Beyond Christmas

Trees, lights, cookies, carols. If you have ever wondered how much of Christmas actually has to do with Jesus, you're not alone. Many of our customs did not begin in the church, but that doesn't have to empty the season of meaning. You can enjoy your traditions and use them to point your family to Christ, the God who came to be with us. Then you can carry that good news to people who are hurting.

Are Christmas traditions pagan?

Some of them started outside Christian culture, yes. The winter season was celebrated long before the church marked Christ's birth, and customs like evergreen trees, fireplaces, and lights grew out of those cultures. Some things, like gingerbread men, have their own history that has nothing to do with faith at all.

Pastor Sean Sloan explained on Beyond Sunday that missionaries and church leaders met those cultures and used familiar traditions to present the gospel. Paul did the same thing in Athens. He pointed to what the people already knew and told them what it really pointed to. The church has been doing this since the third and fourth centuries.

Pastor Sean doesn't see that as a problem. As he put it, what could fit Christmas better than Christ coming into our human experience? We take ordinary parts of our culture and fill them with the real meaning of what God has done.

What does "peace on earth" really mean?

The peace the angels announced is reconciliation between God and people, not only calm feelings or quiet waters. Reconciliation is the restoring of a broken relationship, and Jesus came to bring us back to the Father.

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Luke 2:14

What is even more striking is how God made that peace. He reconciled people to Himself by becoming one of us. This is the incarnation: God the Son taking on human flesh in Jesus. Israel expected a political and military king. Jesus came to rule from the inside out and to build a kingdom that will never end.

Because He became one of us, He understands what you carry this season.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.

Hebrews 4:15

The gospels often say Jesus looked at people and was moved. He saw, and He felt. Christmas is the reminder that God is with us.

How can your family find Christ in everyday traditions?

Look at what you already do and ask where it points to Jesus. You don't have to invent new rituals. A guest on the episode leads in Calvary's women's ministry and prayer team and keeps nine Christmas trees at home. She shared a few of her family's habits, and each one opened a door.

• Time together. Her family picks out a real tree together, and everyone chooses a new ornament each year. She and her husband stopped exchanging gifts because time is their gift to each other. In a deeper way, Christmas is about God making us part of His family.
• Baking and meals. Her daughter, a missionary in Germany, bakes with her over the phone. The flavors we enjoy are God's design. "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Jesus called Himself the bread of life (John 6:35). Every meal, not only communion at church, can be a moment to remember Him.
• Lights. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). He also said His people are a light.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14

The point is not that Jesus is hidden inside every cookie or strand of lights. These things are part of our culture, and you can enjoy them while using them to talk as a family about who He is.

How can you be a light to others at Christmas?

Serve someone outside yourself every day. That was the guest's encouragement, and it comes from what she sees on the prayer team. The requests that come in this time of year show how many people are lonely and hurting.

Her ideas were simple. Take baked goods to a nursing home or a fire station. Pray for someone in the grocery store. Ask God each morning, "Where do you want me today? How do you want me to see people through your eyes?"

For example, she told about a mother in line ahead of her at the store. The mother didn't have enough on her assistance card to cover milk and food for her children. Remembering the weekend's challenge to be generous, she paid. The cashier was shocked. Pastor Sean noted what that says. When people are surprised by generosity, it hasn't found its rightful place in our culture. Caring for the widow and the poor is the church's job.

Why do we give at Christmas?

We give because God gave first. He did not hold back His own Son.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

If God held nothing back from us, the question becomes what we would hold back from people in need. Calvary's Advent guide encourages families to find one way each week to serve others as God has served us. Jesus washed His disciples' feet, taking the lowest role of a servant. Serving people in practical, real life ways is how you follow Him this season.

And remember that Christmas is not the end of the story. It is the beginning. Jesus came to be with us as one of us so He could die for us and give us eternal life in Him. That is the story worth carrying past December.

Common questions

Are Christmas traditions pagan?

Some customs, like evergreen trees, began outside Christian culture. Over many centuries the church took them up and filled them with the meaning of Christ's coming, much like Paul used familiar ideas in Athens to point to the true God.

What does peace on earth mean in the Christmas story?

It speaks of reconciliation between God and people. Jesus came to restore our relationship with the Father, and He did it by becoming one of us.

How can my family keep Christ at the center of Christmas?

Look for Him in the traditions you already have: lights, meals, music, gifts. Then serve someone in need together, giving because God gave first.

What is the incarnation?

The incarnation is God the Son taking on human flesh in Jesus. At Christmas we celebrate that God came to be with us, understands our weakness, and made a way for us to be part of His family.