I was trying to bring a teaching on how to celebrate Christmas but I could not find anything in scripture about the celebration of Christmas. Yes, we have what we call the account of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke... But it doesn't tell us anything about how we should celebrate the season. But this year I've learn something about this season that will change the way I celebrate Christmas for ever...For many years I have struggle with guilt during the Christmas season. Guilt because christmas goes by and I feel that I failed to make a deep spiritual connection with the season. After Christmas I often say: "Next year, I am going to make it more meaningful... But somehow, when Christmas comes, I get rapped up in the same mess, so I feel guilty...
Can you relate?
It seems that during the Christmas season we need to switch to a faster gear if not we stay behind...
For me it begins right around thanksgiving... My wife is a Christmas season fanatic... A well decorated Christmas tree is not enough... The entire house gets transformed into a christmas palace...
So for me the Christmas season starts early November with the reminder to put in my calendar a day to go into the attic and bring down approximately 8 plastic containers and some cardboard boxes... And that is not including the Christmas tree... That is where the christmas stress begins for me... Because For the next three weeks I am reminded at lease three times a week to take a day before thanksgiving to bring everything down from the attic...
And it's not just bringing the things down... My wife needs help with the decorations too... And after everything is out of the container, guess what I need to do? You guess it. I need to put all the empty containers back up in the attic.
I find it hard to make a deep spiritual connection with that...
Part of the stress of Christmas season is finances too... How much are we going to spend? Thank God for my wife that always puts a little bit of money aside so we can have something to spend on our kids... As our kids get older, it becomes harder to please them...
But is not just the kids... You have gift exchanges with co worker... Gift exchanges with your kid's class mates... Then is figuring out what to give... What is this gift going to say about me?
I find it hard to make a deep spiritual connection with that...
Then you have the actual shopping days... Have you ever been to Toy R Us during around this time? My wife and I were there last Sunday... You can smell the stress... And it stinks a little...
I find it hard to make a deep spiritual connection with that...
But then we get to Christmas week and we go to church that Sunday and we hear a message about the real reason of Christmas...
How ironic that we need to be reminded of the real reason of Christmas during the Christmas season... I thought the reason we created a Christmas season was to remember that our savior was born... And yet we need to be reminded during the christmas season? That doesn't make sense. Does it?
But at least we take one day to stop and think of Jesus. The truth be told, we take a few hours of one day, out of approximately thirty days, to remember Christ and make a deep spiritual connection with the season. I find it hard. I don't know... It feels like if we are trying to fit something in that doesn't belong.
Then we get to Christmas day and that is a wonderful day... You get to see your children happy, playing with their toys... Except those who just got cloths for Christmas... You get to open the your own gift, which in many cases you already know what it is, but you sound exited anyways...
Three hours later your kids are playing with the box the gift came in... And Christmas quickly is forgotten because we now focus on the new year...
But off course, the stress of Christmas is not over for me because my house stays decorated until the new year. So you know what that means? Another trip to the attic. Take down the plastic container... Take down all the decorations... Then, the last trip to the attic and Christmas is finally over... Till the next November...
Wilmer, you sound like the Scrooge. Well, that is not my intention...
Celebrating the birth of Christ has nothing to do with what happens during the Christmas season... It has nothing to do with gifts to make an impression, or spending a lot of money, or giving lots of gifts, or eating lots of food... Christ has nothing to do with stress or a hurried life...
Some how, the way we feel and the things we find ourselves doing during this Christmas season stands in complete opposition with how Christ makes us feel and the things he teaches us to do... So I wonder, does Christ really fits in this season? Does Christ fits in any season? you can't confine Christ to any season. Christ is not Christmas. Christ is so much more than Christmas...
If we learn anything about celebrating the birth of Christ from scripture is this: When Christ was born two things happened... The angels proclaimed to the shepherds that a savior was born. They came, they worshiped, and they told everybody they knew...
They worship Christ and they proclaimed Christ... And that cannot be limited to any season because we are call to worship and proclaim Christ every day of the year...
I know, some of you are just realizing: "Wilmer, you are the Scrooge". No... On the contrary.
I told you that I have learned something this season that will change the way I will celebrate the rest of my Christmas and that is that I can enjoy this season for what it is...
Let's enjoy this season for what it is.... Without the guilt of trying to make this season spiritual. It is not...
If you want to make a deep spiritual connection with the birth of Christ you need to worship Him and tell everyone you know about your savior! And that we could do every day!
