A New Year's Lament

Christmas of 2022 was unusual for many congregations, we had a blizzard that closed roads and forced many churches to suspend their Christmas Day services. The second thing that was unusual was that Christmas Day and the Lord’s Day coincided, something that only happens every few years.
For our culture Christmas (without the Christ) is the high holy day of the year. On Christmas even the shops are closed, family is a focus (which in itself is good), the pagan myths are brought out and of course there is the worship of self through materialism. For our culture Christmas is paramount.
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For Christians, it is not wrong to remember the Incarnation, but our high holy day, a New Testament ordinance, is the Lord’s Day. It is the day we remember the Resurrection. It is the day we express our dependence upon the Lord, and that our lives revolve around Him. It is His day through which we honour and worship Him in a special way. It is the day on which the church gathers. Every Sunday, including when it is Christmas Day, we do not neglect to meet together (Heb 10:25). This is because Christians believe God’s will for the church is set forth in the New Testament. We do not get to choose how to live and worship, He does. 

Lamentably, too many churches saw things differently. (I cannot express the pain the knowledge of this causes me). They were not closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day because of the snow but by choice. They chose to put Christmas ahead of the Lord’s Day. Now all churches can use seasons of rest, but this can be found in other ways. To see churches shut on the Lord’s Day shows me that our churches are fragile, and this too is lamentable. The Lord’s Day without the Lord is like Christianity without Christ, Christmas without Christ. The only thing more lamentable than a church closed on the Lord’s Day is a church that is truly closed.
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We need greater devotion (Acts 2:42), greater diligence as the Church in these times. My consolation is that many churches know this. My prayer is that churches will rediscover this in every respect.