A Christmas Question to Ponder

I read a Twitter update from someone I follow (I honestly wish I could remember who tweeted this so I could give proper credit.) and they posed this question:

How would your celebration of Christmas be different if it were not a national holiday?

This is an interesting question.  The celebration of Christmas (or the holiday season) has become a month long extraveganza beginning the day after Thanksgiving and running through New Years.  The federal government gives declares that Christmas is a national holiday and many have the day off.  Retailers extend our sense of celebration by promoting sale after sale with images of the 'ideal' Christmas celebration/gift/lifestyle.  Even though Christmas is a Christian Holy Day- it has become more of a cultural holiday to where non-Christians celebrate the Christmas (although in a consumeristic manner)

How would Christmas be different if it was not a national holiday?

• First, I believe that Christmas would be entirely less about presents and gifts and more about the presences of God in flesh and the gift of worship that we offer through our lives. 
• Since it would be less of a cultural thing- I think Christmas would be a time when the Church would gather to worship.  Sure, we get together on Christmas Eve- but I think there would be a deeper more profound experience if you didn't have to get through the cultural expectations of Candle Light Services, Christmas Cantatas, Children's Plays, or tip-toeing around Santa.
• There might be a greater emphasis on Easter and the weeks leading up to Easter.  You can't have Easter without Christmas- but we can't leave Jesus as a babe in the straw either.  Christmas is only the beginning of the Easter story.  Can we do a better job of framing Christmas in the Easter story? 

As Christmas approaches, I'll be thinking about this question a little bit more- especially as I prepare my Christmas Eve message later in the week. 

On a side note- seminary just ended for the semester last night.  I hope to be a little more regular in my posting.  (Maybe more thoughtful too!)

Site Preparations

"He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: 'A voice of one calling in the desert, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.  Every valley shall be filled in, every mountian and hill made low.  The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.  And all mankind will see God's salvation.'""
                                                                                         Luke 3:3-6

The passage from Luke is the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry- one calling people to repentance.  Luke quotes Isaiah 40 as John is one calling out in the desert to prepare the way for the Lord.  On Sunday, we're going to focus on how we prepare ourselves for God. 

Just outisde of Milford, a new shopping center is going up.  For the last several weeks/months, there have been heavy equipment on the property clearing brush, leveling the ground, and moving dirt.  These preparations are necessary for the buildings that will be placed on the properties.  This site preparation has a practical function.  There is another function of the site preparations- people begin to ask questions; "What's going on here?"  "I wonder what they are building?"  "When will they be complete?"  In a way, the preparation of the site is a marketing technique.  It piques ones interest in what is going on.  If it is a store or restaraunt that we enjoy, then we wait in anticipation for the construction to be completed.

The quotation of Isaiah and Luke speaks of a construction project.  The valleys will be raised, the mountains will be made low.  The crooked places will be straightened out.  The rough patches will be made smooth.  And everyone will see God's salvation.  These verses tell of a great reversal of nature.  The lowly will be raised up and the high and mighty brought down. 

Out near the Jordan River, John called people to prepare their hearts for someone greater.  He called people to prepare their heart by repenting for the forgiveness of their sins.  Repentance is more than a state of mind, or something abstract- it repentance requires action.  Repentance is turning away from sin and turning back to God.  Repentance clears the way for us to experience God's salvation.

On this second sunday of Advent- God is drawing near.  Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, has come to earth and will come again.  Creation will roll out like a red carpet to note God's arrival.  Likewise, we too must have our hearts prepared and ready for Christ to dwell in us.