Traditions

Keeping Christ in Christmas – Yule Log

Yule is a Winter Solstice festival that has been celebrated in Northern Europe since ancient times. In pre-Christian times, Germans celebrated Yule from late December to early January. During the process of Christianization, Yule was placed on December 25, in order to correspond with the Christian celebration. Thus, the terms “Yule” and “Christmas” are often used interchangeably especially in Christmas carols. Many of the symbols associated with Christmas are derived from this traditional pagan Yule celebration. The burning of the Yule log, the decorating of Christmas trees, the eating of ham, the hanging of boughs, holly, mistletoe, etc. are all historically practices associated with Yule.

cid_047301c83fa2498788506601a8c0dadlaptopBurning a Yule log is probably the oldest Christmas tradition. In Scandinavia, Yule ran from several weeks before the winter solstice to a couple weeks after, which was the darkest time of year. There was quite a bit of ritual tied to the Yule log as it marked the sun’s rebirth from its southern reaches. As the big log was brought into a home or large hall, songs were sung, stories told, and children danced. Personal mistakes were said to be burned in the flame so everyone’s new year would start with a clean slate. The log was never allowed to burn completely; a bit was kept in the house to start next year’s log. The log was said to predict bad luck; if the fire went out during the night, tragedy would strike the home in the coming year. The log also brought good luck; any pieces that were kept, protected a house. Ashes of the log would be placed in wells to keep the water good or placed at the roots of fruit trees and vines to help them bear a good harvest.

In the fourth century AD, when Pope Julius I decided to celebrate Christmas around the Winter Solstice, the Yule log tradition continued, but the fire came to represent the light of the Savior instead of the light of the sun. The burning of the Yule log marked the beginning of Christmas celebrations. In Appalachia, as long as the log burned, you could celebrate, therefore a very large log was chosen and soaked in a stream to ensure a nice long celebration. In the early nineteenth century, American slaves didn’t have to work as long as the Yule log burned, so they would choose the biggest, greenest log they could find. If they did have to work while it burned, their master had to pay them for the work.

In England the log was supposed to burn for the twelve days of Christmas, from Christmas eve on December 24th to Epiphany on January 6th. Some English Yule logs were large enough that a team of horses were required to drag it to the castle or manor. Some English preferred a log from an ash tree. In the Slavic and other countries oak was the wood of choice. Almost everywhere, the fire was started with that bit of the last year’s log, to symbolize continuity and the eternal light of heaven.

In some parts of France, a special carol was sung when the log was brought into the home. The carol prayed for health and fertility of mothers, nanny-goats, ewes, and an abundant harvest. The French were probably the first to eat their Yule logs. They started out burning them like everyone else, but when big open fireplaces began to disappear in France, they moved the tradition to the table by making a cake roll that looked like a Yule log, called a “Buche de Noel”.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

The Yule log was to take away the mistakes of the last year. We know that Jesus came to take away our mistakes. Romans 3:22 We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.

The Yule log was not allowed to burn up completely. Be reminded from this that Jesus Christ is eternal. Rev. 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One.”

The Yule log represented the light of the sun during the dark winter: Remember that Jesus is our light in a dark world. John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

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Enjoy the Traditions of Christmas

Enjoy the traditional practices of Christmas and give them Spiritual meaning for your family. We have always tried to do this with our children as we didn’t want to be so different from the world that the world wouldn’t want what we have.

An old English historical writing contains a letter from Pope Gregory to Saint Mellitus, who was then on his way to England to conduct missionary work among the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Pope Gregory suggested that converting heathens would go easier if they were allowed to retain the outward forms of their traditional pagan practices and traditions, while reinterpreting those traditions spiritually towards the Christian God instead of to their pagan “devils”: “to the end that, whilst some gratifications are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily consent to the inward consolations of the grace of God”.

Today we as Christians should hear what Pope Gregory said, and rather than condemn the dark practices of the world, we should try to live the “Light”. Remember Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world.

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Keeping Christ in Christmas – Wreaths

(Remember we are using the tangible objects of Christmas to teach our children intangible concepts.)

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Some people think that the Christmas wreath is a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns. There may be some connection, but the actual origin of the wreath dates back to ancient Greece where the Greeks rewarded Olympic victors and other high achievers with laurel crowns. It’s unclear how such headgear was transformed into wall decor, but perhaps people just hung their crowns up as souvenirs. Neither Christmas nor Advent wreaths are worn as headbands, though for the Swedish festival of St. Lucia, on December 13, the family’s eldest daughter wears a headpiece decorated with greenery and nine lighted candles.

Though early Roman Christians used laurel in their Christmas decorations because it symbolized victory, glory, and cleansing from guilt, Europeans largely favored evergreens. In cold, northern climates, people latched onto anything that represented light and life against darkness and despair. As a result, their favorite winter symbols included plants that stayed green all year. The evergreen plant can symbolize the everlasting love of God.

