From Christmas Day, 2010
A lovely day. Five inches of snow. Kids wide-eyed with wonder. Their chins on the window sill, smudging up the glass. We light the candles on the wreath and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. They rip into presents, hug us, and say "thank you." I hold my baby and we observe all the activity with full moon eyes. We do not start the car this day. Time matters to no one because we have nowhere to be but here. Wearied by joy, the kids fall asleep quickly tonight. Dozing in warm corners, bunked tightly. I go for a walk in the cold. I can tell by the tracks that exactly 6 people have walked the sidewalk in the last two days. I'm the street's lone wanderer. I like these nights. The snow affects everyone, driving them behind warm walls. Christmas Day, more than any other day, affects every citizen in the most powerful country in the world. Jew, Muslim, Christian, and atheist. Even those who work on this holiday have their day altered. No one is unaffected - from the president to the plumber. Jesus' birthday has all our attention, but no one notices. Everyone observes a holiday and most don't know why. Many attend a service and never get beyond the fine music. The rituals that once pointed to Christ are diluted to motions with mixed meaning. The whole world stops, but few see. The empire slows, but in vain sentiment. And the Christ Child again slips beyond recognition. A Caesar or a President. Rome or Washington, D.C. A census or a national holiday. It matters not. The child is hidden. No one sees him. They're all looking in the wrong place. All in all, a lovely day . . . John 1:10
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My soundtrack for this season has been "Songs for Christmas" by Sufjan Stevens. If you are weary of the usual Christmas renditions, I highly recommend. If you like Mariah Carey for Christmas, I would avoid it.
Stevens provides thoughtful renditions of classics (as well as some fun originals) unlike anything I've heard before. A quiet folk/Americana style aligns well with a theology of humble, earthy incarnation. The classics can become redundant, but Stevens' approach causes you to hear the words as if for the first time. Such sounds provide great devotional material for this pre-Christmas week. A PROPOSAL: Christians around the world convene a council to find an alternative date to celebrate Christmas. We allow December 25th to remain a "Happy Holiday." And we find a totally new date for Jesus' birthday celebration. Maybe July.
Why? In reality we have two separate holidays. One is a sentimental "warm fuzzy," focusing on family and the spirit of giving. The other is a celebration of the divine Son of God come into the flesh. So let's divorce them. Dr. Herbert Hoefer, a former missionary in India, commented on this in the December issue of the Lutheran Witness. He noted that when he returned to the U.S. after 13 years in India he realized, "I'm still in a non-Christian society. The society may call the holiday 'Christmas,' but it's not. Rather, it's a pagan winter solstice festival of social renewal. It's like something virtually every society around the world has at year's end, an occasion to recommit as families and help the needy and feel good about ourselves as a people again." Hoefer suggests exchanging gifts on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. And then we can get on with Advent and an undivided focus on Christmas as the joy-inducing celebration of the incarnation. I'm in favor of an all out Christian party on Christmas Day. Really loud singing. Lots of candles. Champagne (or egg nog) as you come out of the sanctuary (not as you come in). We can open gifts (I like gifts) on another day. After all, the focus should be on the Birthday Boy . . . I mean the God-man, and Savior of the entire world. Let's spend a whole day marveling at the fact that God chose to fix our mess by entering it - with skin and bone, eyelashes and eyebrows, toenails and a tongue. By the way, I really like the sentimental, warm and cozy feeling of society's "holidays." So let's keep Santa, and sing "Rudolph." But then let's gather around the nativity set and sing "What Child is This?" (my personal favorite Christmas song). For years, Christians have been trying to "put Christ back in Christmas." I don't want to put Christ in the "Merry Christmas" that society celebrates. It's like putting the ugly sister's foot into the glass slipper. Let's just let the Holidays be the Holidays, and Christmas be Christmas. I am half serious about changing the Christian church's calendar and moving Christmas away from December 25th. Who would I have to petition? Pope Benedict? If you're reading this in Rome, leave a comment below. Consider this your official invite to meet me in Chicago January 29th-31st for a summit called Regeneration.
About two years ago, I was part of a group that started a “summit-style” gathering of like-minded, missional Lutherans. We wanted to gather to learn, grow, and discuss the future of the church’s mission in our current culture. We started Regeneration. The inaugural Regen was hosted at Christ Memorial in St. Louis in October 2009. Since then, there have been Regen's in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Sacramento. The next one is in Chicago. Here’s a link with info: http://regeneration-summit.com/regeneration-summit-chicago-2012/ _ |
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