Merry Christmas

I’ve spent today wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music, one of my favorite traditions. Christmas is full of tradition for most of us. We have years of Christmas memories to call up. For example, I thought presents were to be wrapped on Christmas Eve, because that’s when Dad wrapped his. I’ve since improved on that tradition, early is better. 

Traditions become the rule, if we change things will it still feel like Christmas? In our home there was one way to do Christmas morning, and we continued those traditions long into adulthood. When we were little, stockings were opened first thing (usually to keep us out of everything else and to allow the adults a cup of coffee). Then we ate breakfast. Then we had devotions. We’d gather in the living room, where all those presents were nested under the tree. Dad would read the Christmas story, and then he’d ask our grandfather to pray.  Grandpa loved to pray. He’d pray for hours, or so it seemed when we were waiting for those presents. We still eat breakfast first, open stocking gifts and then have devotions. Dad took over as grandpa, and we took on the task of devotions. We varied the topics as we grew older, but it always came first. A lively burst of "Happy Birthday" to Jesus follows the prayer. And, finally, presents.  Helped us learn delayed gratification. The tradition reminded us that Christmas was more than presents.

The first Christmas was so much simpler, a stable, a manger, some shepherds, a baby. Of course, between the lines was the stress and pain of an impending baby, an overcrowded town, no room except for a stable. There were animals, and smells and dirt. There were angels, but they had to tell the shepherds not to be afraid before they could say why they had come. Stressful, crowded, scary, and simple. Later there would be gifts from strange men who’d followed that star, but initially the gifts came in the form of adoration – “Unto you is born this day…a savior.”

So much is made today of making Christmas too religious. Ironic. Issues are made of manger scenes in town squares and other such public displays of religion. This season it was a city council woman who resigned because the council had voted to begin calling the big, green, decorated tree in the town square a “Christmas tree” again. She said she resigned to stand for those who would be offended by labeling the tree such, and making it religious. (I heard in the end she took back her resignation).  How does a decorated fir tree make anything religious? I don’t believe there were any decorated trees that first Christmas.

I once overheard some women looking at Easter cards, and one woman said, “Look, they are even making Easter religious.” Well, no, it began that way and you just hadn’t known. Sad, really. And who are all these offended people anyway? Are people offended with Hanukkah menorahs?  Do they resent the fasting of Ramadan? Why Christmas? Obviously, because those other occasions haven’t been too secularized by the Western world, commandeering it for their own use. (Although a Jewish friend said the West makes a bigger issue of Hanukkah than Israel, perhaps to have a reason to give their children gifts during the over hyped Holiday Season?).  Oh, and we shouldn’t say “Merry Christmas” anymore; we should offer “Happy Holidays” to be more inclusive.

Christmas is central to Christianity. Christians celebrate the birth of The Christ, Jesus. No ordinary birth, God came to live among us, taking on human flesh, with the ultimate goal of dying in our place. Emmanuel means “God with us”. Unlike every other religion, Christianity asks us to step into a relationship with God. We don’t have to earn our salvation; in fact, we can’t. But God came to take our place, so we can have a relationship with our Creator.

All of the beautiful, family traditions pale when we look at what actually happened in that stable. No matter how many beautiful gifts we receive, nothing can compare with the life we receive from God when we recognize and accept his Son. The fun and fellowship of friends and family is only a taste of the fun and fellowship we can have with our God. When was the last time you heard fun and God in the same sentence? Well, I believe that’s what God had in mind – not some stodgy, rule driven religion.

I don’t have to get sucked into the drama of whether we can have a crèche or what we call the tree. It takes nothing away from what Christmas truly is. Christmas, Christ Mass, begins in our hearts, where we worship a God who loved us enough to come and live as one of us, so he could take our place and die for our sin. We could take away all the lights and trees and pageants and carols and presents and hoopla, and it would still be Christmas. The other things are just the trimmings. Don’t lose sight of that. Perhaps it's time to add something new to your Christmas. Spend some time reading the story of the first Christmas. Who knows, maybe it'll become an honored tradition.

Merry Christmas.

Peace on Earth

I’ve been decorating my house and listening to Christmas music. Decorating can stress me out; the music calms me down – good to have both. We do a lot of entertaining during the season, including hosting Christmas day. I get these pictures in my head of how I’d like things to look, and my expectations generally out distance reality. So I get stressed. This year, I started early, tried to have more realistic expectations, and it’s been a lot better. I find it hard to make my focus about the people who come to our home rather than on how clean and shiny everything looks. I think that’s normal, but how ironic on the first Christmas the angels said the coming of Jesus was to bring peace on earth, and we make the celebration of that event so stressful.

This season has been jarred by terrorism all over the world, including our own back door in California. Nothing peaceful about people with bombs and guns trying to make a point by killing innocents. A lot of rhetoric has been thrown around with ideas for achieving peace, including killing everyone who disrupts our peace. Isn’t that what the other side is doing? The world’s go-to for peace is too often war. It really has never worked, beyond maybe a temporary stay.

I wonder at the stories of wartime cease fires to celebrate Christmas. In World War Two both sides sang carols during a cease fire. How does that work? For one day everyone goes to their corners and we have peace. If it’s so easy to stop for a day, why not just stop? How do you sing Silent Night one day and the next resume shooting?

Peace on earth has long been sought after and never found. Our part of the world might be free of war, but I don’t think there’s ever been a time when the world was totally free of war. And even if we had no wars, somebody somewhere is taking someone’s life, or disrupting someone’s world. And if all violence were to take a cease fire, we’d still be stressing out over getting a job, or hosting a party, or whatever it is that stresses us out and takes away our peace.

Yet the angels said “fear not for behold I bring good news of great joy. For unto you is born a savior, Christ our Lord…glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2).  Peace on earth – for those with whom God is pleased. Whom might that be? Well, those who receive His gift I imagine. Peace on earth begins in the hearts of believers. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace – peace is a product of the Holy Spirit living out God’s righteousness through those who have put their trust in Jesus. Christians are peace on earth.

How’s that working for us? Would the world say Christians are indeed peace makers? Probably not. Some of those Christians are the politicians calling for carpet bombing of the terrorists. The Bible says Christians have found peace with God and are then to share with the world the same grace, acceptance and forgiveness God has given them. That would only be possible if Christians were faithfully allowing the Holy Spirit control in their life so God’s love and peace would flow out. But I imagine most Christians are a lot like me, wanting to control my own life, and so I fail at being a peacemaker. I don’t feel God’s peace, I feel my stress and anxiety. When that happens it should be a warning that I’m in control again. But I fool myself into thinking I can do it all. Unfortunately you can multiply this by all believers and you see why peace on earth is so lacking.

I need to be reminded often that I cannot do anything of value apart from God working through me. I need to put Christ back in control and be more aware of when he isn’t. How different would my life be if I was more proactive in giving God the controls?  How different would our world be if more Christians made this a daily, hourly priority?

Everyone talks about finding peace. When the Pope visited earlier this year, he spoke a lot about finding peace on earth. We’ve heard choirs and Christmas specials all singing about peace. The call for peace is all around us. So is the way. We obviously have failed at achieving any kind of peace on earth apart from God. Maybe it’s time to look to him and seek his answers?

At the very least peace should start with those of us who know God. Let’s at least challenge ourselves this season to give God the controls, bear the fruit of the Spirit and bring forth Love, Joy and Peace. We certainly need it.