First, we cannot make it to Christmas day without experiencing Advent, the time of waiting for the Messiah to arrive. It wasn't enough that God would come to earth; first, we had to be prepared for the arrival. This meant that God would first establish his covenant with Israel, speak through the prophets and provide us with a set of Scriptures to guide us along the way. Christ's birth is the natural progression of God's work which came beforehand. This means that we as Christians are indebted to the centuries of preparation and dedication of the Jewish people, preserving the Scripture and keeping the covenant, however irregularly. Generation after generation waited and longed for the day that the Messiah would arrive, and even when he did come, many were none the wiser, and even Jewish Christians would take a few more hundred years before sorting it all out. Today when we experience Christmas and its fullness, we do so because so many before us spent so much time waiting and praying for that day to arrive. We must not forget this truth, which is why we observe four weeks' of Advent each year prior to coming to Christmas day. Christianity and its practice today is indebted to the Israelites who came before Christ.
Next, we need to know some of the historical facts around December 25th. It is true, and no problem for our faith whatsoever, that Christ was probably not born on this exact day. Rather, his birth was likely in the spring. The ancient Christians knew very well what they were doing when they established December 25th as the annual celebration of the Incarnation; they moved it to this day as part of the calendar each year with Easter as the central event and day. Too often Christians in America today place more emphasis on Christmas than Easter, the day where we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. And while Christmas is extremely important, the resurrection is the singular event upon which our faith rests. It was in the resurrection that we received salvation and came to the understanding of how far God would go to be with us forever. Christmas was moved to another part of the year so as not to interfere with Easter, more than likely. Also, December 25th was chosen to coincide with pagan holidays as a form of outreach and mission to Roman citizens. Are we so willing as to change our entire calendar and tradition just to reach out to new people for Jesus Christ?!
This leads us to our third point, that Christmas is originally a Christian celebration that has now transformed into a cultural event. Simply put, there is a big difference between Christian Christmas and the Christmas celebrated by our culture. Most people in America celebrate Christmas, even though most people do not attend church, and only about half of them claim to have a serious connection with Christianity. American/European Christmas is celebrated by Jews, Hindus, atheists and agnostics every year. But the form of Christmas is different; the only reason we celebrate Christmas in the church is to celebrate God coming into the world by sending his only begotten Son. All of our activities that have this at their core are part of the Christian Christmas--activities such as feeding the poor, comforting the sick and anxious, worshiping God, and evangelizing. All of our other activities, I'm afraid, are part of the cultural Christmas. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with celebrating the cultural Christmas in our world, but we need to adamantly draw a line between the two. Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift exchanges and gingerbread houses are fun! But they don't really have a whole lot to do with the "true meaning of Christmas". Rather than being offended when people say things like "Happy Holidays", let us realize the truth, that for a lot of people around us celebrating Christmas, it is merely a cultural holiday with little to no connection to the true meaning. It doesn't really matter whether people say they celebrate Christmas or not, because many of them simply aren't interested in celebrating Jesus Christ. But we love them the same, as they are God's children.
And I would be irresponsible if I didn't mention just a little bit about our culture of materialism. Black Friday and the days around it are a clear indication of how our society has moved to becoming one of mass consumption of luxury goods, placing more importance on this than any other single venture. For the most part, Black Friday events are held in preparation for Christmas Day, where we give one another lots of presents and receive many in the process. But accumulating material goods, particularly those we don't need, is not a wise way to prepare for Christmas. I don't have a big problem with showing love for others through gift-giving, but we often go so far overboard that in January we are deeply in debt and exhausted from so many holiday sweets. I wonder what Jesus would say to us today if he were to arrive once again and see our culture of mass consumption during the Christmas season? Would he feel that this was part of his message of salvation and healing to the world?
We have an alternative in celebrating Advent. Advent is a time of devotion, dedication and preparation for the Son. It is a time for us to read the prophets in the Old Testament. Start with Isaiah or Jeremiah, or the twelve minor prophets at the end of the OT. It is a time for us to give more to those in need, particularly timely as winter approaches those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a time of witnessing to others, that we are not truly interested in getting wrapped up in worldly desires, but rather focusing heavenward and doing Christ's work as his hands and feet in this world. Advent is a time for us to look up and pay attention to God's Kingdom rather than our own. Advent is the alternative option to the one our world gives us, and is life-giving and restorative in the process.
I encourage us all to focus more on the Kingdom of God rather than our own world, allowing its anxieties and obligations to fall by the wayside. In doing so, you may experience a whole new way to celebrate the holidays, but I assure you that, soon enough, it'll be beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
