Even though I am writing this installment before the celebration of Christmas, there is one thing that is on my mind and the minds of many more people … whos’ going to clean up this mess when Christmas is over?
That’s a fair question to ask. In our house, decorations were brought out the weekend of Thanksgiving. The tree was set up and we spent a good 5 or 6 days decorating the parsonage. The only rule in the Kosary household is that the lights don’t go on until the day after Thanksgiving. It is a ritual Jodi (my spouse) and I have practiced since we have been married. Granted, we have scaled back as we get older – I used to climb up and down a ladder outside as I ran lights along the edge of our roof. Heck, I even decorated 2 Christmas trees outside with lights and ornaments.
That very first year of marriage, we began the great debate of when everything goes dark and Christmas was put away for the year. In Jodi’s family, decorations were being packed as soon as Christmas dinner dishes were dried and put away – in my eyes a travesty. In my family’s tradition, everything stayed in place until “little Christmas”, or Epiphany, which is Monday, January 6, 2025 this year.
The reasoning for my observance of this ‘minor’ holiday in the grand scheme of things follows several trains of thought:
- I put a lot of effort getting everything where it is and I want to appreciate it a little longer;
- I probably have eaten too much over the holidays and need to work a little off before climbing up and down again;
- I am lazy;
- This is the way it has always been;
- But if I am honest here, I cannot end something before it is finished.
I am guilty of ‘changing’ the Christmas story to suit the culture. Christmas Eve, as part of the worship service, we talk about the arrival of the Three Wise Men from the East – TRIVIA: their names are Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior – as though they were there with the shepherds, all the sheep, and a little boy banging on his drum to the chagrin of Mary who just had a little baby. The fact is that it was more like somewhere between 40 days and several years before the Magi showed up. It wasn’t until 354 AD that Christ’s birth was being celebrated on December 25 (Christmas), and later in the 4th century the church in Rome began celebrating Epiphany on January 6. The arrival of the Magi were viewed as confirmation of Christ’s divinity as they lay their gifts before a King.
So again, so what? Well my friends, as we have explored during my Advent sermon series, All the Good, Christmas is one of the holidays that cannot exist unless it is held in tension with another Christian holiday, Easter. Because without Jesus’ resurrection, December 25 would be just that, December 25th and nothing more. And without Christmas and the confirmation of Jesus’ divinity on Epiphany, Christ’s resurrection, ascension to heaven and the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on the day of Pentecost would be meaningless.
On Sunday, December 22nd, my sermon was called “Christmas Is Only the Beginning”. In it I spoke of how the Christmas story as found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – especially Luke, are foundational to our identity as Christians. It is this foundation of Christ being born (Christmas), being venerated by the Magi (Epiphany), when Jesus was transformed into a brilliant light on a holy mountain in the presence of Peter, James, and John (Transfiguration Sunday), Ash Wednesday (Lent), Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday (Holy Week, trial, crucifixion), the resurrection of Jesus (Easter), when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and ministry post-Jesus began (Pentecost), that completes the story of how we, as brothers and sisters united through Christ came into being and remain to this day.
So?
Well there is one last “season” of the Christian year that has taken a back seat to Christmas and Epiphany. That season is Christmastide, the time of the Christian year when we take stock of everything that has happened between the beginning of Advent, through Christmas, and into Epiphany. It is when we take the lessons learned in Advent and Christmas and begin to put them to good use in our lives. Hopefully, those messages have left a lasting impact on how we view the world around us, ourselves, and how we fit into God’s creation. Christmastide is how we practice being Christians with Epiphany becoming the ‘other’ bookend of the Christmas season. So if we are still in this Christmas mood, waiting for the three wise men to make their appearance, why would we remove the decor of the season?
Christmas, okay it’s really Advent, is only the beginning. If we remember to take the time to celebrate Christmas to it’s fullest before we pack it away again until next year, maybe it can and will last us throughout the year. Most of us, as a tradition, make resolutions on the eve of the new year. If we were to make as one of those resolutions to appreciate more the gifts of a child that would become a man who would later be crucified, rise and ascent to heaven; if we were to have an opportunity to begin practicing that before the new year began and into the new year by just hanging onto Christmas a little bit longer, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
My prayer for all of you is that 2025 brings you happiness, hope and goodwill throughout the year.
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