Ministers let story work its magic

Christmas presents a unique challenge to most ministers: How to convey the mystery of the birth of Jesus - anew.

For many, the simple solution is to get out of the way.

In churches across the Triangle and around the world on Christmas Eve, sermons tended to give way to Bible readings, songs, pageantry and candles.

Christmas is a time to sing "Silent Night," and "Joy to the World," and to hear the Gospel of Luke once again. It is not the time to rally the faithful or to rail against injustice.

On this most holy of Christian nights, sermons are truncated, typically lasting no more than 10 minutes.

It's not the sermon that draws people out of their homes but a desire to reclaim that central Christian tenet, that on this night God became human.

"They come to sing, to hear the story and to find their story within the story," said the Rev. Richard Edens, co-pastor of the United Church of Chapel Hill.

But neither does that mean sermons are beside the point.

The Rev. Christopher Chapman of Raleigh's First Baptist Church, Salisbury Street, dressed up as the angel Gabriel, who visited Mary with the news that she would bear a son "Most High." Angels, Chapman said, are messengers, and if their message is genuine, it's often not easy to hear.

"Are there any angels coming your way this Christmas?" Chapman asked his listeners. "Will you recognize them when they come?"

The Rev. Royall Yount, pastor of Raleigh's Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, called his listeners to reread the Bible story of Jesus' birth with fresh eyes.

"Maybe there's something beyond our abilities that's reaching out to us to help us," Yount said. "Christmas tells us we have God on [his] knees with us."

For those still pondering the meaning of Christmas, the Rev. Matt Fry, pastor of Clayton's Cleveland Community Church, made it more tangible. At the end of his sermon, he gave out hand-held metal crosses to remind his listeners of God's greater gift.