The Advent wreath possibly originated in pre-Christian Germanic culture. During the cold December darkness of Eastern Europe, wreaths of evergreen were gathered as signs of hope in a coming spring. Christians incorporated this popular tradition, and by the 16th century, Catholics and Protestants throughout Germany used evergreen wreaths with candles to celebrate the coming of Christ, the everlasting Light. Traditionally, the wreath is made of four candles in a circle of evergreens with a fifth candle in the middle. Each day the candles are lit, one candle the first week, and then another each succeeding week until December 25th. The last candle is the middle candle. The lighting of this candle takes place on Christmas Eve. It represents Jesus Christ being born.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

As you look at all the Christmas wreaths this year, think of how the Greeks used wreaths as a sign of victory and remember this verse about the Ultimate Victor 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Keeping Christ in Christmas – Gift Giving

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The origin of giving gifts during Christmas can be attributed to The Wise Men (Magi) that were said to have followed a bright star from the East to Bethlehem where the baby Jesus was born. The Wise Men are sometimes depicted as kings.  Just how many wise men there were is not known. According to scholars, camel caravans usually traveled in groups of 50 or more for safety reasons. Assumptions have been made that because there were three gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) that they brought for baby Jesus, there were probably three wise men. As to when they arrived is also in dispute. Some religious scholars believe they came when baby Jesus was 2 years old or older because of the amount of time it would have taken to make the journey from their homeland of Persia.

In Germany, the Heilige Drei Knige or the Three Kings Day is the final celebration of Christmas, i.e. the Twelve Days of Christmas from December 25 to January 6. The abbreviation of the names of the three wise men, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (CMB) are put on the door the night before January 6 to protect the house.

In many Spanish-speaking countries, the three wise men are bearers of gifts for children instead of Santa Clause. On January 5, the night before the Three Kings Day or El Dia De Reyes, they set their shoes outside filled with straw and the wise men, on their way to visit the baby Jesus, leave gifts for the children in exchange for the straw.

In Mexico, children write letters to the wise men telling which gifts they would like to receive, tie them to a helium balloon, and later release them in Alameda Park, Mexico City. On January 6, children awake finding gifts in their shoes and dreaming they heard camel footsteps in the night and seeing the bright star that guided the wise men.

In Russia, children wait for Baboushka to give them gifts. Baboushka is a woman who supposedly gave the wise men the wrong directions to Bethlehem and wanders around on January 5, the night before the Three Kings Day, looking into houses and leaving gifts to all children trying to find the baby Jesus.

In Italy, La Befana passed up the chance to go with the wise men because she had to clean her house. She goes around on the eve of the Three Kings Day, just as in Russia, trying to find baby Jesus.

Giving gifts during holidays is big business these days. Families, office colleagues, schools, teachers and just about anyone who believes in Christmas (and then some) exchange Christmas gifts. The actual tradition of exchanging gifts did not become popular until the early 1900s. Some people have pegged this relatively modern tradition as commercializing Christmas instead of focusing on the actual meaning of the day.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

Focus on the gifts of the wise men. Gold was a gift fitting for a king. Frankincense was a gift fitting for a priest. Jesus earned the right to be called King of Kings. He is forever our High Priest…a priest is one who bridges the gap between man and God. But what about myrrh? This is the strangest of gifts. It was used to preserve a dead body. This too was a fitting gift. For Jesus came to die for the sins of all mankind.

We have always told our children that Jesus thinks of others so much that He would rather us give gifts to one another on His Birthday; our showing love to those around us is the best birthday present we could give Him. A great verse to share with your children and grandchildren at this time is Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Even though we point to the Magi as the ones who started the trend of gift giving, there is One who started before them. God gave the first gift of Christmas, His only Son. 2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! Do we need to say anything more?

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Keeping Christ in Christmas – “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

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The traditional Advent calendar consisted of 25 days.  Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”) is a season in the Christian church of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, in other words, the period immediately preceding Christmas.

So what was the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ and where did it come from? Celebrated since medieval times, the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ traditionally began the day after Christmas Day and ended with Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night was the day that all decorations were to be removed because it was thought that leaving the decorations up would cause a disaster.

The ’12 days of Christmas’ were filled with merry-making, dancing, and continuous feasting. During this time, people would visit their neighbors, sharing and enjoying the traditional minced pie and other Christmas foods. Traditionally a Yule log was kept alight for these 12 days and was considered a bad omen if it went out before time!

The 12 days was a most welcome break for the workers on the land, which long ago was the majority of the people. All work, except for looking after the animals, stopped for those days.  The first Monday following the 12th day was called Plough Monday, because it was the time the farm workers were expected to return to the fields.

There is debate as to the meaning of the carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which became popular at the Twelfth Night parties that took place to end the Christmas season. A popular theory states that the song dates back to the time when Roman Catholics were not permitted to practice their faith openly (1558 until 1829). The song was written as a way of teaching young Catholics and had a hidden meaning known only to their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality, which the children could remember:

The ‘true love’ of the song refers to God.
‘A partridge in a pear’ tree was Jesus Christ.
‘Two turtle doves’ were the Old and New Testaments.
‘Three French hens’ stood for faith, hope, and love.
‘Four calling birds’ (actually the birds were colley birds or blackbirds) were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
‘Five golden rings’ recalled the Torah or law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
‘Six geese a laying’ stood for the six days of creation.
‘Seven swans a swimming’ represented the seven gifts of the Spirit which are the motivational gifts of prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, administration, and mercy found in Romans 12:3-8.
‘Eight maids a milking’ were the eight beatitudes of Matthew 5.
‘Nine ladies dancing’ were the nine fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, and self control found in Galatians.
‘Ten lords a leaping’ were the ten commandments.
‘Eleven pipers piping’ stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
‘Twelve drummers drumming’ symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostle’s Creed.

Who would have thought that singing The Twelve Days of Christmas could be such a teaching aid to remind us of the coming of Christ!!

As much as modern day marketing may think they are removing the memory of Jesus, He is so woven into the fabric of the season and our existence that they are up against an impossible task. It is the Christmas season and He is the reason for it and this is ‘His Story’.  Jesus is in the lights…the candies…the carols…the gifts…the trees…the mistletoe…the tinsel.

Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen


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