ADDING RICHNESS TO CHRISTMAS CULTURE

The weeks leading up to December 25th, here in Australia at least, are filled with hype and expectation. Everything points to that one day. Christmas is coming! Santa is coming! Favourite relatives are coming! By the time Christmas Day actually does come, little children are practically bursting with excitement but their parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles are jaded, exhausted and broke.

And then… suddenly… it’s all over.

What was all the fuss about? Some nice new age-appropriate toys to play with (even if you’re in your forties, fifties or older!) A bigger than usual meal with the usual crowd and all the cleaning up afterwards. Leftover turkey and ham on sandwiches on Boxing Day while you watch the cricket on TV.

Aussie culture makes a big deal out of Christmas but some sense of anti-climax is inevitable because the culture is shallow. Festive food, family and friends are all good and important but a culture that disparages the undergirding meaning of Christmas, namely the coming of a Saviour into our world, will always be tempted to ask: “Why do we bother?”

“It’s just something we do,” you might answer. “It can be a lot of fun if we get everything right, and if no-one spits the proverbial dummy about something that was said – or something that wasn’t said but should have been!”

Christian culture is an opportunity to inject richness and meaning into fun little traditions that fill not only Christmas Day but the whole lead-in period as well. If Christmas Day is the destination, shouldn’t we also enjoy the journey getting there? The tree, the decorations, the cards, the carols, the different way we relate to people we meet on the streets and in the shops. These are all clues about how we can enjoy the season, not just the day.

If it’s all about Santa, it will all come down to a few minutes unwrapping presents on a single day. If it’s all about the meal, it will come down to an hour or so around the table. But if it’s about Jesus, it can be a whole season of witness. Multiple acts of preparation that are meaningful in and of themselves. Celebrations that are more than just a drudgery because they honestly and authentically share something of the love of God.
 

I could wish you a Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays if that’s what you prefer, but this Christmas I would like to wish you richness of meaning throughout the whole season. A Christmas season that is busy but not frantic, connected but not painful, joyful but not superficial. In other words, Christmas celebrations that are rich and deep.

And, for me, that means a Christmas season where Jesus is honoured and celebrated.