Musty pine smell, glitterยญing balls, and smooth, softly faded creche figures: Christmas packed in an old yellow trunk at the back of the childrenโs closet. Outยญ side the sun is bright, the childrenโs voices are raised in a boisterous game of tag through the lawn sprinkยญlers. But just smelling the pine and gently fingering the familiar plaster figure of the Christ Child awakens a sense of awe and anticipation for another season of special praise in honor of the birth of my Lord.
Waiting, hoping, eagerly I look forward, anticipatยญing something special. When I was a child, my famยญily didnโt focus on Christ as the center and circumferยญence of Christmas. But there was still anticipation. Waitยญing for the first snow. Hopยญing for special presents. Eagerly looking forward to the pleased faces of my loved ones as they opened the presents I had carefully made for them. And someยญ how all of the waiting wasnโt over when Christmas Day had passed. It was as though all the different kinds of Christmas waiting were just shadows of the waiting that was still inside me.
When I met Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I finally found out what that waiting was: I was looking for my Redeemer! The first Christmas season after I was born again was infinitely more exciting than any holiday of the past. Each kind of waiting, each part of Christmas, echoed the holy anticipation of the coming of our Lord. Now my family celebrates Christmas with our devotion centered on Jesus Christ.
Over the years we have learned and adapted many Christmas traditions that help us to focus on the birth of our Lord and Savior, sometimes even giving a Christian emphasis to the โcommercialยญizedโ aspects of Christmas. We have found many ways to make Christmas a special celebration of Christโs birthday.
SANTA CLAUS
When our oldest daughter was not quite I three, we told her about a special Christian who lived a long time ago: โHis name was Nicholas, and we call him St. Nicholas because saint means someone who belongs to God, just like we do. In St. Nicholasโ town there were many poor children. They didnโt have enough food, clothes, or toys. St. Nicholas used his money to buy food, clothes, and toys for the poor children. He didnโt want them to be embarrassed by his gifts, so he gave secretly.
โSt. Nicholas also told everyone about Jesus and how much God loved them. Many people became Christians because of what St. Nicholas said. Then some mean people who hated Jesus put St. Nicholas in jail to keep him from telling people about Jesus and from helping people. St. Nicholas kept on telling people about Jesus until the mean people finally had him killed.
โBecause of how much St. Nicholas loved Jesus, and because of the many gifts he gave the poor children of his town, we still remember St. Nichยญolas at Christmas time. All of the gifts he gave, and all of the Christmas presents we give, are to remind us of the very best gift anyone ever gave: when God the Father gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to us for our salvation.
โToday there are many people who donโt know the truth about St. Nicholas. They call him โSanta Claus,โ and they tell children preยญtend stories about him livยญing at the North Pole and having elves and reindeer. But we know the truth, and when we see a departยญment store Santa Claus or a picture of Santa Claus in a magazine, we remember the real Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, who loved Jesus so much and whose life and death remind us about Godโs gift of Jesus Christ to us.โ
By learning this true story, our children are able to enjoy Santa Claus while being reminded of the gosยญpel and the true meaning of Christmas. We even have a small figure of Santa Claus kneeling at the manger, praying to baby Jesus, reinยญ forcing the truth that everyยญone, even St. Nicholas, must kneel beยญ fore the King of kings and Lord of lords.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Christmas is an ancient Christian word that comes from Latin and signifies โto send Christโ or โChrist is sentโ -an entirely appropriate label!
We donโt know the exact date of Christโs birth. The early Christian Church chose December 25 as the common date upon which all Christians throughout the world would commemorate the birth of Christ. Part of the reason this date was chosen was that it was already a popular pagan holiday. Centuries ago Christian converts were under intense pressure to maintain their pagan religious ties beยญ cause of cultural and social traditions. The Church understood this pressure and sought to supersede pagan tradiยญtions with ones that gave glory to the true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We tell our children, โBeยญfore Jesus was born, many people who did not know about the true God worยญshiped false gods, idols. They had holidays for their idols. After Jesus came, the Church wanted all Christians to have a special day to remember and celebrate Jesusโ birthday. They chose the same day as one of the pagan festivals as a way to show that Jesus Christ is the only true God and that His birthday is more imยญportant than anything havยญing to do with an idol. Choosing that day for Christยญmas is sort of like a picture of how God deals with peoยญple. When people donโt beยญlieve in God, they are like the pagans and nothing they do pleases God. When they become Christians and love Jesus, the Holy Spirit transforms them into people who please God.โ
We anticipate Christmas long before December 25. Our church has special โadventโ (Christโs coming) services each Wednesday for four weeks before Christยญmas. These special services ready our hearts for Christยญmas and tum our eyes away from crass commercialization and hectic holiday schedules and toward the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes we get busy and we are tempted to skip a week; our pastor reminds us, if we spent as much time preparing our hearts for Christmas as we did our homes, we would be in great shape spiritually!
