Walnut Creek Presbyterian: What Christmas Means In Today's World

By Rev. Morgan Murray

Senior Pastor- Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church

Christmas morning has come, and we meet it with excitement and no small amount of relief.  It marks the end (or nearly the end) of the holiday season.

In our culture, the word “season” has less to do with a change in the weather than with a set period of time to accomplish certain goals. In sports, athletes have a season in which to win a championship. In hunting, the season determines the limited time in which hunters can pursue their quarry. Seasons, in the way we now understand them, are defined in terms of success and failure.               

Without realizing it, we have made Christmas into something we are each trying to “win.” Black Friday has become a contact sport. ABC Television aired “The Great Christmas Light Fight” to determine which families in America had the most over-the-top light displays on their homes.  Even if you aren't an alpha shopper or some other type of holiday over-achiever, it’s hard to avoid getting swept up into Christmasing Season.

Imagine going to last week’s half-marathon to cheer on your friends only to find yourself in the middle of the pack when the starting gun goes off. Christmas is a race we all end up running whether we intended to or not. The less prepared we are for it, the more bruised, exhausted, and thankful we are when it’s finally over.               

Since I was invited to write this piece as a reflection on the meaning of Christmas in the 21st century, I can’t help but notice that the way we celebrate Christmas today is almost the exact opposite of how Christians have observed it for nearly two millennia. For most of that time, the days leading up to Christmas have been quiet, thoughtful and reflective. The time was intended to enable us to prepare ourselves spiritually to receive Jesus Christ into our hearts anew. This time is called Advent (from the Latin word adventus or “coming”) and can feel somewhat like a solemn celebration. It is solemn because it calls us to take stock of our need for God. It is a celebration because, as we get in touch with our need, we come to discover how perfectly God’s gift of a Son meets it. While most of us hope Christmas will be the day that we get what we want, its true purpose was to celebrate getting what we need.

What if we, at the beginning of a new century, made a short list of the things humanity truly needs? We would probably start the list with things we need ended—like exploitation, brutality and starvation. Next we’d name the things we need fixed—such as corrupt governments, failed economies, and damaged ecosystems. Finally, we would include the things we need healed—broken relationships, pain-wracked bodies and grieving minds and spirits. What would we notice about such a list?

First we would notice that this list has nothing new on it. Humans need these things desperately, not just in the here and now but in every time and place. We’d also notice that these things don’t come in a box or fit under the tree. The gifts we give today are merely symbols — representations of the greater good things we wish we could give one another if only we had the power to do so. Most importantly, we would see that these needs are mandatory. Without these needs fulfilled we can barely survive, much less thrive.

This reality is expressed again and again in our most beloved Christmas carols. O Holy Night reminds us that the world is in crisis and in need of saving. As a savior is being born, so says the carol, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining/ Till He appeared and the soul felt it's worth.”  What is this savior’s mission? “Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother/ And in His name all oppression shall cease…” Those of us who only have the first verse of these songs memorized might be surprised by what comes next, as in the second verse of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear:

Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long,

Beneath the angel strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And man, at war with man, hears not

The love song which they bring:

O hush the noise, ye men of strife,

And hear the angels sing…

Hush the noise. Hear the love song. Perhaps this year’s Christmasing Season has been a bit too full of striving and busyness. If so, then may these words be our invitation to experience the true gift we are being offered this beautiful Christmas Day.