The Far Green Country

There is a real trouble with celebrating Christmas, but it is not the sort of thing you might expect. The trouble with Christmas is not that society says you have to keep religion to yourself (a statement usually made with a religious conviction all its own). Nor is the trouble with Christmas the fact that it has become so rabidly commercialized by secular culture. (Really, what did we expect?) Nor again is the trouble with Christmas the fact that we have to put up with so many hours of insipid music on the radio or movies on the television (though some of them may make you want to shoot your eye out). Nor, lastly, is the trouble with celebrating Christmas the fact that the Bible does not tell us to celebrate it.

The trouble with celebrating Christmas is that this world is a mess. Christ was born into a mess, and two thousand years later things seem to have only become worse – or at least, they haven’t seemed to improve much. Behind all the light-bedecked doors and beneath all the snow-covered roofs, people are still hurting. Some fathers in this world – maybe even in this city – cannot afford to feed their children properly, let alone buy them presents. Some mothers and children have lost husbands and fathers this year. Other families remain wholly alive physically, while living emotionally or spiritually apart – members doing their best to act dismembered. Still others walk alone, without family or friends with whom to celebrate – and to these, even God (if they know him) can seem awfully distant on a cold December night. In short, man’s inhumanity to man is still “dashing through the snow,” making you wonder – what exactly are we celebrating? For whom do the “jingle bells” toll, exactly?

Is celebrating Christmas all just a charade – a collective game being played to cover tears with tinsel? Is it simply an attempt to distract ourselves from death and sin with “brown paper packages tied up with string?” Or is there yet a reason – something real, something true to celebrate – even amidst the ruins?

The trouble with celebrating Christmas is that this world is still as messy as the night Christ was born. Yet the reason to celebrate Christmas is that this is not the end of the story. After thirty years of wading through this mess, Christ died a messy death. And here is where things get exciting: by his messy death, Christ owned this mess. All of this belongs to him now, and he is no derelict landlord. “Behold, I am making all things new.” From the moment he walked out of his tomb, Jesus has been taking ownership. He is working through his Word and Spirit even tonight – cleansing souls and reclaiming communities – and someday he will return in force to finish the job. This is what makes Christmas worth celebrating. This is why we sing, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The world is still a mess, yes – but the world is now Christ’s mess.