Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans 13:14

It was the day after Thanksgiving. After our son and his family left to drive back home, I began to put the house back in order. I changed the beds, did laundry and took stock of what was left in the fridge. There were no leftovers this year because I’d packed most of yesterdays’ feast into take home boxes. Now, thinking about a nice hot turkey sandwich for dinner and finding a pretty picked over turkey carcass meant for soup instead, I’d wished I had planned more judiciously. Oh, well. At least the fridge didn’t need excavating every time I opened the door.

Truthfully, I was feeling let down. My family doesn’t get together very often and I missed the grandchildren even before they were out the door. It might be weeks – or even months- before we would visit again. I definitely wasn’t up to jumping from my Thanksgiving table right into the so called Christmas spirit or binge watch Hallmark Holiday Movies. Instead, I searched for Christmas music to cheer me up.

One of the pop-ups on You Tube linked to some German Weihnachtslieder, Christmas carols sung by angelic sounding choirs that I grew up with, (the carols, not the choirs)! I remember hearing almost the same music in my parents’ house during Advent, the four liturgical weeks of preparation for Christmas and especially on the 24th when we celebrated the birth of the Christ Child. I remember the joy, wonder and beauty of church decorated with greenery and fragrant candles when we attended Mass. The Christmas carols of my childhood reiterated the Scriptural story told in Luke and others and fed my soul. Jesus’ birth permeated the season of Advent and gave life to it.

It is different now. It doesn’t take much to recognize how drastically our culture and the world has misappropriated Christmas. After giving God thanks for our blessings on Thursday, we are immediately pushed into Black Friday, Cyber Tuesday, Giving Wednesday and who knows what else for the rest of the week. I will say it as it is: we jump from Thanksgiving gratitude into greed and guilt disguised as “giving”, a euphemism for spending more than we have or ought. The divine Nativity of Jesus, central to Christmas and Christian faith, is being supplanted by a secular “holiday spirit”. This spirit is not of God. It has nothing to do with John’s introduction of Jesus:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John1:14

The true Spirit of Christmas is God’s Holy Spirit enfleshed as Christ. There is no other, no matter how it is packaged in tinsel. Christmas celebrates the Person of Jesus, not a thing. Rudolph is a thing; Jingle Bells are things; Frosty is a thing. Santa is a thing of the imagination.

Christians, isn’t it time to take a stand for Christ’s birth and reclaim why we celebrate Him? In the remaining three weeks before Christmas, can we not do something, anything to change direction? If not us, then who will make a Christmas difference?

I don’t advocate becoming Scrooge or the Grinch or doing away with Santa, Frosty, and Charley Brown. I love White Christmas and A Christmas Carol. I am as nostalgic about Christmas as ever. Dan and I will have the usual pile of gifts under the tree for family and friends. We will want Face Time with the grandchildren as they show off their presents. However, in these remaining weeks, it behooves us to consider Advent again as the spiritual time of repenting, preparing and waiting for the birth of the One who saved us, for Messiah who came to dwell in the hearts of men. I suggest three practices:

Prepare your mind with the truth that “Jesus really is the reason for the season.” Read the Scriptures daily from Genesis to Revelation and find Christ fulfilled in all of it. (Genesis 3:15, 2. Samuel 7:1-12; Isaiah 9:2-17; Isaiah 11:1-5; Micah 5:2; Galatians 4:4; Luke 1; Luke 2:29; Luke 2:38; John 1:29; John 14:1-2; Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 22:12)

Fast to prepare your flesh. Advent was a traditional time of fasting and waiting before the celebration of Christmas. Instead of buying one more enticing gadget, just say NO. Fast from your favorite junk food craving. Fast from a useless time consuming habit which leaves you feeling empty. Fast from media both social and technological. Listen to the voice of Holy Spirit, not the news commentators.

Pray to prepare your soul spiritually for the coming of Christ, even as John the Baptist called for repentance and “to prepare the way.” Pray for Christ’s Spirit to convict and forgive. Pray for all the little ones who run to Santa and do not know their Savior. Pray for a lost and broken world. Pray for Jesus’ Light to shine into the darkness, even though the darkness cannot, refuses to comprehend.