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
Through the weeks approaching Christmas, I get out special Christmas objects before Christmas that remind us of Christโs coming. Our advent wreath marks the four Sundays before Christmas with the ring of evergreen signifying Godโs everlasting love and the candles reminding us that Christ is the light of the world.
The first week we light a gold candle, reminding us of the prophets who announced Christโs coming. The second week we light the gold and the white candles, the white signifying the angels who announced Christโs birth to the shepherds. The third week we light the gold, white, and green candles, the green signifying the shepherds, who told about the angelโs message. On the Sunday before Christmas we light all four candles, the last, purple one reminding us of the royal wise men who came to worship Jesus.
Each week we read appropriate parts of the nativity story during our candle lighting, and each week the light from the wreath gets brighter. On Christmas Eve we light a large red candle in the center of the wreath. This signifies the coming of Jesus Christ, who was born a baby, but who later shed His blood so that we can have eternal life.
Our creche or nativity scene is also very important to us. We bought large plaster figures at a craft shop and painted them together as a family. The younger children painted the easier pieces, and Dad and Mom painted the difficult details. Even with the splotches and nicks each piece has earned over the years, the childrenโs faces still light up with warm recognition as each piece is unwrapped and set on the hearth. We leave the figure of baby Jesus wrapped up carefully until Christmas Eve. Our youngest child has the special honor of unwrapping it and placing it carefully in the manger.
Some of the ornaments on our Christmas tree copy ancient Christian symbols and reflect important Chrisยญtian teaching. Crosses reยญ mind us that Christ died for us. Triangles represent the Trinity. Circles symbolยญize that Jesus, even though He was born as a baby, is eternal. Shepherdsโ crooks remind us that Jesus is our great Shepherd.
Many of our ornaments have been given to us over the years by friends and family members. As we unpack them each year and hang them on our tree, we talk about the people who gave them to us. The ornaยญments remind us to pray for those we may not see regularly anymore.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
At our house, we begin anticipating Christmas in October, when we buy inexpensive pumpkins, bake them, and use the pulp for pumpkin bread, which we freeze for Christmas presents. We have a good family time mixing, measuring, cooking, and talking about the special friends who will receive our gifts. We start looking forward to Jesusโ birthday, when God sent His only Son to us as the best present of all. Our pumpkin bread represents our love for our friends, but most important, it should represent Godโs gift to us in Jesus Christ.
Our family keeps gift-giving to a minimum of special, meaningful gifts. Each gift, eagerly anticipated by our children, is another reminder of the One Gift.
Each member of our family prepares a special gift for Jesus each year. Weeks of discussion, prayer, and thought go into selecting a promise for the next year that will please Jesus. It may take a positive form (โMy gift to Jesus is to promise to spend more time playing with my little brotherโ), or a negative form (โMy gift to Jesus is to promise not to call my sister names anymoreโ). The promise is printed on a card and decorated for Jesus. On Christmas morning we have a birthday cake for Jesus, sing โHappy Birthdayโ to Jesus, share our Jesus presents with each other, and pray as a family that we will be able to fulfill our promises.
The repetition, the anticipation, the repeated telling of the gospel in different ways through presents, traditions, and family times, combine as a powerful reinforcement of Christian truth. Although Christmas has been secularized and commercialized by many people, Christians can use Christmas as a vehicle for the gospel. Let us approach this Christmas echoing the glory expressed by the angel: โโDo not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.'โ (Luke 2:10-11).
Taken from Discipleship Journal, Issue 36.