Christmas comes round quicker every year, doesn’t it? So does that comment. So does wearing ironic Christmas jumpers and retweeting the new John Lewis Christmas advert. Christmas has not only become too commercialised (there’s another one), but it’s become so clichéd that even Starbucks Gingerbread Latte or the argument about whether Die Hard is a Christmas film has become wearisomely predictable.
I invite you to spare a thought for the guest speaker at the carol service/wreath making/Christmas coffee morning who has been asked to say something distinctive this Christmas about the one Bible story everyone has heard before.
Consider the audience
A typical Christmas congregation will include the usual church members, but unusually, they will have made a big effort to invite their non-Christian friends to church too. Scattered around them are the people who never attend church but regularly come to the coffee morning or craft club. There will be the annual attenders who come once a year, whilst visiting family or out of duty to the local church. Perhaps there will be a couple who moved into the area and want to give church a try. And this year, there may be members of the ‘Quiet Revival’ Gen Z-ers who have been dabbling on TikTok and have decided to give real church a try. Throw in a local dignitary, a councillor, or the school headmaster. Oh, and I forgot to add kids. There will be lots of kids. What can be said to this mix of people?
Consider the mood
Those attending may be singing carols for the first or the fifth time this year. They may be just getting into the Christmas spirit or sick to death of it all. Carols by candlelight sounded fun when you planned it in September, but by Christmas Eve, it may feel like an extra chore to people mentally prepping veg or wrapping presents. Those we mentioned who brought a friend? They are hoping against hope that what’s sung, prayed, and particularly preached will hit home in the life of their friend. Those quiet revivalists? Anecdotally, they want tradition, which is at odds with the Boomer councillor who wants something fresh and funny. Parents want kids entertained; the local dignitary has his eye on his watch because he has another function to go to. How does the speaker keep it light and deep, funny, engaging, traditional, contemporary, and short?
Consider the opportunity
It may or may not be the most wonderful time of the year. What we can agree on is that it is a most wonderful opportunity: complicated but exciting too. The Christmas talk is a great chance to speak to a collection of people about the most amazing thing they will ever hear – that God contracted to a span, was incomprehensibly made man. If you’re preparing to give a talk this Christmas, here are three tips to get it right (or at least try to avoid getting it wrong!).
Start with the gift
When buying a present for someone, it can be tempting to give a few things, hoping that one will be successful. Much better received is the one gift given with conviction: ‘I saw this and I thought of you.’
When delivering a Christmas talk, it can be tempting to wrap up a few things and hope that one of them might interest the listener. This is a mistake. For one thing, it probably doesn’t suit a modern audience that struggles to take multiple points on board. More importantly, though, it’s not how the Christmas story works. In the Gospels, messengers brought one message. Mary is told she will give birth to a son and name him Jesus. The Shepherds are told to go to Bethlehem and see the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Wise Men follow one star; the people living in darkness see one great light. Resist the temptation to say it all.
The wrapping
Having chosen the present, how do you make it look appealing? Handing it over unwrapped is not very festive, so you could pop it in a gift bag. Wrapping is even more thoughtful. Personally, I like my gifts presented in brown paper, like the sort of thing Mr Tumnus carries in the illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Christmas is a time for excess though, so some people eschew sellotape for ribbon and might be tempted to add in bows, ribbons and more. It’s easy to gild the lily.
I’m always looking for an original take on the Christmas story. I was taught to work a STAR (Something They’ll Always Remember) into the sermon, so I work hard to think of a way to be memorable. The art is to get the packaging right. Think of the angels. They were angels! They caught the eye when they lit up the sky. Their four-part heavenly harmonies sounded amazing, but their purpose was focussed and the message was clear: the shepherds needed to know that God and sinners were reconciled.
If the congregation enjoys your illustration but doesn’t remember what it illustrated, you have focussed on the wrong things.
The gift tag
I once took part in Secret Santa. I was new in the organisation and was assigned the only person who was kind to me. Because he was kind, I wrote him a very heartfelt message on the gift tag. Only when the gifts were distributed did I realise that my message would be read out to everyone present. I still cringe remembering the awkward silence. I’d really got the audience wrong.
When preparing a Christmas talk, it’s important to consider the recipient. Looking out on a sea of unfamiliar faces, it can be tempting to challenge them about their poor attendance, or educate them for forty minutes, teaching the Bible story from Eden to Eternity, or emphasise to them their sin and warn them of the judgment.
Yet, the Christmas message did not come with condemnation, nor was it a theological lecture. ‘Joy to the World, the Lord is come’ says the carol. ‘Good Christian men rejoice, with heart and hand and voice’. The carol service is our opportunity to convey in every way the glorious news of Christmas day.
Tell the story with joy
If you’re prepping for Christmas, you know how nerve-racking it can be preparing for big events. Church members put in prayer and money, time and effort, and they hope that ears will be opened, hearts warmed, and souls saved. The reality is, though, that few people’s testimonies begin with the words, ‘I was converted at a carol service.’
Don’t let this put you off. These days, if someone has bothered to come to church, it’s because they want to be there. Most people come in a festive mood, wanting to sanctify the season with something spiritual.
So take the opportunity to try something new. Tell the story in all its glory. Pick a character, a verse from the story, or a line from a carol and have fun with it. The song tells them it’s the most wonderful time of the year, let’s tell them why, and do it with a smile on our face. This Christmas, we’re giving the gifts of comfort and joy.
