Adolescents by nature are already somewhat self-absorbed. The consumption message of Christmas only feeds more into that. This is a family Christmas Eve devotion that puts a flip on that and could provide one of your stronger family Christmas memories.

1. Download the song “Christmas at Denny’s” by Randy Stonehill, or find it in your old CD collection. If you are asking who Randy Stonehill is, do some research on “Jesus music history.”

2. On Christmas Eve, gather the family together. Your teen may assume you are going to start out reading Luke 2 or a Christmas storybook. Surprise him or her by giving everyone a lyric sheet, and listen to this Christmas song together.

3. Ask these questions for everyone to answer:
• Have you ever thought of the others who don’t get to be with their families on Christmas Eve, those who don’t get to have times such as this?
• What about those who no longer have families? What do you think they are doing tonight?
• Have you prejudged those people as if it’s their fault for their life situation?
• Even if it is their fault, should that be a Christian’s attitude toward the lonely and homeless?

4. How do these lyrics apply to the man in the story (from the second verse): “Well, it’s not just the blind man/Who loses his sight”?

5. How do those same lyrics apply to our family?

6. Read James 2:14-17 aloud: “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

7. Talk about how these verses apply to your family and your faith. Be ready for some tough honesty. Be ready to take some blame for leading your family to have faith without enough good deeds.

8. Brainstorm together how you will see those people in a better light. Record these ideas some place so you can address them in the near future.

9. Pray together for all of you to see better.

10. Now spring on your family the Christmas memory. As a family, gather together all of your Christmas cookies and go to a Denny’s or other 24-hour restaurant after midnight. Turn that lonely atmosphere into a Christmas party with your cookies and your family’s joy. Your kids will love the immediate application to the lesson and being out after midnight. This will become a Christmas memory. This may become a Christmas tradition.

Christmas at Denny’s Lyrics
They got Christmas Muzak®
Piped in through the ceiling
And the refills of coffee
Are always for free
And the waitress on graveyard
And the surly night manager
Are wishing that all of us losers would leave

There’s a star on the sign
At the Texaco® Station
Like the star long ago
On that midnight clear
As I look all around
At these cold, empty faces
I doubt that you’d find many wise men here

And I’m dreaming about
A silent night—Holy Night
When things were alright
And I’m dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
But somewhere down the road
I gave up that fight
Merry Christmas
It’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight

Once I had a home
And a wife and a daughter
Had a company job
Earning middle-class pay
Then Lisa got killed
By a car near the schoolyard
And my wife started drinking
Just to get through each day
I will never forget
That little red wagon
Turning to rust
All alone in the rain
One morning I flagged down
A truck on the highway
I just couldn’t bear
To go back there again

And I’m dreaming about
A silent night—Holy night
When things were alright
And I’m dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
Well, it’s not just the blind man
Who loses his sight
Merry Christmas
It’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight

They say
Life’s made of cruel circumstance
Fate plays the tune and we dance
Dance ‘til we drop
In the dust and we’re gone
And the world just goes on

The cop at the counter
He’s the guardian angel
He watches these orphans
Through dark mirrored shades
And the register rings
Like a bell sadly tolling
For the fools we’ve become
And the price that we paid
Oh when I was a boy
I believed in Christmas
Miracle season
To make a new start
I don’t need no miracle
Sweet baby Jesus
Just help me find
Some kind of hope in my heart

And I’m dreaming about
A silent night—Holy night
When things were alright
And I’m dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
But I’ll still be here
At the morning’s first light
Merry Christmas
It’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight
Merry Christmas
It’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight
(Written By Randy Stonehill)