Every year, we hear about Christmas four months before it arrives, while it's arriving, when we are almost there, when it finally arrives, and then how to get ready for it again as soon as it is over. Four to eight weeks of gradually increasing pressure to experience one day of the year, followed by a huge Boxing Day Sale and a hangover. The lie that things will make you happy, especially if you give them, followed by the reality that you could have bought it half price 24 hours later.
I am guilty of Holiday Sarcasm. I think too much about why I give something, try to hard to make gifts, and generally hate that feeling like I am just another sheep in the line up at Walmart. Holiday pressures have turned me into a bit of an emotional and financial Scrooge. And I'm not the only person out there who waits to buy next years cards out of the 75% off discount bin, as well as wrapping paper, tape, decorations, and anything else I can get a deal on.
With all the hype, preparation and layers of socializing and spending, one can lose focus on what Christmas is, and what it has become.
Christmas is a chance to finally take one whole day off. If you don't work at Starbucks or Walmart.
Christmas is a chance to buy loads of clothes that are 80% off, with a 10% off sticker. 'Cause there are never any good sales the rest of the year, right?
Christmas is a chance to get together with the family and friends that you haven't had the guts or the time for all year.
Christmas is a chance to stay up way too late, watch too much TV, and eat snack food at meal times.
Christmas is a chance to drink lots of holiday alcohol, whether you need it to get through something or not. We can control ourselves throughout the year and drink modestly and appropriately..or at least talk like we do......but Christmas?
Christmas is a time for Christians to stand knee-deep in the consumerism tsunami, against the flow of rigid religious expectations and shout as loudly as they can that Christmas is about CHRIST! Did you hear me? It's about CHRIST!
Many of the usual Christmas indicators, like non stop Christmas music and light up decorations often lull me into thinking that I need to really genuinely prepare my heart for Christ and the "Spirit of Christmas". I am finding more and more that the pressures of Christmas for a Christian are often that we need to somehow be squeezing more emotion or heartfelt spiritual experiences out of these four weeks leading up to December 25. It's no wonder I feel like a tired spiritual failure this time of year: Did I cry enough thinking of Poor Mary in labour? Did I marvel at the idea of a newborn baby? Did I search for deep meaning in every gift I gave and received, as if it was Jesus Himself giving or getting it?
After listening to another song that asks if the world could hold itself back when Jesus was born, I realized that for me, the beauty of Christ coming to earth was that he most likely did NOT bring with him the power packed aura and subconscious spiritual thrills that the songs written today like to say. He was probably another beautiful, healthy baby, blessed with loving, tired parents. I don't think he conversed with animals, or had a lordly self righteous demeanour, or a glowing halo. The truth about why it is so unbelievable that He came to earth is, I think, that he left behind the scent of holiness and aura of power and supernatural attraction powers.......and was All God crammed into a plain vessel. God demands our holiness, and we cannot stand before Him. Jesus, when he came, was dependant on others, embroiled in family and friend hierarchies, and had no respect in his hometown. The bible says that he had nothing that would attract us to him, no beauty that would cause us to instantly be drawn to Him. And He still came, and still died for me. He still chose to suffer being cramped in a slowly aging, dirty embarrassing body for 33 years, for me. He was born quietly, lived passionately, died horribly, and was raised gloriously. That is what Christmas means to me.
Don't get me wrong, I still treat Christmas as a holy holiday. Like a birthday party. There should be special food, fun drinks, great presents, parties and friends and family. We should spend time resting and relaxing. we should talk about how much we love Jesus and why. We should sing carols and decorate and stay up late...
But we should remember that Christmas is not a day for repeating things just to get through the season. We need to take a break from the pressures and worship the Risen Lord, let Him rest in our hearts each day and bring us new revelations that will propel us into the new year. So that we are ready to move on when the stockings are empty and the wrapping paper has been recycled, and not just ready to move on, willing to move on, looking forward to a new year, and work and family and getting things in order.
After all, Easter and all its trappings are lying in wait just around the corner....
Pass the Baileys....
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