Christmas & The Holidays

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How do we, as Christians, find a way to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation and the birth of Christ while simultaneously being a part of our culture? To be faithful, we must know both our culture and the Bible. To navigate this in our own culture, it might be helpful for us to see “the holidays” as distinct from “Christmas.”

“The holidays” are what we as a country enjoy during this time of year. Family, friends, community, gift-giving, and feasting abound. The holidays are enjoyable, and anyone can participate. People worldwide have been feasting at the end or beginning of the year for centuries. We live in a culture in which not everyone celebrates a Christian Christmas. But the public “holiday” time is a happy time of friendship, family, and good cheer in our country. We enjoy this civic celebration along with others in our community.

Christmas vs. Worldly Commercialism

But let’s keep Christ and the word “Christmas” distinct from “The Holidays.” This year, I saw a Wal-Mart sign saying “Christmas Layaway.” Need I say more? Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of Lords, and the Prince of Peace do not sponsor a layaway program so that people can accrue debt by laying up gadgets and gifts. By using him to sell goods, the reality of who he is becomes mixed up with the image of the money changers. The last thing we want to do is insist that retailers call this “Christmas.”Let them call what they are doing “holiday,” and let the Church keep Christmas!

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
John 18.36

The Christ Mass

I think we can enjoy the festive holidays with everyone while still keeping Christmas as the true Christian feast by maintaining its sacred and holy character in our celebration. In other words, we can set Christmas apart without demanding that our culture do so. I can’t imagine Jesus demanding that people celebrate his birthday or trying to shut down other festivities. But I can imagine him lovingly calling people to join him at his table, the true and holy feast.

“Christmas” is the “Christ Mass.” It is the great Feast of the Incarnation in the Christian Church Year. This season, the Church calls us to “keep Christ in Christmas” by worshiping him. Attending worship at Christmas is a great gift of God’s grace to us. We aren’t called by guilt or shame; we are called by love and grace. In this spirit of grace, I call upon you in the name of the Church to gather at worship, or if you are traveling, to take the time to find a place of worship, to reverence him, and rejoice in his coming. Christmas also calls us to feast—to give gifts, to eat and drink and be merry—for the Messiah has come! He is the reason for our feast.

Another way to set Christmas apart is by marking each of the 12 days through prayer and celebration. Christmas calls each of us to meditate on, celebrate, and rejoice in the reality that God became flesh and dwelt among us. The 12 days of Christmas include several feasts, like the Feast of St. Stephen the day after Christmas. Following and marking these days helps us to celebrate in a distinctly Christian way which reminds us that we are not of the world and have our own Christian way.

Christmas: A Time for All

Finally, Christmas is a time to remember the poor, those in any need or trouble, and the outcast. This is beautifully noted in the Advent bidding prayer in the service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The holidays are a time of depression and anxiety for many, including some of the family members that we visit or even ourselves. God calls us to reach out to our fellow man, especially now, as an act of worship.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
1 Peter 3.8-9

In my experience, people are attracted to distinctly Christian celebrations. I would say this is a mission-minded way to evangelize. We can enjoy the holidays, but we must follow the Christian way as it is distinct, inviting others to follow Jesus. Enjoy the holidays! Keep Christ in Christmas by gathering at the manger to adore him, Christ the Lord.

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24.45-47

Merry Christmas!

Image by ipopba from Pop Nukoonrat’s Images, courtesy of Canva.

Published on

December 22, 2011