Christians and Christmas

There's been a good discussion on my facebook page regarding the article by Terry Sommerville that I posted yesterday.

Christmas raises a number of dilemmas for Christians, but basically the issue boils down to how to engage in a celebration that is universal in our culture but which has been stripped of its Christian content to such an extent that Santa Claus (originally a Christian figure, but increasingly hijacked by commercialism over the last century) is now more important than Jesus.

For parents the pressing issue is the Santa policy. What do we tell the children? What are the long-term issues of parental authority? Do we steal something from our children by insisting on the truth?

Recently Alex, the little 4 year old that we mind, said "Santa isn't real but I believe in him." In other words he knew the truth but wanted to believe in order to get the presents.

Another couple have made it clear from the beginning that Santa isn't real. The other day, when approached at the Street Carnival by a Santa they were happy to talk to him. The younger sister was going to call dad and tell him that they were talking to Santa, but the older street-wise brother said "Don't tell him!"

For children the word seems to be "I don't believe.. but I really want to."

For adults we have a whole range of issues from endless parties of varying levels of sobriety, to family issues, to work issues (can I even say "Merry Christmas" to customers?).

There is something very profound in the hearts of people that they want to believe the real message of Christmas is possible (Peace on Earth) even if they have rejected the source of the message and the call to repentance that is essential to the promise of peace.

Somehow we have to walk a tightrope, balancing between totally withdrawing from the whole Christmas thing (and not even celebrating the spiritual significance of the feast) on the one side, and total capitulation to the spend, eat, drink and be merry determined feasting without any mention of Jesus at the other extreme(some churches do not celebrate Christmas because it's "family time").

Here is the key. Because Jesus has come into the world and has filled his people with the Holy Spirit, every part of our life has the potential to be holy to Him. Therefore we need to enter into the season of celebration being aware that God is with us. This gives us the opportunity to "re-sacralise" the parties and other events that are part of the deal- in other words to make them holy events in which Jesus is present.

I'm not talking about being religious or super-spiritual.

I am talking about recalling the reason for the feast. It may be as simple as saying grace at the family celebrations or taking opportunities to share about Jesus in conversations when people gather together.

It may be something like we did at the Street Carnival- just taking the Christian symbols of Christmas into the community and being a quiet reminder of the "Reason for the Season."

One thing that the church tradition has given us that is increasingly important is the season of Advent- four weeks of reflection on the significance of the coming into the world of Jesus. I always encourage people to try to slow down and take extra time to be with God in prayer, scripture and meditation.

If we do that we will find that the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to the possibilities of engaging with our culture and our immediate friends about the real significance of this time.