Warren Sentinel Weekly Pulpit
My daughter stated recently that I didn't like Christmas very much. I'm no Scrooge, but I do get a little grumpy as Christmas nears. I love Christmas! I just hate much of what Christmas has become.
I'm not really bothered when a checkout clerk says “Happy Holidays.” I usually respond “Merry Christmas” out of habit as much as out of hope. Sometimes they smile as if they wish they could say those words. Sometimes they stare at me blankly as if the words mean nothing. A few times they've responded, “Happy HOLIDAYS” as if I didn't hear the first time.
As a nation we are conflicted about Christmas. Almost everyone seems to celebrate it. I have friends of different faiths who have a Christmas tree and give their kids gifts from Santa. And it is relatively easy for them because Christ has become almost absent from our Christmas celebrations. Even many Christians celebrate Christmas with little or no recognition of the Christ's birth.
Sometimes it seems like Christmas is celebrated in name only. Traditions and decorations have papered over the sacred truths that are to be recalled, embraced, and celebrated. It's almost like Christmas has been hijacked.
Who is the central figure? Santa or Baby Jesus? What do we celebrate? Gifts to one another or God's gift to us? How much time do we spend decorating our Christmas tree; hanging lights and wreaths and stockings? Making our lists and checking them twice? How much do we have to spend before we feel “prepared” for Christmas?
The Christmas Season seems to begin with a day known as Black Friday. Think about it. The day after Thanksgiving – the very day, at least in theory, we pause to be thankful for God's blessings – we rush out to buy as much stuff as we can! Mobs of people will beat each other up just so they can get a “deal.”
Would you agree that Christmas has become one of the busiest, most hectic, even most stressful times of year? ... that Christmas doesn't feel quite as sacred any more? There's a problem when our shopping carts are fuller than our beating hearts.
Advent is a time of anticipation and preparation. What do we anticipate? How do we prepare? Luke 3:4 recalls the words of Isaiah, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” And we read in the previous verse about John the Baptizer preaching and baptizing, calling people to repent of their sins.
In ancient times, when a king came to visit a place, the people of that place would prepare the path the king would take. This is why Isaiah goes on to say “make straight paths for him” … fill in every valley, level every mountain … “straighten the crooked roads and smooth the rough ways.”
Preparing for Christmas should be a time of readying our hearts; making our paths straight and our ways smooth. This is done, not by filling our carts, but by repenting of our sins and by allowing our hearts to be filled with the forgiveness Christ offers; celebrating Christ's birth and the re-birth he offers us.
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