Well, here we are. The festive season is fully upon us. Shops are full of crazed shoppers buying food they will never eat and presents that not every recipient will appreciate and all the while being forced to listen to piped Christmas songs such as the one whose first line forms the title of this post. It is this mad rush that makes some of us sit back, observe the chaos and complain about the rampant materialism and commercialisation of the modern Christmas. It makes us long for times when Christmas was simpler - when chestnuts roasted on an open fire and you counted yourself blessed if you got a tangerine in your stocking and everyone remembered the real reason for the season.
But what purpose does our cynicism really serve? Do our complaints about the hassle and busyness and materialism really help us to focus on the Christ-child or do they just make us appear to be Scrooges?
Why does it have to be either-or? In the end, with all of our complaints about losing the meaning of Christmas in the mad rush of worldly celebration, most of us will still spend the 25th happily opening our presents, sitting down to a larger than normal dinner and watching (or Sky plussing) our favourite festive TV shows. Many of us will have been to church late on Christmas Eve or early on Christmas morning. There it may be the case that we will hear one last heartfelt plea to focus on the Christmas story over the course of the day itself but perhaps that is the wrong approach.
In the preceding weeks we will have been to carol services and nativity services. We will (hopefully) have had the opportunity to hear about the significance of the incarnation in an adult sermon as well as seeing it played out by our children dressed in dressing gowns and tea towels. We will have had the opportunity to contribute to causes that make Christmas that much easier for the less well off, either in our own country or overseas. And now we come to the day itself and we feel guilty because we haven't focussed enough on the child and another Christmas has passed without our expectations of the season being met.
Perhaps it is time to relax about all this. Observe all your normal traditions, whether they be food, presents and family time or serving Christmas lunch to a few homeless people or standing round the piano singing 'Hark! the herald angels sing' or watcing Doctor Who (or the Queen's Speech - sorry ma'am). God has given us many good things to enjoy and he intends us to enjoy them with gratitude in our hearts. All the gifts he gives us are brought to their completion and fulfilment in that one indescribable gift, given at Bethlehem.
Enjoy this Christmas season to the very best of your ability. If, for you, there is some sadness here with the absence of a loved one, don't cover it up or hide it away for fear of spoiling the day for others. Give people the opportunity to stand with you, pray for you and share with you the true meaning of Immanuel, God with us in every circumstance of life. Let that knowledge bring peace and, yes, joy into your heart.
He crossed time and space to be your Saviour. Enjoy that fact this Christmas by enjoying the day, however you choose to spend it. Happy Christmas!
I like what you say Graeme. It seems to me that in Old Testament times God gave His people festivals of celebration to enjoy His goodness, and Christmas seems to fit into that tradition for us as Christians.
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