A Lasting Christmas
One Christmas night, while still a preteen, my family gathered around the Christmas tree to talk about and reflect on the wonderful day. It was a warm and sacred time when few words were needed to convey the special bond of closeness our family felt for one another. As I focused on the twinkling tree lights and scanned the relaxed and contented faces of my family, I remember thinking, “Why can’t this feeling last longer? Why does Christmas have to end so quickly?”
Perhaps many of us have had the same thought as Christmas Day recedes into another holiday memory. We aren’t quite ready for Christmas to end. We yearn for the festive feelings of warmth and good cheer to linger just a little longer.
It doesn’t take long, though, before the full force of life once again slams us up against the walls of reality. Before the Christmas tree has been taken down or the holiday leftovers disappear from the refrigerator, the immense problems of our broken world shatter any illusion we might have of “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” The season of “Good Tidings” quickly gives way to gloomy news reports where tragic accidents, wars, sickness, and death capture the daily headlines.
The truth of the matter is, nothing much has changed in the past 2,000 years. The tender and serene moments one feels on Christmas Day have always been quickly pushed aside by the everyday evils of life. Even that first Christmas, captured on canvas by artists who traditionally depict tranquil manger scenes, shepherds, wise men, sheep and cows adoringly paying homage to the newborn king, was only a temporary reprieve from life’s cruelties.
The Gospel of Matthew’s version of events gives us a big dose of reality when he acknowledges the brevity of Christmas. As soon as the wise men present their gifts to the baby Jesus, Matthew abruptly speeds past nostalgic images of the idyllic babe sleeping “in heavenly peace” to the real world—a world of fear, danger, and death. An angel warns Joseph that the baby’s life is in danger, and they must leave at once for Egypt. So much for lingering over Christmas!
Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt
Soon soldiers of Herod enter the village of Bethlehem and murder any male child two-years-old or younger. The savagery is incomprehensible and, while not historically verifiable, is in keeping with the personality of Herod (see Matthew 2: 13-23). On that first Christmas, when God’s presence took on human form, Matthew reminds us that evil couldn’t be held at bay. Matthew’s Christmas story reads like a Greek tragedy, with little comfort or cheer.
Only in relatively recent times has Christmas been associated with feasting, celebration, and happiness. Not until the fourth century was Christmas even honored as a sacred Christian holy day. During the reign of Constantine, around 336 A.D., the birth day of Jesus was first commemorated by worship and prayers. It was referred to as the “Christ mass,” a solemn day of reflection and repentance. The early Christians remembered what we so-called moderns often forget: Christmas indeed reveals God’s presence but also exposes the absurd cruelties of human existence. Later, unfortunately, the sacred worship day was coupled with a pagan Roman festivity associated with the winter solstice. Only then was the Christ mass transformed into a day of happy celebration.
Through the centuries more and more legends became attached to Christmas Day, until by the time of the Reformation (16th century), the holy day had all but disappeared and became primarily a day of feasting. The reformers tried to bring back the original emphasis of worship on Christmas Day by encouraging Christians to spend the day in more low keyed ways such as meditation and prayer. For a while, devout believers turned their backs on pagan celebrations, but by the 19th century the church once again began to promote festive celebrations.
I’m certainly not suggesting that celebration shouldn’t be a part of the Christmas season. The birth of Jesus is certainly an occasion for jubilation, but in our culture today the meaning of Christmas Day is too often drained of its holiness. The emphasis on the celebratory aspects of Christmas frequently blinds us to the Bethlehems of the world, where unjust suffering and death still take place. The Christmas season serves to remind us that millions upon millions live in misery, and the church has been called to continue the work of Jesus—caring for the weak, the poor, the sick, and the forgotten of the world.
It’s not that God doesn’t want us to be happy, but there is so much more to Christmas than happiness. Happiness is an emotion dependent on external circumstances, a fleeting feeling at best. Neither the Bible nor the early church viewed the birth of Jesus strictly in terms of happiness. Early Christians were well aware of the suffering and cruelty of human existence and did not depend on feelings of happiness to support their faith experience. Matthew’s account (Matt. 2: 13-23) of the unspeakable deaths of young children in Bethlehem illustrates that the early Christians were fully aware that Christmas did not put an end to evil.
Consequently, it is not happiness that defines Christmas, but joy. Joy is an attitude that transcends feelings of happiness. Joy rests on the faithfulness of God and results in a deep and abiding sense of knowing that, regardless of circumstances, nothing can separate us from God’s love. Joy can’t be manufactured or bought. Joy is God’s gift to all who allow Christ to be born in them. The angel announced, “I bring you Good News of great joy.” It is not happiness that God promises, but an abiding sense of divine presence, an inner joy, even when the world comes crashing down around us.
Joy does not mask the problems and pain of this world, but provides strength to endure through the most trying circumstances. It is joy alone that allows for Christmas to endure far beyond Christmas Day. Joy is the key to a lasting Christmas!
