One of the things that’s often said nowadays is that Christmas begins earlier every year. I’m sure we’ve all heard people say that; we might have even said it, or at least thought it, ourselves at some time. And when people do say that it’s usually meant as a complaint, not so much about Christmas itself, but about what we might call the pre-Christmas build-up that we see on the TV or in the shops; the Christmas themed adverts, the TV channels devoted to Christmas films and music and the Christmas decorations and goods sold as Christmas gifts in shops that, these days, appear months before Christmas.
I don’t know about you, but I think this year has been particularly bad in that respect. TV channels devoted to Christmas films have been showing since the late summer and in shops, some shops at least, Christmas decorations went up for sale at the same time as Halloween goods went on sale in the early Autumn, so about 3 months before Christmas. Perhaps it’s because of the way the coronavirus pandemic restricted our Christmas festivities last year that ‘Christmas’ has begun so early this year. Perhaps people have tried to make up for last year’s quiet Christmas in some way by making it a bigger and longer celebration this year. But whatever the reason, Christmas, or at least what many people nowadays call the ‘Festive Season’, does seem to have begun very early indeed this year.
When we think about how long before Christmas the so-called Festive Season begins these days, and just how long that makes the season, it’s not really surprising that people complain about it. It’s not surprising that, after around 3 months, a full quarter of the year, of being bombarded by Christmas films, music, adverts and goods for sale, people are a bit tired of it all by the time Christmas really does come around. It’s not surprising that by the time Christmas Day comes people can’t wait for the whole thing to be over and done with for another year. It’s not surprising that, for some people, Christmas Day itself is greeted with more of a sense of relief than with the joy it should bring.
But, if we think about it, what is it that people are really complaining about when they say that Christmas begins earlier every year? What are they really sick and tired of by the time Christmas Day actually comes around? What are they relieved to see the back of for another year? I think the truth is that people aren’t complaining about Christmas itself, what they’re really complaining about is what’s grown up around Christmas over the years. The vast money-making industry that’s attached itself to Christmas and, for society at large, seems to have become what Christmas is all about. I think that’s what takes the joy away from Christmas for many people because they’re sick and tired of after being surrounded by it and bombarded with it for months before 25th December, and that’s what people are relieved to see the back of for another year. Because, after such a long ‘Festive Season’, people simply want life to return to normal.
That’s a great shame because it takes away the joy that people should feel at this time of year but it’s tragic too. It’s tragic because all the paraphernalia of the Festive Season, all the humbug, the meaningless, secular things that have grown up around Christmas has so overgrown and obscured the real meaning of Christmas, that most people can’t see that meaning anymore. And that’s tragic because, if people can’t see what Christmas is really all about, how can they feel the sense of joy that Christmas should bring?
When we think about what Christmas is really about, how can it not be a joyful time? How can people not look forward to Christmas? Christmas is our celebration of the Incarnation, the birth as a human child of God’s Son. It’s our celebration of that time when God sent his own Son in to the world to teach us and show us the way of life we need to follow, and to offer us the promise of eternal life if we can follow that way. It’s the greatest gift we’ve ever received and ever can receive, so how can that not be a cause for joy and celebration? And if we can see what Christmas is really all about, how can the build -up to Christmas not be a joyful time too? Christmas, and the approach of Christmas should be joyful times because, unlike the secular Festive Season, which is ultimately meaningless, these things have some real meaning to us and for us, all of us. And if they don’t give us cause for joy, that can really only be because people either don’t know, or don’t want to know, or have forgotten what Christmas is really all about.
If we can see the real meaning of Christmas, something else should become clear to us too. People can be relieved to see the back of Christmas because they want life to go back to normal.
But if we do understand what Christmas is really all about, we’ll understand too that life can never go back to normal. Life, human life, can never be the same and has never been the same since the very first Christmas when Christ was born. In fact, life has never been the same since the build-up to that first Christmas began.
Through Advent, we’ve been hearing about that build-up. We’ve heard the prophets who first told people that God would send a Saviour, who first told people about the coming of Christmas, in a sense. Life wasn’t and couldn’t ever be the same again either for those prophets or for anyone who heard them speak. We’ve heard about John the Baptist, the Messenger who was sent to prepare the way for Christ. His life was changed forever by the knowledge of Christmas and so were the lives of everyone who heard John preach and were baptised by him. Today we heard about Mary and Elizabeth, their lives were changed forever, as were the lives of Joseph and Zechariah, by the knowledge of the coming of Christ. Today we also heard about the joy that brought, as the unborn John leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the sound of the voice of Mary, the Mother of the Lord. In fact, the lives of everyone connected with the Christmas story in any way were changed forever by the coming of Christ and by his birth. And through his birth, through Christmas, the lives of everyone on earth have been changed because Jesus, having been born on that first Christmas Day can never be unborn. Christmas can never be over and done with. Jesus, son of Mary and Son of God, lives forever so life, for any of us, can never be the same as it was before that first Christmas Day.
Our celebration of Christmas, the true season of Christmas that is, not the secular Festive Season idea of Christmas, is almost here again, just 6 days away now, in fact. But if we do know and understand the true meaning of Christmas, we’ll also know that, in a sense, Christmas never comes and goes, it’s with us all the time because Christ is with us all the time. And so, while we may experience the joy of Christmas in a particular way at this time of year, the joy of Christmas should also be with us all through the year.
After months of Festive Season humbug, we may very well be relieved to see the back of it for another year. But if anyone asks us, before we answer them, before we say we’ll be glad to see the back of Christmas for another year so that we can get back to normal, let’s just take a moment to think about what it is we’re actually glad to see the back of. And rather than telling anyone that we’re glad to see the back of Christmas for another year, we might want to say instead that we’re glad to see the back of the Festive Season for another year so that we can get on with enjoying Christmas.
Amen.
The Propers for Advent 4 can be found here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 