A Christmas Prayer

Twenty years ago Concordia Publishing House published Real Men Pray: Prayer Thoughts for Husbands and Fathers, a book of devotional prayers that I had written. For this Christmas week I would like to share the prayer for Christmas.

This is Your day, Father.

Easter belongs to Jesus and

            His victory over death,

            but Christmas belongs to you.

I cannot imagine the struggle You must have

            gone through.

You allowed Your Son to become a

            human being and not only face

            the humiliation of a human life

            but even death itself.

And Jesus did it for the sake of all people,

            many of whom could not have cared less.

Sometimes this fact restrains my Christmas

            celebration.

All the world appears joyful as

            “Peace on earth” becomes the cliché

            of the day.

Everybody becomes religious as they

            celebrate the birth of a Child

            they might not know personally.

Father, others might struggle to understand

            my melancholy attitude.

As a father, I reflect on your cost.

I pray that You would make me a disciple

            worthy of the price You and Jesus paid.

As a sinner, I know I can never measure up.

And as a redeemed saint,

            I know I can never stop trying.

Father, thank you for Christmas and the new life

            You have given me.  

Amen.  

It Is Christmas Coming and so are the Millennials

I recall a conversation I had with a pastor teammate many years ago.  I was busy preparing for the various holiday activities; caroling with the youth group and the children’s Christmas service.  In addition to planning the worship services he was busy visiting the many shut-ins who were members of the church.  When I remarked how I was looking forward to the time away visiting family out of town on the day after Christmas he made a statement that surprised me.  He was staying in town because he anticipated some “issues” within the church family.  The puzzled look on my face prompted his response.  “When family members who don’t get along the rest of the year are forced to spend time together, all kinds of things can happen.” 

The reality is Christmas does carry with it certain expectations.  While we picture families gathered around the tree exchanging gifts and joining to sing carols at the piano, more often there is discord and strife.  Grudges and feelings that are buried the rest of the year can come bubbling up when we have to spend time with people for whom we have very conflicted feeling.  The good news of the Savior’s Birth can be drowned out by the realities of a sinful world. 

Unfortunately many families are facing similar circumstances when their millennial children return home for Christmas.   We look forward to spending time as a family but cannot put aside the fact that they might have made choices and decisions we do not agree with.  As a result we might have an agenda.  We see the opportunity to discuss the fact that they are not attending church or making moral decisions that run counter to our values. 

My prayer is that the peace of the Christ Child might come and dwell within your home this Christmas.  The sharing of that “Christmas Peace” must begin with you.  Jesus comes into the midst of our brokenness, including the fractured relationships that exist within families.  Our goal should be to let those we meet see the Christ Child in us.  Put aside the personal agendas and let the “peace of Christ” dwell in you richly.  Perhaps the time together in the serenity of Christmas will provide a platform for a time of reconciliation down the road. 

Grace Loncar Died

Grace Loncar took her own life.  I saw her obituary in the Dallas Morning News.  Teen suicides do not normally make the news but Grace’s family is well known in the community.  Her dad is prominent attorney Brian Loncar and her mother Sue the artistic director at the Contemporary Theater of Dallas.  Grace was sixteen and junior at the award winning Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts.  Grace has already made a name for herself on stage.  The obituary noted that she had battled depression since age eleven.  The disease finally won and now her family and friends grieve her loss.

I grieve too.  Depression and teen suicide are issues I am all too familiar with.  I dealt with depressed student when I was a high school counselor.  The threat of suicide was always present and I took it seriously. Suicide has always been high on the list as a cause of death among American teens.  It has always been tough being a teenager and the increasing pressure to succeed can be overwhelming.  Then there is the struggle for identity and the desire to conform to the counterfeit image the world establishes.  There was a time when these matters were confined to the home and school hallway but in the world of social media they can be out there for the whole world to see.

The topic of depression and teen suicide recently was a front page story on Time Magazine.  The article noted that percentage of teens who have had a major episode of depression in the last year has grown from 8% in 2006 to 12.5% in 2015: an alarming increase.  Girls are almost three times more likely than boys to suffer from depression.  Boy are, however, more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders.  An estimated 6.3 million teens are afflicted with some form of anxiety disorder.

The responsibility for responding to the epidemic of depression and suicide should not fall on parents and educators alone.  It is a community problem.  That should especially be the case within the family of believers.  It begins when we offer a smile and encouraging word to the teens and young adults who are around us.  It continues when we accept them for who they are, instead of asking them to conform to our standards.  It continues when we engage in conversation and learn to listen to them their concerns and opinions.  It also means watching for the warning signs of depression.  When we see something, say something. 

Next time you pass a teen or young adult who seems sad think of Grace Loncar.  I do not want to read another teen obituary.