See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8
I love the holiday season..from Halloween to New Years! Everyone is in a different mood and pace, you can feel it, you can see it, but Christmas time specifically is on elf crack. Our whole world changes for this short time. But like clockwork, when 12/26 gets here, that feeling starts to dry up like the tree. I've been praying a lot about what's called Holiday Blues and a message from Matt Chandler I heard a few years ago keeps coming to mind where he talks about being careful with putting our hope in the Christmas holiday itself, which is what we do culturally. Another thing that comes to mind is Dickens' Christmas Carol; I've always somewhat enjoyed the story as a kid, but the last few years it's become a necessity for me to play the Jim Carey version in our home. (Finally, I think, it's an official tradition this year.) The way Dickens tells the story and the character transformation that can be seen in Scrooge, let's you actually see "Christmas spirit." And it turns out, the answer to what Chandler was talking about, and also to my prayer, was in Scrooge's new obsession for Christmas.
One Nation Under Something
Most pastors mention from time to time that we are worshipful beings, and not that anyone needs that explained because of how often we hear it, but what's interesting is how easily we'll follow someone or something. Or, how easily we'll allow ourselves to be pastored by almost anything: Good pastors, bad pastors, school educators, role models, philosophers, YouTubers, social media itself, philosophies we hear from friends, the social mood in the air, our traditions. We all have something we subscribe to that we let lead us.
What's even more special is we as a society will be led by something together and all unite during the holiday season; not in a patriotic or peaceful way, bu for a brief moment we all subscribe to this tradition where we all share the same desires and ideas. This tradition creates a want in me to go and see a really big gingerbread house for some reason and suddenly I want to drink hot chocolate in 88 degree weather and listen to decent caroling. I complain about going to stores, since I know it'll be a madhouse, but that's a lie, I want to go and be in that craziness knowing everyone there will be in the same "Christmas spirit."
To me, it's pretty cool all of us can have the same mood or emotion just because there's something in the air from a big event or holiday. Like a city's excitement on a big game day (Orlando hasn't had that in a while, so I'm guessing that's what happens), or how about the entire country on Superbowl Sunday!
"There's something in the air." That expression just says it all (Eph 6:12 is maybe why I care); it's a phenomena to me.
There isn't anything bad with our way of doing Christmas, like I mentioned, I like everything about it, but maybe we can be "pastored" by it better. 93% of the time, the problem with us not "getting something" out of a sermon is us, not the pastor; our hearts most Sundays just have bad soil and won't take in what's being shared. 87% of the time, the church doesn't move in the direction it's supposed to or doesn't move at all, not due to the pastor, but again us and our hearts misinterpreting the vision. Similarly, the Christmas spirit in the air tries to move us, individually and as a people, towards a particular direction or tell us something specific, but our bad soil subscribes to different traditions in the air.
But in 1843, England found itself being pastored by Charles Dickens and a Christmas parable about an old sinner.
Putting Christmas in its place
We know it's very normal for culture to nudge us in a direction that sometimes isn't right, but what's tough about today's version of Christmas is there isn't much wrong with it; sure, it could use more Jesus, but pick your battles. I only say that, because even if we re-christianized Christmas then there's a high chance that we'll still miss the beauty of the season. As a congregant, the uphill battle for the pastor has to be getting me to stop being distracted and for one hour focus on the gospel in a way where it will anchor me and keep me calm in Christ. When a pastor can help us rest in Jesus they have done their job; once we catch a breath and remember God, even for just a church service, then we can continue in life at full speed. That's why we hear that the Sabbath is for man, not the other way around. So after a long year of work, stress, conflict, working out, parenting, school, being a teenager, relationships, etc the Christmas season is a moment to breath and get ready for Jan 1 until the next holiday season.
Using Dicken's Christmas Carol we can find a few elements that help lead us during the Christmas season: Resting, reflecting, repenting: these 3 should be happening during the holidays. And with these 3 we'll find a Christmas spirit that won't end on the 26th and leave us disappointed with our white Christmas expectations.
