Immanuel: Christmas Is Still a Time of Such Joy
By REV. GERALD R. FRITZ
Merry Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la, or so
the song goes.
In the world in which we live it is easy to become a curmudgeon
about Christmas. In the United States Christmas has become thoroughly
commercialized, a secular event beginning sometimes before Halloween and
ending when the stores finally close on Christmas Eve. In one sense the
commercialization of Christmas in this nation was inevitable. We have
become a nation of sellers and buyers. Our economic vitality depends on
people buying things. We on Martha's Vineyard know this all too
well.
Think about Halloween. When I was growing up, costumes, decorations,
and even the treats were homemade. We carved pumpkins and set them out.
Now people buy their Halloween decorations, buy or rent costumes, buy
candies and other treats, and spend money on parties and decorations in
unbelievable amounts. And this is multiplied many times over at
Christmas.
Consider how Christmas is approached in many homes. The stories of
Santa Claus, Rudolph and the other reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are
all fun for children, but they have little or nothing to do with
Christmas. The belief that Christmas is a celebration of the incarnation
of God coming into the world as a living human being, seems to have
become lost in most of our culture.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/12/23/content/nativity_stained_glass_sm.jpg" My lament that Christ has been taken out of Christmas is not my only
disappointment about what has happened to this holy season. I am
distressed that we have reached a point where we do not know what to
say, or how to greet one another in this season. Merry Christmas,
Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays - do we dare greet each
other in Christ's name? It is hard to truly prepare for this
special religious holiday because in these days before Christmas we no
longer know how to greet people on the street. Our joy seems to be lost
in the worry that we might offend a sister or brother from another faith
or culture.
In the calendar of the Christian church the four Sundays before
Christmas are part of Advent, a time of preparation for the celebration
of Christmas. Sadly, in our culture, Advent is swallowed up by parties
and purchasing, and Christmas is declared over on Dec. 25, almost as
soon as the presents have been unwrapped and dinner has been eaten. I am
always reminded of a sermon I preached several years ago on the Sunday
following Christmas. There is nothing as over as Christmas when
it's over, I told my congregation.
We have no real Christmas season, and the 12 days of Christmas are
known to us only in song. There is no time for savoring the good news of
Dec. 25. We have to take down the Christmas decorations to get ready for
our New Year's parties.
I recently heard that Willow Creek Church in Illinois, maybe the
largest Protestant church in the country, decided to cancel Christmas
Sunday worship this year because it was felt that coming out to worship
on Christmas day might interfere with the family time.
But beyond the sense of displacement of an entire season of the
church calendar lies the much larger issue of the way in which the basic
message of the Christian faith is lost. On Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day Christians gather in large numbers to celebrate the birth of
Immanuel. The name is significant because it means literally "God
is with us." This is the foundation of the basic Christian message
that in Christ, God is with and for humanity always.
The Gospel of John makes it clear that in the birth of Jesus we
beheld the very person of God who remains with us always. But the Sunday
following Christmas is known as low Sunday because it is the lowest
attendance Sunday of year.
Where did all the people go?
God has come to us in Jesus Christ because God wants to bring peace
and wholeness into existence. Each of us who bear the name Christian is
called to find wholeness in Christ and to share wholeness with the
world, with other Christians, with members of other faith communities,
and with persons of no faith. For me to proclaim, merry Christmas! to
those I meet on the street is my simple proclamation of the good news of
my faith. I do not mean to offend anyone, I simply want to proclaim to
those I meet the joy which this season holds for me.
It would be easy to become a curmudgeon about Christmas, but then I
pause and remember my good friend and colleague, the Rev. John
Schüle, who said in his Christmas letter: "Is there anything
quite like Christmas? This interweaving of story and prayer, of song and
color, by which Christ is portrayed and brought before us."
Christmas is a time of warmth and joy, a time of caring and sharing,
a time when we laugh a little more, hug without holding back, give from
our hearts and thank God for the one whose birth we celebrate.
In the midst of our rushing through this holy season, I hope we can
all stop and take a moment to ponder how each of us, regardless of our
faith, can be a part of God's great vision of peace for our world.
It is the best gift we can give to ourselves, our families, and our
neighbors near and far. Don't let anyone take your Christmas joy
from you. As for me, I will always share my Christmas joy with a hearty,
merry Christmas.
The Rev. Gerald Fritz is pastor at the Federated Church in
Edgartown.
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