The service is rather simple. A scripture reading, a soloist singing "O Holy Night," carol singing, candle lighting and a telling of the Nativity Story. The story telling falls to me--and I try to make it accessible for young and old alike., Some years I even invite the congregation to add appropriate sound effects. I don't know what the sea birds think about the mooing and bleating, but so it goes!
Just off shore there are usually a few boats anchored in the shallows, crew members singing as well. Our bulletin/song sheet, includes admonitions to cart out any garbage and to be careful of the fragile sea grasses. A very generous couple in the congregation underwrites our expenses, include parking control, so that the entire evening's offering can go to support two local social service agencies.
The gospels would suggest that Jesus often told stories by the shore. And some of his crowds were estimated to be much, much larger than our crowd--in a day long before amplifiers and microphones! I have often assumed that folks in front repeated the stories to those behind who could not hear. Perhaps that is how the oral traditions about Jesus that undergird the scriptures got started.
Later in the evening, I'll be inside, in the confines of our beautiful sanctuary, where once again (though in a formal way) we will retell the story and sing the songs and light candles. But in or out, the story is so simple that it transcends time and place.
As you hear it again, don't forget to pass it on. Don't forget to retell it someone else. Share it with a child, or a friend, or a stranger who longs to know God cares. For that above all else is what the story means: God cares enough to be with us, among us, in us.
Have a blessed Christmas!
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