Happy Christmas or Happy Holiday?
I just spent some time making Christmas gift tags to share. All I was thinking about while making them was that I don’t care for our Christmas being turned into a holiday… one with no meaning behind it. But as I was looking into ways to make Christ a bit brighter in Christmas celebrations, I realized that he is already as bright as possible. Most people know what the name of the holiday is – Christmas. We take Christmas break or go on Christmas holidays or visit family at Christmas. Christ is still the focus of the holiday.
It doesn’t matter if Muslims or Buddhists decorate with snowmen and listen to Christmas music at Christmas even though they don’t understand what snow is or what Christmas is about (yes, when I lived in Khartoum, Sudan, they decorated the mall and played Christmas music; and they did when I last visited Bangkok, Thailand as well). I wanted to shout it from the treetops, ‘this season is about Christ!’ But I realized that if I don’t normally going shouting on street corners about Christ, then I probably shouldn’t go yelling in the mall about him either.
If I want Christ to be the focus, then I need to do that myself. Focus on him. Take a look again at the story of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and his coming again. Taking that look again at the nativity story, we begin with an older couple, past child-bearing years. Can you empathize with the struggle, the pleading with God and the sadness at their family of two and not more? After so many years, finally their hope has come.
Then we have the teenager who is pregnant out of wedlock. How does she stand being outcast and called names? We have her future husband who sees angels in his dreams. The couple must leave all they know and travel to their ancestral home only to find no one willing to house them. Can you feel how alone they are? They sleep with the warmth of the animals, and she births her son with ‘no crib for his head’. How must they have felt that few came to see their child who was to be so important that angels visited them to announce him? The young family then flees and takes refuge in a foreign land to save their son. Refugees. Can you picture the couple even more alone and likely with few possessions and no friends?
Let us not forget the lowly shepherds who are also visited by angels. They are the ones who then tell everyone they see about the birth of Christ in all the streets of Bethlehem. Then we have the wise men from afar and the ruler Herod in his palace. Some come to worship, others come to kill. How can we have such opposite reactions to the birth of one man?
Really it is a timeless story… why hasn’t Disney taken this to the big screen?
the old, the young,
births and deaths
the low and humble as well as arrogant rulers
a priest and (at least three) astronomers
refugees and homebodies
fear and hope
shame and joy
visits from otherworld beings
The nativity story is so like our world today. The young and old, the refugee, the ruling class and the religious leaders, the dogwalkers (rather than shepherds) and the pregnant youths. But so many of them are missing the key element of the story; they do not have Jesus.
Yes, my neighbors need to hear Jesus’ story, but if I connect with them today over this holiday that means nothing to them but everything to me, then maybe that connection will provide opportunities to show the rest of the story. Certainly, my taking offense at the lack of CHRIST in Christmas will not do so.
How can I connect with my neighbors? Here is a list to get you (and me) started. (Not all of the following list is appropriate for every neighbor. Choose wisely, keeping in mind that we need not holler from the street corners. Oh, and top any gift with a free InspiritEncourage gift tag!)
Share a meal or just drop off a dessert (according to dietary needs)
Greet them with Merry Christmas
Give them an advent calendar or wreath
Share holiday music with them
Ask how they are
Serve them, like mowing the lawn or trimming the bushes or even planting some
I started this article by thinking that I needed to put Christ back into Christmas, but in the end, I was reminded that I need first to put Christ back into my life … my actions and my words. I am charged to be his hands and feet, not his mouth, shouting from the treetops.
In the spirit of the gifts of our good Father and the One who came at Christmas, perhaps you are giving gifts to neighbors and colleagues. If so, you might attach on of the gift tags prepared below. You won’t find Santa or ‘happy holidays’ but you will find fun and joyous tags to celebrate the season.
FREE Gift Tags
Free Christmas Gift Tags Downloadable Printable PDF - 37 gift tags in full color to celebrate the season - have been moved to the free resource page. Access the tags by signing up for all of our free resources and our weekly newsletter below.
