We Americans love the war analogy. We have the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, the Culture Wars, and most recently the War on Christmas; with all due apologies to those who have actually endured real combat.
I know it must be December when I start getting e-mails, tweets, and Facebook reminders to "keep Christ in Christmas," (As if we can place and remove Jesus hear or there on our own whim. But, I digress.) and imploring me to shun merchants who say "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas."
I realize that words matter, but sometimes I want to call upon my inner, teenage, eye-rolling attitude and say, "What-ever!"
Our cultural Christmas has become a time to measure our consumer spending power on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a time to pepper spray our shopping competitors over the lastest XBox, or to figure out how we can avoid making eye contact with the Salvation Army bell ringers at Walmart. Perhaps all of those people say, "Merry Christmas," too. Truthfully, preserving Christmas has much less to do with our words than our actions.
One of my favorite novels is Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. Grisham writes about Luther and Nora Krank's effort to salvage all of the money that they typically spend on Christmas and use it for a cruise that leaves on Christmas day. Despite pressure from their neighbors and friends, the Kranks steadfastly avoid buying the normal non-profit amenities, decorating their house, sending Christmas cards, or attending any Christmas functions.
Their plans fall apart on the morning of Christmas Eve, but in the midst of the chaos Luther discovers that even though you can skip all of the trappings related to Christmas, you really can't avoid Christmas itself.
Christmas comes, whether we acknowledge it or not.
When serving as a Pastor, one of my favorite moments of the season was immediately after our Christmas Eve service. Everyone had gone home and I would be left alone to lock up the building. All of the carols had been sung, the musicals had been performed, the candles lit, and the sermons preached. The streets would be empty of traffic and the night was always dark and silent.
Driving home to my family I would find myself reflecting upon the never-ending mystery that hope arrived with little fanfare in the form of a helpless infant. Only God could think of such an unorthodox thing.
We would have prepared a media blitz. Can you imagine the twitter campain; the revenue that could be generated from ticket prices and parking fees; the follow-up DVD sales; the action figures? What a collossus of commercialization we could have created around the idea that salvation had come!
But in the oringinal story, apart from a few, fortunate shepherds and some Magi, everyone else goes on about their business. God was at work anyway, whether anyone stopped to acknowledge Him or not.
He still is.
The story never gets old. In the most bizarre tale of faithfulness and mystery, the God of eternity reaches out to us. Christmas comes, and for those of us who want to pay attention it reminds us once again that God has not forgotten us.
I have a hard time getting worked up over whether the sales clerk at Target says, "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" to me. I'm just thankful that I have the means to shop at Target, and I'll go on keeping Christmas whether the merchants want to acknowledge it or not. As one blogger points out, if you want a truly Christian greeting, one that makes no mistake whether or not you follow the Christ child, try, “the peace of Christ be with you.”
I'll save getting worked up for things like violence on the Mexican Border, human trafficking, and hungry children. I'll save my passion for helping churches that struggle to find and maintain vitality.
As for Christmas, I'll enjoy the anticipation of Advent and reflect again on the mystery of Incarnation. I don't want to miss it.
In those quiet moments after the kids climb in bed on Christmas Eve and struggle to go to sleep I'll remember that Christmas has done it again; it has come, whether we really know it or not.
So, may the peace of Christ be with you, during this season and beyond.
John, your last post was also at Christmas. In a small way, it reflects the inspirational power of the Incarnation. I always enjoy your thoughts and hear your voice as I read them. Blessings.
Posted by: Ross Tatum | December 20, 2011 at 03:20 PM