Christmas trees make me think about preaching. Yes, I know. Weird. Trees have structure, and so do sermons. A thick trunk is like a good main idea. Sturdy branches remind me of a strong outline. When I see a healthy green color, I think of clear explanations. Sharp needles prick like sound arguments. Lights are illustrations—but not too many or you’ll go blind! Ornaments are applications. Be careful. You’ll weigh down the branch. Nobody likes droopy Christmas trees. What a gaudy thing. Well, you get it. Build a sermon like a Christmas tree. Concern yourself with what matters. Just watch the decorations.
In this post I don’t want to talk sermons as much as I want to talk preaching: that is, preaching during the holidays. I’ve written formerly on preaching Christmas sermons, but here I want to focus on the emotional side of preaching. Because when the holidays roll around, emotions run high. As a preacher, it’s both your responsibility to expound the text and read the room. You must know what people will not tell you, see what they will not show you, and feel what they will not give you. You must then be wise and experienced. In a word, you must be sensitive. That’s a skill that takes time to learn.
Perhaps a post like this can help you along the way. Here are three lessons I’ve learned as I grow in my pastoral sensitivities during the holiday season:
- Remember the mixed mindset of many visitors and guests.
Holidays mean travel. People visit their families, stay over for the weekend and show up on Sunday. Pastors know that holidays bring a perennial rhythm of fresh faces. But not every guest is of the same mind. Some are there because they want to be. Others are at the service because their kids want them to be. Still many guests trickle in because it’s just that time of year. Be mindful of conversations that bookend the service. God may use your preaching, but he may also use your smile and handshake at the door. - Remember the messy mechanics of busy families.
Powdered sugar. Enough said. From decor to homemade sweets, there’s a lot going on over the holidays. Just ask the family of five pulling up to the Christmas Eve service in a minivan with a red nose and stuffed antlers on the windows. As pastors, we have a tendency to overly spiritualize the holiday activities. It’s a special season, and we should take it as such. But in reality, some families are just trying to make it through. Long-distance travel, pinched budgets, fighting sicknesses, weather ruining plans. Don’t even mention the typo on the family Christmas card! So if families seem a little distracted, maybe a little stressed, give them grace.
Be sensitive to what may be just under the surface. - Remember the major moments of a year gone by.
You cannot read minds, but you can know what people have likely experienced. Consider the highs and lows of humanity. The rhythms of a typical year are quite surely felt by your audience. Births and deaths, marriages and divorces, loved ones deployed to foreign lands, relationships that are no longer. What a difference a year can make. Holidays have a way of bringing the past to the foreground. Choose illustrations with care. It may just be for some that you, pastor, play the counselor as you preach this Christmas.
Eternity seems to hang in the air during the holidays. Although the season is often marked by a tidal wave of commercialism and consumerism, Christmas and New Year’s bring about a sense of the supernatural and the passing of time. So for those of us standing behind December pulpits, be sensitive and so leverage the gospel opportunity God has set before you.
Merry Christmas!
MDiv Preaching and Pastoral Ministry
The Preaching and Pastoral Ministry track prepares students for pastoral ministry in the local church with a special emphasis on expository preaching.
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