This past Sunday, we talked at length about moving our Christmas celebration beyond the Carnival of Activity. Instead, the holiday season ought to serve as a liturgy for the Festival of the Nativity. When we do this, all of our traditions invariably point to the reason for the season and help us to cut through all of the distractions.
Letโs use the Christmas Tree as an example. How can we move its use beyond just a fun, inherited cultural tradition? Instead, how can we use it as an instrument of our holiday worship? There are at least two ways you can do this:
๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ:๐ต-๐ญ๐ฌ โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ!
(1) When you see a star sitting on top of a Christmas Tree this year, almost hovering over all the wrapped gifts below, remember that special star that came to rest over the manger on that first Christmas, where Godโs gift to the world lay wrapped in cloths below.
๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ฏ๐ฌ โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ.
(2) As you take joy in the ornaments youโve hung with great care and intentionality, donโt forget that Jesus, more beautiful than any ornament, was intentionally hung on a tree to bring you the greatest joy.
Iโm praying that every time we look at a Christmas Tree this year, it will transcend its typical nostalgia and lead us into a deeper sense of gratitude for Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas,
PAC.
Letโs use the Christmas Tree as an example. How can we move its use beyond just a fun, inherited cultural tradition? Instead, how can we use it as an instrument of our holiday worship? There are at least two ways you can do this:
๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ:๐ต-๐ญ๐ฌ โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ!
(1) When you see a star sitting on top of a Christmas Tree this year, almost hovering over all the wrapped gifts below, remember that special star that came to rest over the manger on that first Christmas, where Godโs gift to the world lay wrapped in cloths below.
๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ฏ๐ฌ โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ.
(2) As you take joy in the ornaments youโve hung with great care and intentionality, donโt forget that Jesus, more beautiful than any ornament, was intentionally hung on a tree to bring you the greatest joy.
Iโm praying that every time we look at a Christmas Tree this year, it will transcend its typical nostalgia and lead us into a deeper sense of gratitude for Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas,
PAC.
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1 Comment
It's unfortunate that so many self professing Christians continue to regard these pagan incorporations (such as the x-mas tree) as being in step with the holy written word. The December 25th date that is celebrated as Jesus' birthday isn't even factual. That date is thought to have been invented by Catholic clergy seeking to convert the Roman pagans (which celebrated their gods around the time of the Winter Solstice). Some of the dates and many of the items we incorporate into our modern day religious festivals are directly sourced from Pagan religions of the past. Easter, for example, is believed to be a derivative of the name Eostre (which was the Germanic name of a pagan goddess). Eostre was worshipped in the Spring by way of some rather gruesome practices, and eggs and rabbits (or hares) were incorporated so as to be seen as symbols of fertility and birth. I do believe the apostles and disciples of Jesus' day would find our particular religious holidays quite unrecognizable and concerning.