It's Still Christmas

It’s Still Christmas

Luke 2:21

            It’s December 26^th.  I just finished reading a comic strip where the two young boys in the family are complaining that they’re bored.  The mother says, “You’ve got a whole room full of new toys to play with.”  The boys respond, “We played with them all yesterday.”  One look from mother and they decide they’re not bored after all.

            That’s what happens the day after Christmas in many households.  The toys are already old, or broken, or missing parts.  The family is eating leftovers from big holiday meals.  The radio stations and TV channels have gone back to regular programming.  No more Christmas specials.  No more Christmas music.  On to the next big thing.  Ready for Valentine’s Day?

            Stores try to make Christmas last a little longer.  Post-Christmas sales start today.  There was a story on the news about the bargains available out there.  The reporter said that stores expected to do about 19% of their year’s business in the next few days.

            But Christmas has just begun!  The Season of Christmas begins on Christmas Eve.  This is appropriate, since the Jewish day begins at sundown (read Genesis 1 to see how this works).  Christmas is twelve days long—just like the song says.  That song isn’t someone’s fanciful creation.  The Season of Christmas lasts until January 6—Epiphany (more about that later).

            Today’s reading tells us that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after he was born.  This was sort of the completion of the birth process.  Luke also tells us (1:62-67) that Jesus’ cousin John was circumcised and given his name on the eighth.  We can assume the same thing was true for Jesus.  If Jesus’ birth celebration took eight days, then it certainly wasn’t over the day after Christmas.

            Perhaps we end Christmas quickly because we have become so tired of it during the month or more of preparation.  With stores beginning pre-Black Friday sales weeks before Thanksgiving, and the media giving us a steady diet of Christmas music and specials starting even before the turkey dinner has grown cold, we become saturated well before the actual day arrives.  We can’t be blamed for packing things up as soon as possible.

            But let’s not be hasty.  Let’s keep those decorations up a little longer.  Let’s enjoy the bright lights for a few more days.  Perhaps they will help us think more about the Light of the world, who John tells us about at the beginning of his gospel.  Let’s sing the carols a few more times.  We can put the Santa Claus songs to bed.  He’s already back at the North Pole making preparations for next year; but “Joy to the World,” and “Away in a Manger,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” have staying power.  Perhaps if we hear them and sing them a few more days the Christ child will find a more permanent place in our hearts.

            Our church doesn’t pack up Christmas until the Sunday after Epiphany.  That, by the way, is the celebration of the arrival of the wise men.  In many parts of the world Epiphany is the day gifts are given, a connection to the gold, frankincense and myrrh brought by the travelers from the east.  Sounds like a sensible idea to me.  Focus on Jesus’ birth on December 25—let him be the star of the show—and save the gift giving for another day.  It’s probably too late to make that change in our culture, but it’s good to think about.

            By keeping Christmas going for an extra week we linger a little longer over the Christ child.  We can contemplate more fully what his birth means to us.  We can be more deeply aware of God’s gift.  Perhaps if we could make Christmas last longer we might be able to keep God’s love in our hearts more completely.  What do you think?