​​
When I was a child sitting at a midnight service on Christmas Eve many years ago, a light suddenly shone through the rose window at the front of the sanctuary. I whispered in awe to my older brother, “Look… the light…” He answered, “You dummy. They just turned the street lights on.” Crushed, I accepted his interpretation for years. It wasn’t until decades later that a friend asked me, “Why would they be turning on the street lights at eleven o’clock at night?” Her question opened other possibilities. Sometimes our ability to embrace sacred moments depends on our ability to be open to them.

​
One time as I led a Christmas Eve worship service I read, “A voice cries out in the wilderness…” only to be interrupted by a child who excitedly cried out, “Mama! Mama, mama, mama!” I paused and smiled, then resumed my reading. It was a sacred moment that has stayed with me. Sometimes the holy is a little disruptive with unexpected beauty.

Leslie Neugent, founding pastor for the Parables Worship Ministry at Wayzata Community Church in Wayzata, Minnesota, says that her ministry’s genesis came from a similar experience during worship. Leslie was listening to a sermon when a child with disabilities began to sing, “Jesus Loves Me.” The child’s father quickly got up and wheeled the boy’s chair out of the sanctuary so he wouldn’t disturb those listening to the sermon. Leslie thought, “The holiest thing that happened in this hour just got hustled out the door. I wonder how we could lift up those moments and celebrate them instead?” And so began her work to create a worship service that was more open to all – accommodating the needs and celebrating the gifts everyone.

As a pastor of a congregation that includes people with disabilities, I wonder how we are making room for the holy in our worship service. Are we creating a welcoming space for wiggly, excited, or over-tired children and their parents? Are we accessible for those who use wheelchairs? Do we fully include those who have intellectual disabilities – are non-readers or low-readers able to participate? Have we created a sensory-friendly space for autistic friends? Are we mindful of those who are struggling with illness, depression, or grief? Can I roll with the unexpected when it happens?

Christmas can be a time when we want everything to go perfectly and may feel disappointment at disrupted plans. Perhaps we can embrace the unexpected by fully receiving one another and the gifts we each bring. An interruption might be a holy moment. Maybe the unexpected thing is what God had in mind to stir us from our complacency. God often uses inconvenient ways of entering our lives. Jesus comes to us at Christmas in the glorious messiness of being human. He calls us to drop what we thought we were supposed to be doing and honor him. We honor Jesus through loving God and loving one another – celebrating each person as a unique and precious gift. 

Prayer: Thank you, God, for entering into our messy human life in the form of a vulnerable infant. Help us to welcome you fully by welcoming others in your name. For it is in embracing the holy and surprising event of Jesus’ birth into this broken world that we find our hope, our love, our joy, and our peace. Amen.

Jeanne Davies serves as planting pastor for a new inclusive congregation, Parables Community, in Lombard, Illinois. She also serves as Program Resources Coordinator for Anabaptist Disabilities Network.