For the church, the Christmas season is the celebration of “God with us” in Jesus Christ. As a spiritual and religious holiday, it is meant to disrupt the status quo of our lives and invite us into an alternative rhythm of life. This alternative rhythm allows us to contemplate what it means for Christ to be with us, and how it changes everything. The Christmas season, as celebrated by the culture at large, has sadly been used to double down on the status quo, reinforcing the way our society typically functions, rather than helping us live into any real transformation. The culture’s Christmas season is largely dominated by a dizzying “hustle and bustle”, noisy consumerism, and false hopes embodied by artificial twinkle lights. All of this keeps us anesthetized and numb, rather than creating space which helps awaken us to the true sense of wonder the Christmas season was originally meant to offer. Thus, our community is trying to break away from the dominant expectations our culture has placed upon Christmas. Breaking from this dominating rhythm gives us the opportunity to make space for new, alternative rhythms which free ourselves from the status quo, and instead help teach us how to live into a greater hope and light. We welcome all those interested in joining us on this journey.
Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to celebrate Christmas this way. Some of the oldest Christmas traditions are designed to disrupt the pace of our collective comfort zone and create space to imagine life anew. This is the purpose of spiritual and religious holidays, though many of us are sadly not aware of with this as contemporary Christians living in western societies (particularly in America). Because Christianity has become so domesticated by our culture, the nature of Christian holidays, even when becoming popular, has been reshaped to reinforce the status quo, rather than challenging it. You may have noticed the word recurring here is “rhythm”. This is where the Christian calendar comes in. When establishing the Christian year and its holidays (holy days), the early church intended to guide us in embracing an annual rhythm for discipleship, helping us to stand firm in the wake of the rhythms of the world which seek to dominate us.
Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to celebrate Christmas this way. Some of the oldest Christmas traditions are designed to disrupt the pace of our collective comfort zone and create space to imagine life anew. This is the purpose of spiritual and religious holidays, though many of us are sadly not aware of with this as contemporary Christians living in western societies (particularly in America). Because Christianity has become so domesticated by our culture, the nature of Christian holidays, even when becoming popular, has been reshaped to reinforce the status quo, rather than challenging it. You may have noticed the word recurring here is “rhythm”. This is where the Christian calendar comes in. When establishing the Christian year and its holidays (holy days), the early church intended to guide us in embracing an annual rhythm for discipleship, helping us to stand firm in the wake of the rhythms of the world which seek to dominate us.
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The reason Christmas is called a “season” is that it is supposed to last longer than a single day. But in our popular culture Christmas is just one day, December 25, and it is assumed the “season” part of it is just all the build up to “the big day”. This corporate driven rhythm typically starts the day after Thanksgiving but is being pushed earlier and earlier every year to promote consumerism. The “season” then is just reduced to building up to a “grand finale” on Christmas morning, opening all of the things we’ve bought. After December 25th, the music stops, the lights come down, and everyone, often tired, moves on without being transformed. Because of this, many Americans- Christians included- have a misconception of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” which they likely only heard about because of the popular song by that name. They assume that those twelve days are part of our culture’s buildup leading up to Christmas day as the final day. However, the Christmas season was originally conceived far differently.
Going back as early as 567 AD, early Christians celebrated the birth and incarnation of Jesus Christ not just for one day, but for twelve whole days. Thus the Twelve Days of Christmas (also known as Christmastide), starts on Christmas Day, December 25th, and lasts for twelve days through January 5th. This creates a true extended season of multiple days to celebrate and reflect upon Christ becoming a human being and its implication for our lives, rather than one supposed “big day” with a lot of consumer driven build up. |
AdventAdvent takes place in the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Sadly, it is often associated with consumer culture and the “countdown” to Christmas Day. But Advent, while having a connection to Christmas, is its own season and is a call for watchfulness and preparation. This preparation isn’t about getting ready for the “big day” in the way our culture prepares for Christmas. Rather, it is about preparing ourselves so that we may recognize true light which comes into the world
Advent, then, has a layered meaning which emulates the waiting for the coming of Christ leading up to Jesus’ birth, while also practices waiting for Christ’s return and the fullness of his Kingdom to come to earth. Advent is a time to engage in waiting as a holy ritual, and to embrace the hope in Christ as “God with us”, remembering “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Advent helps us to not be afraid of the dark, of the hard realities of our hurting world, because God is in it with us. Advent helps us learn to be present, loving, and watchful in such a dark space, as it was in the thick of darkness that the light of God is scandalously revealed. Taking time to practice waiting and watchfulness for a light in the dark during Advent will help prepare us for life as Christ’s disciples and helps us avoid the trappings of artificial lights promoting false promises of escape that encourage denial rather than transformation. |
Join us in studying this four week daily devotional through Advent, - Books are available in the back of the sanctuary - Opportunity for discussion Sunday mornings at 9:30am
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Click the Blue Christmas Image to enlarge
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We would like to challenge you in joining us in embracing an alternative rhythm for Advent and Christmas different from the bandwagon of our dominant culture. It will undoubtedly be different, and be an adjustment, but this is part of what spiritually focused holidays do, it breaks us from our familiar rhythms so we can discover something new. You may find for instance as you celebrate Advent, you will be holding off on a lot of “Christmas-y” things before December 25th. This is done to make space for celebrating Advent more deliberately and embrace the “waiting”. Also, those engaging in typical Christmas culture may find it odd when you are still saying “Merry Christmas” into the new year even after December 25th and spreading out your gift giving all the way through January 5th. But we believe that the alternative rhythm of Christmas is just what we need to be able to slow down, to engage in what the Christmas season is really about and give the season a real chance to transform us.
Click the button below to learn about our Advent and Christmas events and suggested schedule. |