Special Christmas Message (John 1:14)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

One of the principal challenges faced by children’s ministry leaders around the world is recruiting and developing leaders to work with the children in the church and community.

There are several reasons why this is so difficult but one of them revolves around our ideas about teaching.

Many Christians feel like there are certain qualities that are crucial to effective ministry with boys and girls. For many it is the misconception that you have to have teaching skills akin to those of a “professional educator”.

You have to know how to implement some kind of teaching plan, communicate biblical truths in compelling and age-appropriate ways. You have to be able to evaluate and even test the children to determine their learning and thus your teaching.

With this misunderstanding in mind, the regular church goer does not feel “qualified” to lead a children’s “class” at Sunday “school”.

In more recent years, the “traditional” view had been replaced by more “fun” models of ministry. This in turn has led to other problems where many Christians do not consider themselves “fun” and would fail in an effort to be the kind of humorous, creative leader required today.

Countless are those who think they are simply not qualified to work with children in the church. If I had a dollar for every man who has expressed these concerns, I would be able to give Warren Buffet a run for his money !

Just Show Up and Be Present

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, I want to advocate for just showing up.

In this first chapter of John’s gospel, we read that God became flesh and took up residence among people.

This is the simple statement of advent, God arrived on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. His arrival was in Bethlehem and is the reason we celebrate advent.

It is important to ponder how this actually occurred in its initial stages. God chose to enter this world as an infant. 

We just welcomed our fourth grandchild into the family last Spring. As an infant, he is completely reliant on his parents. They supply all his food, shelter, protection and loving care.

This is their first child, so they are really into feeding, nurturing, protecting and loving their son. However, it is important to remember that the infant has a part in the relationship.

His part is to “show up”. He doesn’t have to do much. Each morning, he greets them in the crib and during the day responds to their loving care and provision with smiles, laughter and other small actions that give them tremendous joy.

But in the end, he just has to “show up”. His presence is enough.

This is the essential message of John 1:14, God showed up in Bethlehem and lived with people.

His glory was evident from the beginning. Shepherds traveled into Bethlehem and found that God had showed up as told. They glorified and praised God. Jesus birth was celebrated from the beginning as people realized that God had “showed up”.

Now I am not trying to directly correlate the incarnation with showing up on Sunday morning, but I am trying to state that there is value in just being present with children.

I am proposing that God dwelling among us in the flesh is a reminder of how important it is just to be present with children.

In my early years leading a children’s ministry I was patrolling the halls after the first service and ran across a couple leaving the 4–5-year-old class. She was a bit frustrated because the lesson had not gone as planned. 

They had over 35 children and they were all pretty excited, because it was the Sunday before Christmas. Her husband was a very successful businessman and tagged on to her analysis with “the kids were a little out of control, and I feel like we just showed up today, and not much more”.

I tried to encourage them and remind them that “showing up” is a great place to begin. Children need leaders who “show up”.

Maybe they don’t have the best lesson planning and “formal” teaching skills. Maybe they aren’t as fun as some. But we can “show up”, be with the kids and exude the love of Christ. That is exactly what God did through Jesus, the Christ child.

At Christmas we celebrate God “showing up” and notice I didn’t write “just” showing up. Advent after all is from the Latin word “adventus”, defined as the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. (Oxford Dictionary)

There is not better way to celebrate Christ’s birth than by “showing up” on Sunday embodying the love of Christ, offering boys and girls His grace and truth.