“Whoever you are, with your Christmas lights still aglow, thank you for the blessed reminder that Christmas is not just for December.”
After a few brief weeks of Christmas clarity, most of us are back to normal. Rudolph has been retired from the roof. The tree has been taken down. The last tinsel has finally been picked out of the carpet. The bathroom scales are faithfully registering every piece of stolen Christmas fudge. By now, you've probably gotten your credit card bill and you are still in cardiac arrest from the damages to your account. Christmas bells have turned to Christmas bills. So much for normalcy.
As I was driving home a few nights ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see some Christmas lights still shining brightly. The manger scene was illuminated and the snowman was still in place, faithfully standing guard over the whole scene. But in the second week of January? Usually the lights come down with the old year's calendar. These, however, were a gentle admonition to keep the celebration alive in my heart.
Whoever you are, with your Christmas lights still aglow, thank you for the blessed reminder that Christmas is not just for December. It's for January, and all year. For far too many, however, Christmas is over (that is, until next year's day after Thanksgiving sales).
Oftentimes our lives are like the Christmas Day in WWI when fighting soldiers laid down their arms and sang Christmas carols. The next morning, the carnage began again, with machine guns and bayonet fighting. Everything was back to normal.
One of the reasons I like Christmas so much is that people start acting like Christians. We work together to feed others. We are more aware of the poor, the lonely and the elderly. We give. Neighbors who have been too busy to talk are now sharing cookies with each other. Families who have been apart are reunited. Meanwhile back in the trenches of January's battle, we forget that generosity is becoming to those who claim to follow Christ. Maybe our "normal" is not as good as we think it is.
Even though December 25th has come and gone, the question still before us today is this: Will this last Christmas be a way of life or a temporary lapse in our material mindset? Does the celebration of Jesus' arrival really change anything besides our waistline or retail habits? I'm not trying to be cynical, just asking the question that many of us are afraid to ask. Let me state it a different way. Did the religion you received at the Christmas Eve service make a difference on how you behaved on New Year's Eve? Tragically, Christmas has become an event, rather than a way of life.
Nietzsche, the atheist, said something we should all ponder, "Show me that you are redeemed, and I will believe in your Redeemer" There are many Nietzsches today who need some persuading that religion is more than an opiate for the masses. Our Christ-like behavior in August will go far to demonstrate that Christmas is still alive, God is with us! (and He didn't take a vacation until His Birthday party next year!)
Let us hear and take to heart the words of the late Mother Theresa, "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you . . . yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother/sister and offer him your hand."
Let us not wait until next year for our churches to get together and offer a dinner for the needy or lonely. Don't wait until next December to contribute to the Salvation Army or give a gift to someone who needs one. Why wait until next year to send a card to an old friend?
We can all take a cue from Charles Dickens, lest we miss the point of the classic Christmas Carol. After he looked at his own neglected tombstone, Ebeneezer Scrooge uttered these profound words, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." The grave reality of the shortness of this life converted him to live for something bigger than himself. That same revelation could also bring about our salvation.
In closing, Dickens also states, "It was always said of him [Scrooge], that he knew how to keep Christmas well." The unspoken question layered in the subtext is this: How about us? Do we know how to keep Christmas well? The answer to this question will separate the men from the toys.
Will we merely make a Christmas list or can we make Christmas last? Our friends, neighbors, and coworkers will have all year to find out if we do. The seekers of this world still need stars to point the way to Christ. The Cratchit family awaits. Let's not leave them disappointed. Each of us can start today, one person at a time.
And just in case you forgot, Easter is only three months away. Only then do we remember anew why we ever had Christmas in the first place and why we can have a truly happy and hopeful New Year.
Monte lives in Auburn, California, where he ministers with Harvest Christian Church.