Rest:
We plan to do this during the holiday season, but we're also trying to experience a particular type of Christmas that keeps us from resting. I personally need to go around town to consume as much as I can of this Christmas thing so I can get in the spirit, I need to make sure my family feels the traditions or I feel that season romance with my wife, I want to make sure we have something planned every day because the season is only a month so I want to go to every neighborhood to see the best lights. But the problem is I develop Holiday depression and that's partly because of this expectation I have; I believe that Christmas itself and the mood that everyone has will create a magical world where everything will become this amazing experience as when I was a kid.
But the Christmas Carol era type of Christmas traditions that we like and tried to adopt into our own culture isn't: consume, go go go, do everything that is Christmasy. What we like from that time period is resting; we believe we should have time off, have meals together, spend time with friends and family that we love. That's the real awe. We finished our year-long marathon, and we get a break, not just for one Sabbath day, but an entire Christmas season. We rest from our way of doing life and get an opportunity to hang out with people that we actually want to hang out with...if you like people. You might be someone who doesn't have friends and doesn't care for the whole family deal (blame yourself for that one).
But it isn't only rest from a long year, it's rest in Christ. Again, it's not just 1 day in the week where we have set aside to help us remember, leading us to the rest, but all of December (obviously not off from work, but the mood in the air); we have an entire season helping remind us "the reason for the season," which then leads us be in a season of rest and to remember why creation exists.
Reflect:
You know you're resting well when you reflect, but you can't reflect unless you're resting well. I don't think anyone could say this enough times, because I know I always need to be told again and again since sin has bent us the other way, but...REST. God has ordained a whole month, via our culture, to rest. We aren't forcing this to happen, this is something God has orchestrated and has given us, and it's beautiful! So we can thank him for this opportunity to relax and turn off the revenue goals, school lessons, tough parenting--everyone gets to relax, you, your employees, and our kids.
The Christmas season is an awesome gift, however, we need to couple rest with reflection. Without this part our rest will only be a nice break, but it won't be what the Christmas spirit (which we're all trying to consume) is meant to generate in us. Truly resting in the reality of Jesus, coming into the world as a baby, growing up to be a man, taking on a labor that we can't imagine, then redeeming all of us will help us reflect on our past year, with Jesus and the gospel as our mirror.
Dickens shows us how Scrooge reflects through the different ghosts of Christmas and in each scene Dickens uses the ghosts as the Holy Spirit, convicting Scrooge by simply letting him see himself. And that's all we need. We just need to think back to a time to see ourselves or hear how we sounded to see our sin. Thankfully Christmas gives a whole season to do that...unless you, like I do, try to cram in too much.
Repent:
A good sign we rested well, is we reflected, and chances are if we reflect while thinking about how good God is, knowing we avoided a dark grave, then we, like Scrooge, want to change. "Repent" doesn't sound very cheerful or merry, but think of it as a New Year resolution.
Jan 1-Dec 1
Like I said, I want the holidays to be this awesome time, but Christmas itself, getting the gifts, or seeing all the decorations is not what we want out of this. It's not in our original wiring to be satisfied with it. Even going to Nativities for the sake of tradition or being super generous still won't get us in that Christmas spirit. All the Christmas movies and stories try to communicate that truth but simply remembering "God so loved the world that he gave this only begotten Son" will get us in the spirit; and out of that we can happily give presents, sincerely celebrate the nativity, and enjoy all the Christmas lights!
So if you're not ready for the holiday season to be over and get back to normal life, I don't blame you. But to help ease into it and to get ready for another year, rest and relax in the humanity of Jesus, repent (er..make a new years resolution) of anything that didn't look as good as it could have been, countdown to midnight, be thankful we get a fresh year, stay merry and Scrooge on!
"God bless Us, Every One!"