Dawn of Redeeming Grace

In our journey through The Story we are soon to finish the Old Testament. And I think most of us are ready. We have seen folly and whining. We have been frustrated by God’s people and the depth of darkness, sin, and depravity so frequently on display. A theme in almost every service for the last twenty-one weeks has been a blatant turning from God. It creates weariness in our souls.

But, something new is coming. We are celebrating Christmas again, this time on March 1. Honestly, as a musician and leader, the idea of planning another Christmas service puts a pit in my stomach. Christmas is a taxing time of year and often frenetic both professionally and personally. However, there has been something refreshing about celebrating Jesus’s birth at a time removed from it’s usual liturgical context, and celebrating on the heels of this long journey through the Old Testament that can create weariness in our souls. But it creates something else, as well. 

Our favorite Advent songs are filled with longing and hope and our Christmas texts are filled with themes of light and darkness. From Isaiah 9:2 we read “those walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in a land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Those walking in darkness…indeed! Living in a land of deep darkness….absolutely!  We have seen this first hand. Celebrating Christmas after twenty-one weeks of the Old Testament provides a new depth of understanding and longing for the light.

Just as it was so long ago, we long for the savior of the world to appear, to reveal his sacred face. As said so beautifully in the carol Silent Night, “radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.” The dawn is coming and has come.   

Merry Christmas in March! It will be one to remember.

Dr. Jill Schroeder-Dorn, Director of Worship Arts