.
What matters is that God's name alone is exalted, and that His splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for His people a "horn," which means a majestic and celebratory Strength that will get us through anything and everything the world throws at us.
And that "Horn" is Jesus, the Savior, the praise of the people that are close to God's heart...the One that makes it possible, even in the midst of the post-Christmas pandemic blues, for us to say, "Praise the Lord."
You'd better believe that I have a whole new appreciation of what it means to be "close to God's heart" on this Sunday after Christmas. I have reason to praise God today. And, while I would never discount or downplay the struggles many of you are facing right now, I would simply ask you to look around today for your reason to praise God...the God who has sent His Son into the world to save us and draw us close to His heart when our hearts figuratively and literally fail us.
Look around...you'll find a reason to say, "Well, praise the Lord!" I promise.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
Amen.
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