Heck, even at Trailhead, we're getting in the spirit. We're decorating in the best of Christmas ways, but I'll let Pastor Josh blog about that when he's able to do so, we have an awesome outreach at the local homeless shelter in a couple of weeks that I'm pretty excited about, and we had an event for the Elon students where we watched Elf. I mean, sure it was basically just the staff there, but we enjoyed the movie all the same! Finals can put a damper on starting the Christmas season early, I guess. But anyway, as I sit here and marvel at all things Christmas and what makes this time of the year great, I can't help but ask myself this question:
What if there was no "Christmas season?"
Now, I know what you're thinking. Ah man, this is probably going to be another "You should feel bad for enjoying anything not Jesus-related on Christmas, and you should hate yourself because you got an X-Box for Christmas and little Billy in Uzbekistan didn't, and capitalism is pure evil" type Christmas blog. Don't worry this is not one of those blogs. Yes, often times the true meaning of Christmas is overshadowed but that does not mean it's all "of the devil." It just means we shouldn't lose focus of Jesus, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, originally, Christmas had two purposes. 1. To celebrate the birth of Christ (duh) and 2. To make an alternative to pagan festivals at the end of the year that involved activities that would even be considered inappropriate for the good folks at Cinemax. Jesus was actually born around September/October of 7 or 2 BC and believe it or not, not December 25th, 0 AD so I guess that means that that snow covered nativity scene isn't the most historically accurate depiction of that night.
So I asked myself the other day this hypothetical question. Let's just say we knew
for a fact that Jesus' birthday was on September 27th. So already, we can kiss the whole "white Christmas" dream goodbye and don't even think about singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" while snuggling with that special someone by a roaring fire. Let's just say there was no Christmas. Instead, it's Jesus Christ's Birthday. Christians would be allowed to get off work to observe this day, and maybe there'll even be a JCB church service or whatever but nothing out of the ordinary. No Christmas tree, no presents, no carols, no Sparkling Apple Cider, no Ernest Saves Christmas, no Christmas moose, no egg nog, no Frosty, no Rudolph, and you didn't care that this little tree made some block-head's Christmas. All we had was this day to observe the birth of Christ. Just JCB Day. Not JCB Season, just the day. Would we care? Would we get amped up for JCB Day like I do for Christmas season? I mean, cause I'll be honest, the day after Thanksgiving, all my mind is focused on is Christmas. I mean, it is The most wonderful time of the year, but let's say that we don't have these traditions, carols, gift cards, and Christmas specials. Would we really give a rip about Jesus' birthday as much as we do Christmas day? If the only purpose of Jesus' Birthday was just to have one day to honor the birth of Jesus and reflect on the significance of His birth and nothing else, would it be that big of a deal to us? For instance, I used to look forward to Martin Luther King day because I got off school but to be honest, I never took that day to sit down and reflect on the significance of what MLK did to impact America's culture, society, and way of thinking. Is that how we would treat JCB Day? Would it just be a day to get out of school and off work and maybe enjoy a sale here or two at your local department store?
for a fact that Jesus' birthday was on September 27th. So already, we can kiss the whole "white Christmas" dream goodbye and don't even think about singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" while snuggling with that special someone by a roaring fire. Let's just say there was no Christmas. Instead, it's Jesus Christ's Birthday. Christians would be allowed to get off work to observe this day, and maybe there'll even be a JCB church service or whatever but nothing out of the ordinary. No Christmas tree, no presents, no carols, no Sparkling Apple Cider, no Ernest Saves Christmas, no Christmas moose, no egg nog, no Frosty, no Rudolph, and you didn't care that this little tree made some block-head's Christmas. All we had was this day to observe the birth of Christ. Just JCB Day. Not JCB Season, just the day. Would we care? Would we get amped up for JCB Day like I do for Christmas season? I mean, cause I'll be honest, the day after Thanksgiving, all my mind is focused on is Christmas. I mean, it is The most wonderful time of the year, but let's say that we don't have these traditions, carols, gift cards, and Christmas specials. Would we really give a rip about Jesus' birthday as much as we do Christmas day? If the only purpose of Jesus' Birthday was just to have one day to honor the birth of Jesus and reflect on the significance of His birth and nothing else, would it be that big of a deal to us? For instance, I used to look forward to Martin Luther King day because I got off school but to be honest, I never took that day to sit down and reflect on the significance of what MLK did to impact America's culture, society, and way of thinking. Is that how we would treat JCB Day? Would it just be a day to get out of school and off work and maybe enjoy a sale here or two at your local department store?When I first asked myself that question, I couldn't really honestly say yes. I mean, I'm sure I would take time to reflect on Jesus, but I wouldn't be excited for a month about it and spend the whole day just in awe of Jesus' birth. I can't imagine being a kid and not being able to sleep on JCB Eve because a couple of thousand years ago, Jesus was born on that very day.
As cheesy as we've made it sound year after year, Jesus is the reason for the season. Now, I'm not about to campaign to have all things Christmas go away, like Santa, presents, and "Jingle Bells." I love the Christmas season and everything that comes with it. Instead, I'm proposing that we highlight why Christmas is even significant to history, both the world's and ours. Not just the cute plastic baby Jesus in front of the local church, but the Son of the living God who's whole purpose in life was to teach love and life and then die in the worst of ways just so we may have the opportunity to get things right with God.
I'm proposing that we remember why we even have Christmas and treat it in such a way that if everything about Christmas was taken away, we would get just as amped just to simply reflect and honor the birth of that baby 2000 years ago. Again, I think everything that comes with the Christmas season is great as long as it doesn't take over the true meaning of Christmas:
The Birth of Redemption
Merry Christmas!
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