Keeping Christ in Christmas

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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Keeping Christ in Christmas – Christmas Carols

Christmas carols are an important aspect of Christmas celebrations all over the world. They evoke in us the festive spirit with their simple lyrics and melody. Christmas Carols, whether “O Holy Night”, “Silver Bells”, or “Here Comes Santa Claus”, help to bring people together in harmony like no other music does. It has been said that Christmas songs wrap themselves about you like a shawl. But they warm more than your body. They warm your heart and fill it with a melody that makes you wish it would last forever.

Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around the 22nd December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived!

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Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. This began in AD 129 when a Roman Bishop said that a song called “Angel’s Hymn” should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Soon after this, many composers all over Europe started to write carols. However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn’t understand.

This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs that told the story of Christ’s birth. Normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries.

The earliest carol like this was written in 1410. The carol was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most Carols from this time were very loosely based on the Christmas story and were seen as entertaining rather than religious songs. They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! In Europe, a tradition began of groups of people going from door to door in the community and singing outside their houses.
There is a legend that says the term ‘Christmas Carol’ originated because a young girl named Carol went missing in London, one cold winter night. As her friends went from door to door searching for her, in a manner similar to the Christmas singers, the name Christmas Carol began to be used.

Popular songs such as “Jingle Bells” or “White Christmas” are also considered as Christmas carols and are now sung with great gusto around Christmas time. Just hearing the famous Christmas carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” makes us feel happier. New Christmas songs continue to be written that try to put into words the special feeling that we have for family and friends at Christmas time.

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

As you listen to all types of Christmas music this year, remember that the Angels may have been the first to sing a Christmas carol, as one star-lit night, they began to declare the message that baby Jesus had been born. Luke 2:10-12 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Our favorite Christmas song is “Mary’s Boy Child”. We first heard it the Christmas that my dad died. Christmas is a sad time to lose someone you love (we have lost 3 of parents at Christmas time), but this song reminded us that year that ‘man can live forevermore because of Christmas Day’ and one day we will again see all those in Christ who have gone on to heaven!

Here are two of my favorite recordings of Mary’s Boy Child:

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Keeping Christ in Christmas – “A Christmas Carol”

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has had a wide appeal for readers of all ages since its publication in 1843. Through the years it has been adapted for television, movie, radio, and stage.

The main plot centers on Ebenezer Scrooge, who is a rude and callous businessman. All he cares about in life is his own well-being. Christmas has no meaning to him. As the story progresses, we find Scrooge being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past who enables him to visit his innocent childhood, the Ghost of Christmas Present who holds a mirror to the hard-hearted life he is presently leading, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come who allows him to see the future he will have if he doesn’t change. Scrooge comes to the ultimate realization that the only way to enjoy life is to love others. Thereafter, he vows to keep Christmas by caring for his fellow man. Beneath this simple story lies Dickens’ earnest urge for us all to remember that the essence of the Christmas to season is not to spend it fulfilling our individual desires, but to really enjoy it by showing love to others and bringing happiness in their lives.

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

Remember John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God demonstrated the ultimate gift of love by sending His Son, Jesus, into the world. He cares so much for us that He unselfishly allowed His only Son to take the punishment for our sins so that we might have an abundant life.

During this Christmas season, think on the following verses to keep you from being a selfish “Scrooge” yourself . These are also great to share with your children and grandchildren as you seek to lead them to be caring and giving at this season and all year through.

Ephesians. 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Romans 12:10 Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other.

Acts 20:35 I have given you an example that by working hard like this we should help the weak. We should remember the words that the Lord Jesus said, ‘Giving gifts is more satisfying than receiving them.’ ”

Also, think about a “Scrooge” you know, who you feel will never change. Lead your children in showing love to a difficult person in their lives. The love of Christ can melt that heart, tenderize it, and completely remake that person in God’s own image. Don’t give up. Keep caring for and loving on your “Scrooge”.

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