Sermon for December 26, 2010
Last Sunday evening, after the amazing and powerful "Feast of Carols" here at 1st Presbyterian, I went up to Bill Dickinson and told him that he and the choir really knew how to fill this sanctuary--the two choirs, the orchestra and brass section, the organ, piano, bells, and percussion, all filled this room with resplendent and majestic music, praising God in the Highest. But they also managed to fill the sanctuary with people, too, and not just here up front. I was grateful to have been one of those people filling the sanctuary. But I'm also grateful that it isn't quite so full this Sunday morning after Christmas, because that would have just ruined my sermon this morning!
I wasn't too worried, though. In churches across the nation, this morning marks an event that has a name, although you won't find it in any liturgical calendar: The Sunday after Christmas is often referred to as "Low Sunday." As in, "low attendance" Sunday. A friend of mine, who is the youth director at a large, multi-staff church in Dallas, refers to it as "Associate Pastor Sunday" or "Guest Preacher Sunday," reflecting the fact that often even the pastor doesn't show up. Don't put Dr. Bob on the hook too much, though--I actually volunteered to preach this Sunday way back at the end of the summer, when I knew this would be my only Sunday here in El Paso.
I can understand, though, why attendance usually drops of the chart on Low Sunday -- the Advent Season leading up to Christmas is kind of like the "playoffs" for most churches, with events like the "Feast of Carols" as the Superbowl, or the Christmas Eve Service as the "All Star Game" (pun intended -- get it? All-Star, Star of Bethlehem?). By the time Christmas rolls around, the congregation--and especially its leaders--are just worn out on worship services. Add to that the craziness of our consumer-shopping-cookie-baking-gift-wrapping-photo-taking-wallet-breaking-picture-perfect Christmas culture. Everybody's exhausted by now. And many are actually out of town, with family in other places--of course, as an excuse for low-attendance, I've always thought that one was a little shaky: If people leave *this* town, they're still in some other town, and people from other towns come here to visit family--so attendance should stay the same, but out-of-town visitors should be way up. And if you are one of those out-of-town visitors with us today, welcome! You get a gold-star and some cookies after the service for being so faithful.
