Jesus and Christmas part
5 -
An Advent Conspiracy
Guest post by Chrissy
Remsburg
Chrissy is originally from America, growing up in a
family consciously trying to make the most of Christmas for Christ. For the last seven years or so she has lived
and worked in Shanghai, China. I asked
her about her family traditions and approach to Christmas and how she works to
make it meaningful. It’s a great read –
I especially like how she opens our eyes to the ask not just what are we doing
but why are we doing what we do!
When I stop to think about our family’s Christmas
traditions, I have to admit I’m a bit stumped.
I’m not saying we don’t have traditions from year to year. It’s just
that those “traditions” always seemed to change every few years. Some years we would string popcorn on needle
and thread to hang on the tree. Other
years we did fun things with the gifts like open 1 every night for 12 nights
leading up to Christmas, or 1 on Christmas Eve, or ALL of them on Christmas Eve
and then just sleep in and relax on Christmas Day! Some years, mom would bake a cake and we’d
sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out the candles. Many years we’ve gone to see a family movie
together on Christmas Day! The
traditions, while not very shocking, seem to always be changing in our
family.
So what really makes it
Christmas for me?
As I think back through the years, the one
abiding tradition that has never changed was my parents’ commitment that we
always understand the “why”. No matter
“what” we did for Christmas we always spent time talking about and honoring the
“why” of our celebration. We don’t
always do the same things but we always know why we do whatever it is that we
do to celebrate.
And that’s a tradition that has continued for me as I’ve
become an adult. Every Christmas I find
myself digging in for new and meaningful ways to understand the “why”.
Why Gifts?
This year, I’ve wrestled with the why of the gifts we
give. Why do we give gifts at all. We know that those wise men from the East,
however many there were, certainly gave gifts.
But they didn’t seek out Jesus and then turn to one another and say,
“Congratulations! We found him! Here’s a flat screen!”. So why do we give gifts to one another at
all?
An inspiring hertiage
Historically, we know there was actually a St. Nicholas
of Myra who lived in Turkey around 200-300AD.
He was a bishop who came from a wealthy family. It’s said that he first began giving gifts to
children in need at Christmas in honor of Jesus. I love that!
The real St. Nick was a follower of Jesus who sought to give gifts that
would make a difference in the lives of the poor and the oppressed....gifts
that would point people back to the story of Jesus.
Around the 13th century, we know there was a group of
French nuns who also began to give gifts to the poor at Christmas in honor of
St. Nicholas. Again, a group of Jesus
followers giving gifts that would remind us of the story of Jesus. But is that enough of a reason to justify the
frenetic and sometimes stressful gift giving that takes place every December?
Rooted in Real People
It’s encouraging to me to know that the
over-commercialized Santa Clause and Christmas traditions we’ve come to embrace
have their root in real people who truly loved and served Jesus. But what I found truly inspiring came only as
I dug further.
To really understand the origin of Christmas and our
gift giving traditions, we have to go back to the those first Christians and
the Roman Empire. After all, it was in
the midst of the Roman Empire that Christianity first took root.
A Conspiracy
Every December, the Romans celebrated a week-long
holiday called Saturnalia. While this
pagan holiday to celebrate the god Saturn was filled with sinful partying,
gambling and drinking, it was also marked by feasts, family gatherings, private
gift giving, caring for the poor and more.
Families were off school and out of work. They gathered in homes to feast, sing, and
give gifts. They would decorate their
homes by lighting candles in the windows and bringing in pine branches for a
festive environment.
It is in the midst of this that a group of Christians
took on a truly subversive idea. It was
these first Christians who must have thought, we don’t worship Saturn and we
won’t celebrate him. But we are off work
anyway and even though we don’t know the exact date that Jesus was born, we do
know that he was born and we do worship him as Lord and Savior. And so these first believers conspired
together to take this week-long festival in December and choose this time to
remember the birth of Jesus.
Pointing to Jesus
But the true conspiracy of these early Christians was
in celebrating Christmas in such winsome ways that it continually drew people
back to the story of Jesus. So like
their fellow Romans, they gave gifts, they gathered to sing songs and share
meals and talk of the one they worshiped.
They cared for the poor and oppressed.
But all of these traditions were rooted in the desire to celebrate in a
way that drew people back to the story.
And so as we enter this Advent season we have the
opportunity to join the conspiracy. We
may choose winsome and whimsical ways to celebrate our Christmas that can
intentionally draw people back to the story of Jesus. We can choose to spend less on gifts and
instead give more presence to those we love.
We can choose giving that supports the poor and the oppressed. We can invite in the forgotten and lonely to
join our family celebrations. And we can
leave a legacy with our children that says no matter “what” we do we will
always remember the “why”.
And as we give throughout the season, we can remember
that we give because He gave, and we love because He loved, and we live because
he died. Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders...” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world
that he gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
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