So This is Christmas

So this is Christmas? 

Beginning after Halloween, the United States leaps directly into Christmas.  Anticipation is amped up, hopes are raised, the mighty machinery of dream come true fulfillment is fired up. Is it because we celebrate the birth of the King, the long awaited Savior of humanity?  Not really; but instead we celebrate the achievement of a year in the black for the economy of the United States.  The best and greatest item on the wish list of the USA is an economy in the black with a stellar net profit. 

Black Friday is the first day of Advent in this lead up to Christmas.  Coming on the literal heels of a day of national thanksgiving, the day of unparalleled spending sets the stage for the coming Christmas celebration.   The population forgoes a night tucked into a comfortable bed for the thrill of the hunt for a bargain; the excitement of the chase for the perfect gift; the satisfaction of enduring the lines and humanity all in search of the best gift for the lowest price.  Vans piled high with bags of gifts and sleepy, crabby people head home late on Friday afternoon, having completed the first day of advent.  

How did the religious celebration of the birth of the King get usurped to become the engine that drives the economy?  The first recorded celebration of the birth of Christ on December 25 was in the year 336 during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Constantine.  Soon after, Pope Julius made the December date official as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus.   Celebrations of the day were varied according to the country and epoch.  Early on the celebrations were raucous and lively, more akin to Mardi gras.  After attending Mass, the poor of the town would go to the homes of the rich and demand food.  Generally, the demands would be met.  Roles of the wealthy and the worker were exchanged for a day and chaotic celebrating was common.   Christmas celebrations have been alternately outlawed and then instituted to insure the general peace in society.  This had nothing to do with the actual reason for celebrating; the birth of the long waited king, but rather of serving the social mood.

  Our celebration of Christmas derives largely from the 1700-1800’s and the literature of Washington Irving and Charles Dickens.  During this time in society, childhood came to be more valued and the care of the poor by the more fortunate was seen to be a good thing.  Growing from this, the American family began to see Christmas as a time of peace and nostalgia.  Celebrations included gift giving as the value of children increased.  Spoiling a child became a good thing to do at Christmas.  Food for celebration and gifts for giving all had to be bought and paid for.  As a society and culture we began to save money to insure a good Christmas.  After all, we would need to have money to spend on all that was needed for the grand celebration.

So here we are, at the mercy of advertisers, culture and the economy, directing us to buy more, buy larger, buy earlier, and buy a lot!  What has become of the celebration of the King?

In some cultures, the birth of a new ruler, a king or queen, is great cause for celebration.  It means the continuation of a rule of government, an assurance of protection and peace. 

The people acclaim the new ruler with the loyalty born out of the assurance that the ruler will protect them.  It is an exchange of promises, unspoken perhaps, but certain.

For the Christian, the birth of the King is more than an unspoken promise to protect.  It is the news that the rescue is immanent.  The rescuer on the way, in fact, He has arrived.  The promise is being played out in the here and now.  But why is the birth of the King also seen as the onset of the rescue you ask.  Why does a new king have to rescue His loyal people?  The new King has to rescue His people precisely because they are not loyal.  In truth, His people are rebels and traitors.  The King has been born to rule, but His people have long ago abandoned Him and His kingdom.   In more than figurative ways, His people have gone over to the side of the enemy, taking up the cause of the foe and casting their lot with him.  While the talk from the other side sounded good and reasonable at first, soon it became apparent that it was all a lie and here the people of the coming king were caught.  In the camp of the enemy, traitors to the king and his kingdom, with no way home, they were trapped.  How could they ever make up for this rebellion?  How could they ever get home?  The short, hard answer was there is nothing they could do.  Their backs were up against a wall, they were trapped, with out hope of ever going home, ever going back to the kingdom.  They had vague inklings of a planned rescue, but no idea how it could happen.  To be saved from this fate brought on by evil of their own, sounded wonderful, but impossible.  But with God, all things are possible. 

A savior, the rescuer, and a king, in the same person, promised long ago, has arrived.  A door in the wall, way out of the trap, a way home has been born.  And not only is the rescuer here to rescue, but He is also here to rule in a truthful and good manner.  This is the king that Christmas celebrates. A king who is right always; a king who is generous and forgiving; a king who rules with wisdom and grace, this is the rescuer/king. 

When seen as the celebration of the rescuing King, Christmas is much more than gifts and money spent.  It is a celebration of our freedom from death and our own sin.  It becomes a commemoration of the rescue and the homecoming we can now have.  It is a day to rejoice once more as we recall that it has all really happened in time and at a real place here in our world.  The truth has come to affect our release from the lie we believed.  The darkness has been lit up with the brightness of the Light who came into the world to shine on any who hate the darkness.  It truly is a day to celebrate and so we do. 
Let us celebrate the reality of what Christmas is; the promise has been kept, the rescue is complete, the King is born.