“I would venture to guess that no one has ever thrown tomatoes at a Sunday School Concert.”
Christmas concerts. What would Christmas be without them? You can take the grinchiest-cold-hearted, anti-Christmas commando and put him/her in the audience of a Sunday School Christmas pageant and their hearts will melt. Guaranteed!
This past week, our Sunday School concert took flight. It was a pantomime of the Christmas story set to music. All the children, down to the little guys, got in on the act. One of the highlights this year was a particular angel. She couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old and she had serious "Ahhh" factor.
I think she was the hummingbird variety of angel, because she circled and hovered and flew backwards and forwards and just basically made everyone envy her energy, even if her attention span needed some work! She was soooo cute, especially when she walked up to the manger and MADE SURE the Christ child was comfy and well wrapped. You just can't be too careful, especially when teenage first-time mothers are involved!
Of course, she wasn't the only one doing her own thing. Every Christmas concert has the shy kids who hide in the back, and the bored kids who stare at the ceiling, or look off into the distance, or insert their fingers into their nostrils. Still, all of these kids add to, rather than distract from, the performance.
As I was sitting there watching the concert unfold, a thought came to mind. There were lots of mistakes and kids running around and tinsel and feathers flying, but that didn't matter. The concert was by no means perfect. But, you know what? It was better than perfect.
What do I mean by "better than perfect"? I mean that if everything had gone flawlessly, with perfect pitch and performance, it wouldn't have been half as entertaining or inspiring. There is something about seeing a bunch of children doing their best, even if their best isn't HIGH art, or OSCAR caliber acting.
I would venture to guess that no one has ever thrown tomatoes at a Sunday School Concert. Never has there been a bad review. The flaws and mistakes and retakes are very much part of the charm and attraction. You see, it doesn't matter if our children mess up. What matters is that they are OUR children and they are trying to please us. In that kind of context, even the mess ups are cherished and enjoyed!
We all need to see a place where acceptance and love rule over the all too common world of criticism and competition. For this reason alone, I prescribe children's Christmas concerts. They are an oasis of pure delight wrapped up in the colorful, slightly irregular paper of imperfection.
The Christmas pageant is a lesson about conveying unconditional love. We experience joy because of who the children are, not because of what they do. As I sat there thinking about this, God spoke to my heart and simply said: "How you see these children is how I see you. How you feel about this performance is how I feel about your life."
Often we think that God is a perfectionist because He is perfect, but the two ideas don't really go together. A perfectionist expects too much of him or herself and others. They are too critical and unforgiving. Our Heavenly Father, on the other hand, is perfect, and part of that perfection is His understanding of our limitations. Part of His perfection is His delighting in the fact that we are trying, even though our performance isn't the best. Part of His perfection is loving us for who we are, not because of what we do.
Perhaps you’re not convinced that this is a true picture of God? If that's how you feel, then you need to look at the miracle of Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is that God sent his Son into this world. He sent Him into an imperfect family, to be born in an imperfect stable, for the purpose of taking care of our imperfections, mistakes, and sin by dying in our place. Think about it, isn't this just another way of God saying: "I'm interested in you; not your performance."?
What am I saying? Am I saying that God doesn't care when we sin? Of course not! Sin hurts us. It hurts others. Most of all, it hurts God! No, all that I am saying is that God delights in our attempts at trying to please Him. He delights in our imperfect performances because He knows we are trying to tell an important story and please Him.
If you have become a follower of Christ you are now one of God's children. This means that He delights in your efforts, no matter how imperfect. You see, He cares most about the fact that we are trying. Our performance as a hyperactive angel is much more pleasing to Him then our unwillingness to try at all. Our stumbles and off key singing delight Him because we are His children and we are on a journey through life with Him. God is in the audience right now, cheering us on and clapping His hands with abandon, because we are His kids!
The next time a child's smallest effort warms your heart, remember that the way you feel about that child and their humble efforts, is how God feels about you and your efforts
There is one difference though. God takes our imperfect efforts and turns them into perfect tools to further His will and purpose. He uses our weakness as His strength. Praise God!
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)