I Still Say Merry Christmas

For those who do follow this blog - thank you and apologies.  This blogger has had some major challenges of a dental nature over the past few months and, frankly, has not felt too well.  I am feeling much better.  Remember:  Time, the great healer and revealer.

Now - a few comments, questions, and an old war story for the season.

Our family discussion this week surrounded the reason our house is the least decorated on the block. I would like to say it is because I have been convalescing this past month; however,  a dear lady who passed away this past year (whose house is still empty) has a more festive exterior facade than ours.  One of the traditions of the season in our home is putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  I know some folks who wait until Christmas Eve.  Some folks will scurry home after church this coming Sunday, prop up that evergreen, untangle the snarled and unblinking string of lights, haul out the various and sundry ornaments that range from crystal bells to delicate bulbs to the popsicle stick and paste creation from a child’s kindergarten class.

It's been the same for centuries, ever since we Christians adopted the symbol adopted the symbols from Germanic paganism - the evergreen being seen as a symbol of eternal life because it’s always green even in the dead of winter. Wherever you go these days, you can expect to see that basic triangular shape, be it artificial or real — beautiful green boughs narrowing upward to the point where you put the star.  But wait a second. Before you anchor that tree in its stand and find a place on it for the those candy canes you’ve kept since the Carter administration, consider checking out a recent trend in Christmas tree chic — an idea that could flip the whole idea of the Christmas tree on its ear — literally. This past decade has seen the advent of the  upside-down, ceiling-mounted Christmas tree.

That’s right, for the past few years a small movement is growing where people are actually attaching their Christmas trees upside down with the base on the ceiling — a holiday stalactite, if you will. It’s an upside-down, backward approach to the conventional positioning of a Christmas tree. Like just about anything these days, though, the concept isn’t exactly new. Upside-down Christmas trees date all the way back to 12th-century Europe, though they’ve been out of vogue for nearly a millennium.

The traditionalist argument: Why would you be so gauche as to nail a tree to the ceiling? After all, that’s not Christmas! Some might even argue that the shape of the tree points to heaven, which would make it a sin to turn it upside down.

This next week we will celebrate Christmas with our new church - our first Christmas Eve service here. I remember a few churches ago (ministerially speaking) a packed Christmas Eve sanctuary on our first Christmas Eve service with them, with many new visitors and a festive atmosphere. My wife and I went to the door to greet people after the service, believing that all was right with the world, when one of the long-time church members came to the door but refused to shake my hand. Scowling, “Thanks for ruining my Christmas — we didn’t sing “The First Noel” as the second carol. We’ve always sung that carol second in the order of worship on Christmas Eve. Without that, it’s just not Christmas.”

It could have been its own animated special: “The Pastor Who Stole Christmas.”   Yes, that's me - the Pastoral Grinch - trying my best to ruin Christmas for as many as I can. There’s nothing like tweaking sacred tradition to tick people off.  I have noticed over the years of doing the Christmas Eve marathon that Christmas is the ultimate holiday sacred cow. Texans say "Don't mess with Texas."  I say "You just don’t mess with Christmas."  For many people the biggest fear of this season is that Christmas won’t happen according to plan, that something will go awry and ruin Christmas thoroughly.  The truth is that, especially for us baby boomers, we’ve been trained to think this way. Remember all your childhood animated Christmas specials? The Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Charlie Brown — what’s the basis for those stories? Someone is out to ruin Christmas and to keep it from coming. (Remember - that's me!) All must be perfectly restored to order for the season to be valid.

People just seem to get wrapped around the axle about the smallest things this time of year. Indeed we all have our expectations, our hopes, our “perfect” scenarios, whether it be for a holiday or for any other aspect of our lives. For some reason, we don’t like any deviation — no upside-down-ness to our lives. Now - my life?  Lot's of upside-down-ness.  That is probably why I make people nervous.

The Scriptures that I will read on Christmas Eve, however, tells me that turning things upside down is exactly the agenda of the coming King.

The prophet Micah wrote about a coming reversal in fortune for the people of Israel. The nation faced God’s judgment because of their apostasy — a judgment carried out by enemies who would build a wall of siege against them and “strike the ruler of Israel upon the cheek” in an open display of disdain (Micah 5:1). The old patterns of idolatry and corruption that characterized the reign of many of their kings had made the nation almost Grinch like in its devotion to self-interest, material gain and oppression of the weak (Micah 2:1-2).

In the midst of this prophecy of judgment and tough times ahead, God still offered hope. A new king would arise who would break this old pattern and, in effect, turn things upside down. His origins from the lowly town of Bethlehem, “one of the little clans of Judah,” are a signal that God is interested in overturning the human expectations of power and prestige in favor of uplifting the weak (5:2).

Jesus came amidst a swirl of expectations about a messiah who would save people and do it according to a preconceived and religiously approved plan. He was expected to wield a sword instead of a shepherd’s crook and make peace by eliminating the enemies, particularly the minions of Rome who occupied the first century land. The Messiah was to make a list, check it twice, determine who was naughty and nice and make sure that the ultimate holiday — the restoration of Israel — would come according to the script, complete with happy ending and roll the credits.

 Instead, Jesus does nothing less than turn their expectations upside down and hang them from the spiritual ceiling as a way of making room for everyone. He preached love over and against vengeance for enemies. He spent time with the outcasts and proclaimed that they would be the new “in” crowd. He was a great teacher but performed as a lowly servant, even washing feet. For Jesus the categories of rich and poor, in and out, great and humble, even life and death were all reversed. It’s no wonder that traditionalists would argue that he was ruining everything and want him out of the picture. 

We followers of Jesus have a lot of work ahead.  In the mean time: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I still say Merry Christmas in public and like the First Noel but as the first song instead of the second.  That's GOT to be Silent Night for me.  If not, "its just not Christmas."

Just a reminder for the season:  Don't text and drive:)