Janita Krayniak

The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled, 

When the star in the sky is gone, 

When the kings and princes are home, 

When the shepherds are back with their flock, 

The work of Christmas begins: 

To find the lost, 

To heal the broken, 

To feed the hungry, 

To release the prisoner, 

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart. 

Christmas comes one day a year, and it is over as quickly as it arrived. As we pack away all the decorations, lights and ornaments, as we haul the tree to the chipper or the landfill, as we return the clothes that did not fit and put the less than perfect gifts now known as the “white elephant” stash right alongside the ugly Christmas sweater until next season, as we leave Christmas behind for another year, I wonder if this poem might inspire us to do “The Work of Christmas” everyday?

The Reverend Doctor Howard Thurman was a Florida born Baptist minister, a professor, a philosopher, a liberation theologian, an author, and a lesser known, but powerful activist during the civil rights movement. But he was also a bit of a mystic, open minded to other traditions, and he deeply valued peace. In Thurman’s well known book, “Jesus and the Disinherited,” he wrote of love found only in the "deep river of faith." Thurman truly believed that his writings might help the marginalized and oppressed people to overcome the persecution rendered by those in power and in political offices. Thurman continued with these words, "It (the deep river of faith) may twist and turn, fall back on itself and start again, stumble over an infinite series of hindering rocks, but at last the river must answer the call to the sea."

Might we use the inspired words of the late Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman to get back to doing the work of Christmas. This year, we should go forth and find those who are lost. We should strive to heal the wounds and the brokenness both within ourselves and the relationships we have with all of our neighbors. We should share the good news of Jesus Christ and the release from capacity to sin and death, which is promised to those who believe. We should look for ways we could help in rebuilding nations when they have fallen or failed. We can bring peace among others (others being the key word there!)  and then surely our hearts would make music!  

Whoa … that is a lot.

But guess what? Nowhere in the poem did Thurman say we must do it all and nowhere in the poem did Thurman say we had to do this alone. Working together as the body of Christ, imagine the work we could do! And, if we call upon the power and the guidance of God while we do the work, imagine what God could do in and through us? I think this poem is a powerful reminder of what it means for us to truly live as Christ-followers (as Christians!).

Christmas comes one day a year, and it is over as quickly as it arrived, but that does not mean that the work of Christmas is done. Let’s make 2024 the year we do “The Work of Christmas” together.   

(Janita Krayniak is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Powell and United Methodist Church in Lovell.)