I posted the following as my facebook status update the other day: "why don't we just go ahead and listen to Christmas music in September...geez, people, it's not even Thanksgiving yet!" I got a number of responses. Some agreed, some playfully disagreed, and some folks seemed downright offended. As I was thinking about how many people responded and how quickly, I began to ponder the way American culture marks the Christmas holiday and how that shapes how Christians mark this holiday.
Disclaimer: I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year. I love the decorations, time with family, giving and receiving gifts, the food, the movies (especially It's a Wonderful Life), the music, the peacefulness of Christmas Eve - all of it!
1) We should know the roots of our Christmas celebration. The holiday of Christmas was not celebrated until late in the 4th century (the year 336 is the earliest mention of the date of Dec. 25th that we have. The early Church Father Clement of Alexandria suggested May 20th as the date for Christ's birth). The Christian celebration of Christ's birth replaced the earlier Roman celebration of Saturnalia, which was marked by feasts, gatherings, and goofy parties. The typical greeting on Saturnalia was "Lo, Saturnalia!" which was pronounced "e-o", a Latin interjection (kind of like "hey!") and was related to "Ho!" And it's a small step to "Ho Ho Ho!" (Just an interesting little bit of info). Early Christians were very skilled at co-opting Roman and Greek traditions, slogans, and titles for the sake of the Christian faith. Christmas is no exception.
2) My thoughts about this, as it relates to American culture, are not about individuals - it's about culture. Some folks who responded seemed personally offended and seemed to think I was trying to take away their Christmas joy. If people want to sing Christmas carols all year long, put up their decorations before Halloween, wear a Santa hat during the week of the 4th - go ahead, have a blast! My concern is with the culture of consumerism and consumption that has grown up around Christmas. For our culture, Christmas is not about Jesus, or even family. It's about money, commerce, profit. And Christmas makes tons of money. So, is it any accident that, in the midst of a bad economy, the Christmas push is getting cranked up a good bit earlier this year? From a business standpoint, this makes perfect sense. People in this country love Christmas, so if they see Christmas stuff on the shelves, they'll buy it. Why wouldn't stores stock it, if it sells?
3) As a Christian, my responsibility is to serve Jesus Christ year-round. Since I've been a pastor, I've become more aware of the movement of the Christian year and the importance of marking the seasons. The season of Advent is about waiting, preparation, quiet. If you only paid attention to Advent and not to the Christmas blitz, Advent feels a little bit like holding your breath. And when Christmas does come, you've prepared, you've prayed, you've studied Isaiah, heard about John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah. And the Christmas celebration is powerful when approached this way. However, if you go all in for the blitz starting on November 1st (which is when I first saw Christmas stuff on the shelves at CVS), by the time Christmas gets here, you haven't waited and likely you're exhausted and you just want it to be over with. Historically, Christmas began on the 25th and continued for 12 days until Epiphany (hence the "Twelve Days of Christmas"). Advent was about making preparations, spiritually and otherwise, for the celebration of the Christmas season.
4) Additionally, Christmas is not even the most important Christian holiday. That would be Easter. Of course, historically, Christmas is considered the second most important "high holy day", but Easter is the major, big deal, huge Christian celebration. Why? The resurrection. Why, then, is our cultural celebration of Christmas more prominent and wide-spread than Easter? Well (at least the way I see it), Christmas is a more easily accepted message in our culture. Christmas has transcended the original meaning of the holiday (which is the incarnation, God coming to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth) and in our culture is more associated with spending time with family, exchanging presents, decorating the house/yard, and getting into the "Christmas spirit".
5) And what do we mean by the "Christmas spirit"? Here's my take - close to Christmas time, many people make the effort to be a little nicer, to smile a little more, to try and think about others a little more, especially those who are going without. That last one has been more noticeable in recent years and I consider it a wonderful development. However, if you're a Christian, shouldn't you be this way all the time (or at least try)? There's a name for this "spirit"…joy! And that shouldn't just be the "Christmas spirit" - it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we need to take some of that joy and kindness and attention to the less fortunate into January and February and beyond. Maybe one goal of observing Advent and the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love is to teach us to incorporate them into our lives year-round. What a concept!
May the peace of Jesus Christ be upon and within all of you!
2 comments:
I used to let such things bother me in my former life as a liturgical stickler. No more. Why debate with what the world does? Advent is a gift given to the Church by the Church. It is our chance to get refocused after having to tread through Black Friday sales and holiday band performances and dance recitals and blah blah blah.
I have become convinced that the very name of Jesus is so powerful that merely hearing it spoken can actually call a person to salvific faith. Combine this with the fact that I also throughly believe that part of the reason that the world celebrates Christmas earlier and earlier each year is because that God-shaped whole in our hearts grow bigger and bigger each year. So I have started to embrace the music and greens and what not strictly on the basis that somewhere, someone might hear the name of Jesus in a song and come to know what it means to have faith in him. I'm not saying it is an evangelism strategy...but why not pray that God uses even the misunderstanding of the world to draw people to himself?
I, by the way, was neither offended at your FB status or thought you were being a Scrooge. I love Advent and often find my prayer life deepened in that season. In our home and our church we are very much into Advent. I think in my old age I've just quit letting some stuff bother me.
I agree with everything you say there. My grievance, if you can call it that, is not necessarily with the world. It is with Christians uncritically and unprayerfully engaging fully in the "Holiday Season" extravaganza and not recognizing at all the gift of Advent. And yes I believe that there is power in the proclamation of the name of Jesus for the sake of salvation (geez, we've become somewhat evangelical, you and I...) I just want the Church to take advantage of the journey to the manger and not pass over Isaiah, John the Baptist, or the story of Mary.
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