Well, our Church Secretary, Carol and I just got finished tweaking the Plum Creek Christmas tree, and hanging some decorations. I’ve just finished sipping my Peppermint
Mocha from Starbucks, and now I’m all wrapped up in my favorite sweater as I
sit at my desk to write this weekend’s sermon. I don’t care what anyone says –
December is the best month ever!
I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season,
and that you cherish, not just December 25th, but indeed, the entire
“Christmas Season.”
I suppose that the exact length of the Christmas season is
somewhat subjective. When does it start? When does it end? When is it okay for
stores to start putting out Christmas decorations, etc. We all have different
answers to that question. I think for many of us, Black Friday officially kicks
off, at the very least, the Christmas shopping
season, but I have a different definition.
For me, Christmas starts when the Charlie Brown Christmas Special airs on TV. Charlie Brown struggles
to find the meaning of Christmas amid various frustrations such as
commercialization, greedy children, and Christmas light displays that are
meant, more to upstage the neighbors than to inspire others. Linus then comes
out to the stage and announces “Lights, please,” and then goes on to quote Luke
2.
This year, we purchased the Christmas Special so that we can
watch it year ‘round. And with MY boys, trust me, we will. They watch Christmas
movies all year long. I don’t think they understand that Christmas day is just
one day out of 365. And you know what, I’m very ok with that.
It’s funny to me that some folks complain that we put out
Christmas decorations too early claiming “It’s not even thanksgiving yet!” But
then we come to church, and we worship together and we say “let’s remember the
reason for the season not just at Christmas time, but all year ‘round!” What
changes? Why did things that once motivated us to “remember the reason for the
season” suddenly inspire us to become so cynical about celebrating the holiday
“too early”?
At my house, various Christmas sing-a-longs, VeggieTales Christmas specials, Rankin
and Bass’ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and
others, now joined by the Charlie Brown
Christmas Special are mainstays in our children’s DVD library all year
‘round. And while I admit that singing The
Chipmunk Song for the hundredth time in July can be vexing at times, I’m
very happy that my children are growing up with the idea that Christmas isn’t
just a once a year thing.
I’ll close with the immortal words of Luke, as quoted by
Linus Van Pelt:
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men. – Luke 2:4-14 KJV
