Last night I gathered together with my Community Group to have our ‘Christmas in Community’ celebration. This year, instead of a church-wide Christmas Eve celebration, we chose to gather together in the same small groups we meet with regularly, to celebrate the Incarnation. We read Scripture, we sang songs, and we prayed together as a family of families.
At the same time that we were gathering, a gunman opened fire on police across town, injuring one. Just a few miles from us, people hunkered down in their homes, helpless, trying to avoid being struck by a stray bullet.
I pondered the juxtaposition of these two events last night. Many would say that Christians huddle in the confines of their cozy homes to hide from the difficulties of this world. Prayer is called useless because it does nothing to fix the situation. Singing and reading scripture is simply an opiate for the masses. As I thought about those sheltered in their homes, those evacuated (and taken to a church of all places), and those refreshing Skagit Breaking every 5 minutes to see if they knew the victim, knew the shooter, or just to get some clarity, I realized that we all need an help. There is no person in this world that can look at events like this and have an answer for it. We are all struggling to come to grips with the fact that the world is not what it should be.
Then do something, you might say, be the change you want to see in the world. I agree entirely, but what happens when you realize the best you can do still falls short. The dream of everyone living together in harmony is not achievable no matter how much good you do. There is a certain despair that sets in every time something bad happens because it is a reminder that hope in human goodness is failing. THIS IS WHY WE PRAY.
We pray because we recognize that the brokenness of the world is DEEP.
We pray because we recognize that the solution to this problem is greater than us.
We pray because we have a Savior who is much bigger than our helplessness.
We pray because He has promised PEACE.
Won’t this lead to inaction? The fear is that prayer will become an excuse to do nothing else. As I think about my community group: a few in the medical field, some builders, a financial advisor, a public school teacher, I think of the roles they play in society. To help heal the wounded. To build a place for people without one. To help manage resources. To educate the next generation. As they do these things, they are guided by prayer, a reminder that what they are doing is much bigger than the trying to hold back the inevitability of evil. They are part of God’s love to the world.
Christmas reminds us that we are part of a grand story that culminates with the Creator of the universe becoming human in order to save His people. While celebrating the birth of Jesus may seem like an inefficient way to heal the world, our connection to a God who promises to make all things new is what allows us to weather all of the violence and chaos without reacting in anger or despair. Christmas is not just a momentary opiate or the most wonderful time of the year, it is a way of living that gives you confidence in the face of evil. We pray, because we know that there is a God who came into the world to save it and who is coming again to restore it. We pray because we know that between these two, we are the ones called to be His light in a dark world.