Everywhere I go these days I run into people who want to tell me how important it is for our society to put Christ back into Christmas. I suppose it has something to do with me being a pastor in Christ's church and Christmas becoming more and more of a secular holiday rather than a Christian holy day. I must admit, as they are talking to me, I am never sure if they are trying to convince me or themselves. The ironic part of all of it is that I am not too worried about whether or not society puts Christ back into Christmas. That may sound terrible coming from a pastor, but hear me out.
I believe that the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is a holy privilege. I also believe that it only has meaning if you believe and trust in this miraculous gift of God's Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. That event derives its full significance if we believe that it was the beginning of a new era in human history where God's reign of mercy and reconciliation is coming to fruition. That seems to be the particularly unique purview of the Christian church.
Consequently from my point of view, if society in general wants to have a special celebration marked by good cheer, a seasonal display of goodwill which can be abandoned for the rest of the year, decadent over-eating and over-spending, and belief in a fictional character called Santa Claus and his band of elves, I think it ought to be able to do so without interference from the Christian church.
Let's face it, what with wars, violence, crime, natural disasters, a disintegrating planet, and collapsing economies maybe society needs a few weeks where it can escape into the fantasy of a better, happier, more prosperous, and magical time.
The Christian church, on the other hand, may need to let the society have its decadence and Santa Claus and return to a way of celebrating Christ's birth that honors what God was up to in being born among us and lives beyond the weeks of December. This should not be that difficult, really. What God did in becoming human and ushering in this new reign of peace and mercy is an everlasting thing. That means when the trees are all dried out and on the trash heap, the colorful wrappings are thrown in the fireplace, the latest toy or piece of technology is old news and doesn't fix our lives, we still have a promise from God that things are being made new. When the wars still rage on, violence escalates, crime statistics go up during the holidays, and all of that spending didn't really do anything to make the bad economic situation flourish again, the reality of Emmanual - GOD WITH US - is still true.
That fact alone should be enough to give us hope and promise not just in these few weeks when society wants to draw us into a grand spectacle of twinkling lights, and 3-day shopping sprees, but when the world seems at its darkest and most hopeless. Living with that kind of hope and celebrating the miracle of God with us changes the way we are - every single day. We can struggle hopefully, live gratefully, love extravagantly, care for others and the world God made and do it all with an internal peace that comes only from life in Christ.
I think that the greatest gift that the Christian church could give the society in which we live is to allow them their Christmas fantasies, but show them a better way of celebrating by living just a little differently during the month of December and all year long. The best gift that we, as the disciples of Jesus Christ, can give to the world is to put the Christ back into "Christian."
Bloom away, my friends -
PK(+)
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