Calvin Synod Herald, 1987 (87. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1987 / 5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-7-REFORMATUSOK LAPJA Christ, when we think about Christmas. We have become so "Babylon-ized” that we can’t understand what went wrong; why are the kids different, why isn’t there "family" anymore, what happened to respect, to church, to values, to memorable Christmas gatherings? We're really not much different from the rest of those who are in this “new world”, who threw away their old customs in the name of Americanization, who de-emphasized God so they’d "fit in" with the neighbors, who threw Christ out of Christmas so as not to offend these neighbors and their Santa Claus myth. Of course, our neighbors are also busy wondering what happened to the family, love and happiness, but they don’t want to say anything because they want to "fit in” too. We're all busy wondering where love is, what happened to the family, what happened to the life that made Christmas beautiful. What happened is that instead of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” we taught our children "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”; instead of "Silent Night” we sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town”; the Christmas eve story begins "’Twas the night before Christmas...” and not "And in those days there were shepherds in the field watching over their flock by night...” So what we have taught our children by the twelfth day of Christmas isn’t about the "wisemen from the east”, but rather that after the toys are broken, it’s time to go back to school; Santa came and went, back to the real world now! How about that old-fashioned, ethnic Christmas? How did we observe that? Our parents emphasized God’s love for the world, embodied in his sending HIS OWN SON to be with us. To the children, they introduced God’s love in a little baby - just like they once were. They showed that God came to US in a small family, just like WE were a family; a mother and a father loving their little baby, their child, just like you and I were loved. That lesson, the lesson of family and love, the lesson of God’s giving us a living gift in the baby Jesus, a gift that is to be nurtured and cared for, a gift that always stays with us, that lesson stayed the year around. And that present that came with Christmas, that was only symbolic, showing that the gift of the baby Jesus spreads to us all in some way, that just as Jesus loved the whole world, he loved each of us individually. Why were those Christmases different? How could a Christmas in a refugee camp, in the midst of abject poverty, in a strange land, be belter than Christmas in millions of homes today? Because Christmas was a time of celebration of what we had; family, love, sharing. A time of celebration for the loving God who provided all this for us - a time set aside for Him who was part of our family, our everyday lives. And Christmas was a time of thanks, a time of gratefulness for the generosity and blessings of God, both directly from HIM and through our families. Christmas was the CELEBRATION of the coming of Him with whom we lived all year. The myth of Santa does none of these thing; its effect is that rather than being thankful for what we have, we are ungrateful because of what we want but don’t get. Love becomes "love of things", not Christian love for oneanother. Celebration means a party, with gifts, guests, and alclohol. Grateful is what we feel when everyone has finally gone home. These are the adopted customs of our Babylon. And we wonder why Christmas is different. Seated around the Christmas tree, this year our Christmas will again start with the second chapter of Luke’s gospel, and then we’ll sing about the angels coming, and of that "silent night” of so many years ago. And then we’ll give thanks to Jesus for being with us in those refugee camps with our parents, and for all the years in between, and ask him to stay with us while we are on our pilgrimage in this world. And we’ll turn to the tree, decorated with the shining stars of Christmas Past and Christmas Present, and celebrate His presence by sharing with each other little gifts He gave us. And hope that these moments will be the "stars” that our children will see on their trees in their Christmas yet to come. “BLGtfGD me THG PGrtCGIWGRi FOR THGY mil B€ CrfLLGD THG CHILDRGM OF GOD” MdTTHGW 5:9 JU9T PGrtCG OFFGRING Uf1IT€D CHURCH Of CHRIST
