A Common Christmas
Christmas has too quickly been hijacked by the commercial world and the postmodern consumer. It’s “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of a virgin and a manger, we’ve been given a Santa and a sleigh ride. Consequently, the journey back to the first nativity can get fuzzy. Inappropriately simple. Too easy.
Hear me out – I’m not arguing for undermining Christmas as we know it. Seriously, I love the Christmas traditions our family has enjoyed over the years, such as a zillion lights on the house, Christmas music playing 24/7 the day after Thanksgiving, traveling to MI or TN, and Julie’s famous and delicious lasagna on Christmas night. Count me in on all of that!
What I’m urging us to do is understand Christmas as they knew it. For that initial Christmas no doubt looked really different. No river and woods on the way to grandmother’s house; probably more like a hilly dirt road heading south out of Jerusalem. No angel named Clarence; more like an angel named Gabriel. And no coming home parties from the hospital; instead, a quick escape to a totally different country.
Yet, in many ways, it probably looked very similar. I’m sure they were afraid of the unknown, just like we are. I suspect they were nervous about facing tough circumstances, just like we are. I bet they had to find a way to look ahead even when their past seemed to pull them back, just like we do. In many ways, Christmas has common themes, such as hope, peace, joy, and love.
Thus, the Advent journey. That’s the journey I invite you to continue on this December; those are the common steps in which I hope you’ll keep walking this year as you relive the hope that God provided for Mary (Luke 1:26-38), the peace the Lord brought to Joseph (Matt. 1:20-25), the joy that overcame Zechariah (Luke 1:67-79), and the love that was shown to the world (John 3:16).
Resist the holiday pull of society and remember the Christmas pictures of Scripture as you reflect and rejoice in anticipation of Christ’s coming. Those are the timeless and treasured snapshots, rooted in history, that will help each of us every Christmas. Truly, as we understand their journey, I think we’ll be able to better undertake ours.
Pastor Todd