Has Christmas devolved to this?
Everywhere we look this is the theme we see…
Sale! Huge Savings! Doorbuster Savings! and the list could go on and on. There seems to be no stopping them. I don’t know about you, but personally I am sick and tired of all the hype. Commercials running non-stop, plugs for everything imaginable, and even some things I would not even have thought about. Everywhere I turn it seems that the whole world is singularly focused on the greed of the Christmas season.
Where has all this come from? That is a great question. I did some research and this is what I found.
Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.
Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary as a fulfillment of the Old Testament’s Messianic prophecy. The Bible contains two differing accounts which describe the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. These biblical accounts are found in the Gospel of Matthew, namely Matthew 1:18, and the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:26 and 2:40. According to these accounts, Jesus was born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem.
Christian's View of Christmas
According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals, though neither the stable nor the animals are specifically mentioned in the Biblical accounts. However, a manger is mentioned in Luke 2:7, where it states, “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Early iconographic representations of the nativity placed the animals and manger within a cave (located, according to tradition, under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem). Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child. The Gospel of Matthew also describes a visit by several Magi, or astrologers, who bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. The visitors were said to be following a mysterious star, commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, believing it to announce the birth of a king of the Jews. The commemoration of this visit, the Feast of Epiphany celebrated on January 6, is the formal end of the Christmas season in some churches.
Christians celebrate Christmas in many ways. In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the attendance of church services, there are numerous other devotions and popular traditions. In some Christian denominations, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity, known as a Nativity scene or crib, in their homes, using figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes and tableaux vivants are also performed, using actors and animals to portray the event with more realism. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern Orthodox Church practises the 40-day Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while much of Western Christianity celebrates four weeks of Advent. The final preparations for Christmas are made on Christmas Eve.
A long artistic tradition has grown of producing painted depictions of the nativity in art. Nativity scenes are traditionally set in a barn or stable and include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men: Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, who are said to have followed a star, known as the Star of Bethlehem, and arrived after his birth.
So this begs the question; If Christ is the reason for the season, then why is all the focus on getting the best deals, toys, and stuff? The answer is simply this… Greed. Christians and non-Christians alike have lost focus on why we even have this holiday. Human nature is based on greed and want. The retailers have just capitalized on this greed, and have made the real reason for this season about how much stuff we can get. Sure they play a few movies about the beauty and magic of Christmas. They can almost fit an entire movie into the time alloted between commercials. If people would put as much effort into the real meaning of Christmas, and a lot less focus on the stuff, not only would Christmas return to being about family, but it would also return to being a joyous season. We could focus on things like good will, and good cheer. These are outdated concepts for most folks, and some cannot even remember a time when Christmas meant anything but greed, sales, and stress.
I find it hard to even get into the season, when even churches are so entirely focused on stuff. From the pulpit you would be hard pressed to find anything but plugs for “give me”, “give me”. They pound in the fact that this is to celebrate Christs birth, and follow it up with a list of ways that they can help you out of your money. What ever happened to folks just taking a stand and shifting the focus back to the Saviour? Shame on us as Christians for ever allowing the season to get distorted like this. Now what will we do? As for me and my house, we are committing to changing our focus. Now, what about you?
