I was raised in a great Christian home and it was made abundantly clear that Christmas was about Jesus not Santa. Now there are some pictures floating around out there with me sitting on the mall Santa's lap and I remember the year my VERY Italian grandfather came out dressed as the "Godfather Santa" complete with cotton balls in his mouth for added effect. So it's not that I was sheltered and preached to about the sins of Santa and the downfall of a society that doesn't recognize what this time of year is all about. I just mean to say I was raised to recognize that this is the time of year we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. I've passed that down to my kids. We do live in a culture now where we have to fight for the right to say "Merry Christmas," so more than ever I feel like we need to establish the importance of this season in our kids. But please understand this is not some rant against political correctness. And I'm not an advocate for tradition that keep so many locked in actions that prove to be nothing more than meaningless ceremony. No, this is more of a challenge that was issued to me by God that I've now issued to the church I pastor and thought I'd pass on to other people who struggle to keep our expectations in perspective.
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
John 14:1-3 (NKJV)
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
What do these three verses have in common you might be asking. Each one holds a promise issued to believers. The first is a promise to the children of Israel that God was going to send a Saviour into the world. Their relationship with God was about to change. It was about to go from "God out there" to "God with us". He was going to be flesh and blood through the birth of Jesus. The second verse is Jesus speaking to His disciples telling them that after He leaves them, they are to wait for the "Promise of the Father" the Holy Spirit. This was the promise of "God in us". Finally, the third verse is Jesus telling them that He's leaving but He's going to return for those that believe in Him. This is the promise of "us with God". Each one is meant to fill the believer with anticipation and expectation of things to come.
My daughter Kyla recently had a birthday. She turned 6 years old. At this age, she still doesn't fully grasp the idea of a calendar or months or weeks or days. All she knew was that after mommy's birthday, her's was next. The next 3 weeks were filled with questions about whether or not it was her birthday when she woke up. She spent weeks planning the menu for her birthday dinner. Her trips to the store were focused on what gifts she wanted. She became consumed with anticipation for that day. She was expecting great things and she sucked us all into her world because she wanted everyone to be ready for the big event.
What if we started to live our lives with that kind of anticipation and expecting God's promises in our lives?
Christmas is filled with anticipation...some good, some bad. If we are honest about it there is usually a mixture of excitement and dread for most people. It's exciting because we get to look forward to Christmas parties and spending time with family. Then there is that sense of dread as we realize we have to attend all these Christmas parties and spend time with family. Then there's the expense of Christmas. Who to buy for? What do you buy them? Will that person be offended if you don't get them something? We have to get everyone something. It's no wonder that medical studies have proven that people who normally live very content lives can experience depression and a lack of fulfillment more during the holidays than at any other time of the year.
It's amazing that as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we experience such a lack of peace in our lives.
This is what's been on my heart for the last few years. So I've been praying about what I can do to refocus without losing the "wonder" of Christmas. I've had those chocolate Advent calendars before but just ate the chocolate without a second though. I guess that's where it started this year. My parents gave my kids Advent calendars a few weeks ago and I wanted to know once and for all what this "Advent" thing had to do with Christmas. I was raised in the Pentecostal church and it was never talked about. I've always chalked it up to a Catholic thing that just held roots in tradition and ceremony. In fact it has been around a long time but it's roots actually have nothing to do with Christmas. Advent comes from a Latin word and it simply means "coming". It was first used to prepare people for "Epiphany", a time the church celebrated the visit of the wise men and in some traditions the baptism of Jesus. So people would take 40 days of prayer and fasting and they would baptize people into the faith. In the 6th century St. Gregory the Great was the first to associate this time of year with the "coming" or "advent" of Jesus'. But still it wasn't about His birth, it was about His second coming. Around the Middle Ages it became practice to use the time of Advent to remember the first coming of Jesus through the birth. The coming of the Holy Spirit to live in us and the second coming of Jesus at the rapture. "God with us", "God in us" and "us with God". Advent is meant to be a season of anticipation. The same way the Israelites were waiting for a Messiah to be born, we as believers today are waiting for our Saviour to come again.
Now let me say this again. I'm not into tradition for traditions sake. Advent is totally a man made event with no observance of it in the bible at all. But as I started thinking about it the thought occurred to me that maybe this is the change I needed to refocus attention on God this year. To teach my family, not only about the birth of Jesus, but also the fact that He's promised to return. Because really what Christmas tells us should be more than just the fact that God gives good gifts. It's also a time when we see that God is faithful. When He makes a promise, He fulfills the promise.
Christmas tells us that God's purpose and plan for our lives will prevail
when we wait on Him with anticipated expectation.
So here's what I'm doing this year and what I've challenged my church to do. Sunday marked the beginning of Advent. I handed out those chocolate calendars to every kid in our church. Then I handed out a devotional book to every family or individual. I told the kids, the calendar is to remind you to tell your parents it's time to do the devotion. The devotion is meant to remind us every day that God fulfilled His promise of a Messiah. It's to remind us that God lives in us today as believers through the Holy Spirit. And all of that should create in us the expectation that He will fulfill the promise of Jesus returning for us. Last night I sat down with my kids and read the first day of a devotional the will lead us to Christmas Eve. We talked about Jesus, we talked about Christmas, we talked about Him coming again and we ate chocolate.
I'm not saying this is for everyone. I'm not saying we as believers need to acknowledge Advent every year. Then it just becomes another meaningless tradition. I'm not even going to really talk about "Advent" anymore. What I'm saying is maybe it's a good way to build our anticipation up for something greater than Christmas parties, useless gifts and overeating. What if we started, right now, to live our lives with the anticipation that what God said is true and His promises will come to pass. This is what God is telling me this year.
God With Us - God In Us - Us With God
God wants to be close to us.
Merry Christmas!!
PS - If you are interested in starting an Advent Devotion with your family there are several to choose from in the reading plan section of the YouVersion Bible App or visit them online here.
