Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Beloved!

Perhaps some of you read my greeting and thought, “Good grief, Pastor. Today is December 30, not December 25. Christmas is over!” Well, I wish to challenge that presumption on a few fronts in this space.

On a personal note, this is the first Christmas in a number of years that we have been blessed to see my mother, all of my siblings, and their children all together under one roof. In fact, I think the last time we were all together to celebrate the Christmas holidays was in 2002, the Christmas before my dad graduated to glory in February 2003. then, as now, we came together between Christmas Day and the new year. Unlike that last cramped and rushed gathering at my parents’ home in Indiana, this year my brother and sisters and their respective crews have brought Mom to our house for a few days. So, for me, Christmas celebrations have been happily extended this year beyond December 25. I say then on this Sunday, December 30, “Merry Christmas, beloved!”

Now, consider something of a historical – liturgical – traditional approach. Do you recall the holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”? I must confess, this was never my favorite Christmas song, not even on my top ten list. I could not fathom what to make of the repetitive recitations of strange gifts. Aside from my total lack of comprehension about how these presents could convey affection to our true love, I was never sure what the twelve days of Christmas actually are.

Most people assume they refer to the twelve days before Christmas Day. Actually, however, the twelve days of Christmas begin with the night of Christmas and conclude the evening of January 5. The twelve days extend up to the dawn of the church’s celebration of Epiphany on January 6. Epiphany, by the way, commemorates the coming of the magi to present gifts to the Christ child. I will spare you some of the fascinating history I discovered about how our ancestors made merry for twelve days after Christmas Day. What interested me most was that these twelve days were traditionally and liturgically days filled with feasts and rejoicing and merriment – features of American Christmases that we have managed to squeeze into one day.

I say, let’s get back to celebrating our Lord’s first Advent for more than one day. Let’s redeem the time. Let’s extend our season twelve more days. Perhaps there is more to Christmas than we tend to think. What if, …

· On the first day of Christmas, we find ways to rejoice that “the Lord our God is one”?

· On the second day of Christmas, we contemplate the contributions of the two Adams or the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments?

· On the third day of Christmas, we meditate on and praised the majesty of our Three-in-One God or celebrate the three-fold virtues often found in Paul’s greetings – faith, hope, and love?

· On the fourth day of Christmas, we heed the witness of the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

· On the fifth day of Christmas, we trace God’s covenant love through the first five books of the Bible?

· On the sixth day of Christmas, we marvel in the power of a God Who created all that is out of nothing in six days?

· On the seventh day of Christmas, we thank God for the seven gifts of the Spirit and we commit to employ our special gifts in the healthy growth of His church and the advance of His kingdom?

· On the eighth day of Christmas, we reflect on the eight characteristics of kingdom citizens as Christ lists them in the Beatitudes from His Sermon on the Mount?

· On the ninth day of Christmas, we avail ourselves to the nine-faceted fruit of the Spirit in our lives?

· On the tenth day of Christmas, we measure ourselves against the standard of the Ten Commandments and thank God again and again for the One Who keeps them all for us?

· On the eleventh day of Christmas, we remember the eleven faithful disciples and their legacy of witness?

· On the twelfth day of Christmas, we ponder the twelve points of doctrine highlighted in the Apostles’ Creed?

(DISCLAIMER: For what it may be worth, I do not espouse the recently popular myth that the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally written as some sort of surreptitious code for persecuted Catholic believers. that story simply has too many holes in it. Still, I obviously find the notion of using the twelve days and their gifts in the song useful as a starting place for reflection.)

So, hear me friends as again on December 30 I declare, “Merry Christmas, beloved!”

One more thought. Will we celebrate Christmas in heaven? What if part of our joy in Heaven is actually the perpetual celebration of Christmas – a thought not entirely far-fetched? Remember, Christmas is essentially our remembrance and observance of Jesus Christ’s first Advent. Christmas reminds us that God is with us! We lay hold of “good news of great joy” with the fervent hope that we can be with Him in glory and eternity. We can believe this to begin with because Christ has come! For these very reasons, I advocate the singing of “Joy to the World” in July!

Today, as God leads, we will answer the question from His Word, “How should we live between Advents? Because of Christmas and in the expectation of His Second Coming, how should we live?” I would that you and I might get in the practice of saying every December 30 – and January 1 through the next December 30 – “Merry Christmas, beloved!” To borrow from St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel [“Merry Christmas!”] at all times and when necessary use words.”

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob