The Divine Mystery OR Meditation on a Christmas Tree
“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”—Colossians 2:2-3.
For a child, Christmas is filled with great mystery. Everything changes. The house is decorated with wreaths, ornaments, and lights. The candy canes, poinsettias, pinecones, and presents are scattered through the house, along with stockings, lights, and bows. The Nativity Scene is set up carefully on the table, yet somehow manages to have various pieces get knocked over or lost throughout the day. In the living room, in all of its glory is our Christmas tree. It is so beautiful. So magnificent. It looks as though we brought it in right after cutting it down in the forest, but alas, we just went to Home Depot!
Our family history is displayed through our ornaments. Not everyone decorates their Christmas tree like we do. Our tree is not fancy like those in department stores, or decorated according to one theme or another. Our tree is just about us. My daughter's kindergarten photo hangs off a branch, so laminated that it could last through a nuclear explosion. Then there are the dozen "baby's first Christmas" ornaments we got commemorating our first child. But for some odd reason, the next child got a bit overlooked and only managed to get one solitary ornament marking her first Christmas. Memories hang on the tree forever enshrined in glue and glitter. It is amazing that plastic and glass can evoke memories of smells, sights, and sounds as fresh as this morning’s coffee.
At the beginning of the Christmas season, we go shopping as a family. Each member selects one ornament of his or her choice to hang on the Christmas tree that year. Through the years, we have accumulated quite a collection. Upon our tree we have managed to fill it with the miraculous and the mundane, the simple, the serious, and the outright frivolous. Upon our tree hangs the Nativity in all of its beauty and simplicity. But, along with our faith comes our fun and foibles. Starbucks' cups, giant snowflakes, football teams (that will remain nameless because my wife is a crazy Florida football fan), tractors, Star Trek space ships, and cartoon characters from 80's Disney movies. I am still trying to figure out how Miss Piggy from The Muppets got on our tree. I see the fads spelled out with a small guitar from Hannah Montana, along with a host of other strange ornaments. There are ornaments from places we've been, from people we have loved, and memories we have shared. But each one tells a story about us. On top of this hodge podge of memories sets our glorious angel. She has beautiful wings delicately adorning her back, peaking out from her white robe, creating a picture of awe and majesty. But, for some reason or another the wings never manage to stay in place. They are designed to look like a giant "V." But each year they managed to flip over, transforming our majestic angel from a messenger of peace to an astronaut ready to shoot into space. And as I look at our tree I see our family. Displayed on its branches is our faith, our family, and the fun that we have together.
The Christmas tree largely represents our lives in one way or another. And herein lies the great mystery of it all that mystifies both children and adults alike. Atop of everything we are is God's angel making a proclamation of peace to all who will listen. God Himself has sent His Son. His one and only Son to live amongst us. He has come to bear our sins, sickness, and sufferings. He has come to save. Whether it is the angel making the proclamation of peace to the shepherds or the star appearing to the wise men of the east, both draw us to the Savior.
The culmination of Christmas is December 25th, when we gather to open presents. The greatest present at the bottom of it all is Jesus. He came humbly to the lowest of the low. Born to a middle-eastern teenage girl in a rented room where animals dwell, He came to the “least of these.” He comes to us as the greatest gift. Whether the angel or star on the top of the tree, the ornaments draped across, or presents beneath, they all point to Him. The proclamation covers the entirety of our family tree. We give Him all of our quirkiness and craziness, our hopes and dreams, our fears and our faith. And then we give to each other because God gave to us.
In our passage for today we see that the Christmas season is mysterious. Because God did something mysterious, He gave us Jesus in whom is the mystery of the ages. The apostle Paul said that in Him is “the knowledge of God’s mystery.” In that one small child are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Contained in flesh was the Everlasting Father. Lying in the straw of the manger is the Creator God of the universe. In the eyes of that baby boy are all of the mysteries of the ages. Everything points to that little guy. The decorating we do points to Him. The Christmas tree points to Him. The Christmas season is a time to prepare our homes and our hearts. We must make room for Him in our souls.
I pray for all of us. I pray that we might prepare our hearts for what God has for us. He wants our life. He wants the history of who we are in all of our sorrow and sin, joy and junk. He wants it all. We surrender and He blesses. And Like stooping to get the presents out on Christmas day, we each must stoop to receive the one who humbly came to earth to save us from our sins. We all must humble ourselves. God reached out His hand by assuming the flesh of man. And we humble ourselves to receive that hand.
The Christmas tree displays the wonder of Jesus. On top of the tree is the proclamation of peace, covering over the ornamentation of our souls. Beneath it all is the greatest gift ever known. Laying in a manger is the wonder of wonders, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
May this Christmas season be a time of great discovery for each of us. May we all discover the greatest treasure known to mankind, Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son. Amen.
For a child, Christmas is filled with great mystery. Everything changes. The house is decorated with wreaths, ornaments, and lights. The candy canes, poinsettias, pinecones, and presents are scattered through the house, along with stockings, lights, and bows. The Nativity Scene is set up carefully on the table, yet somehow manages to have various pieces get knocked over or lost throughout the day. In the living room, in all of its glory is our Christmas tree. It is so beautiful. So magnificent. It looks as though we brought it in right after cutting it down in the forest, but alas, we just went to Home Depot!
Our family history is displayed through our ornaments. Not everyone decorates their Christmas tree like we do. Our tree is not fancy like those in department stores, or decorated according to one theme or another. Our tree is just about us. My daughter's kindergarten photo hangs off a branch, so laminated that it could last through a nuclear explosion. Then there are the dozen "baby's first Christmas" ornaments we got commemorating our first child. But for some odd reason, the next child got a bit overlooked and only managed to get one solitary ornament marking her first Christmas. Memories hang on the tree forever enshrined in glue and glitter. It is amazing that plastic and glass can evoke memories of smells, sights, and sounds as fresh as this morning’s coffee.
At the beginning of the Christmas season, we go shopping as a family. Each member selects one ornament of his or her choice to hang on the Christmas tree that year. Through the years, we have accumulated quite a collection. Upon our tree we have managed to fill it with the miraculous and the mundane, the simple, the serious, and the outright frivolous. Upon our tree hangs the Nativity in all of its beauty and simplicity. But, along with our faith comes our fun and foibles. Starbucks' cups, giant snowflakes, football teams (that will remain nameless because my wife is a crazy Florida football fan), tractors, Star Trek space ships, and cartoon characters from 80's Disney movies. I am still trying to figure out how Miss Piggy from The Muppets got on our tree. I see the fads spelled out with a small guitar from Hannah Montana, along with a host of other strange ornaments. There are ornaments from places we've been, from people we have loved, and memories we have shared. But each one tells a story about us. On top of this hodge podge of memories sets our glorious angel. She has beautiful wings delicately adorning her back, peaking out from her white robe, creating a picture of awe and majesty. But, for some reason or another the wings never manage to stay in place. They are designed to look like a giant "V." But each year they managed to flip over, transforming our majestic angel from a messenger of peace to an astronaut ready to shoot into space. And as I look at our tree I see our family. Displayed on its branches is our faith, our family, and the fun that we have together.
The Christmas tree largely represents our lives in one way or another. And herein lies the great mystery of it all that mystifies both children and adults alike. Atop of everything we are is God's angel making a proclamation of peace to all who will listen. God Himself has sent His Son. His one and only Son to live amongst us. He has come to bear our sins, sickness, and sufferings. He has come to save. Whether it is the angel making the proclamation of peace to the shepherds or the star appearing to the wise men of the east, both draw us to the Savior.
The culmination of Christmas is December 25th, when we gather to open presents. The greatest present at the bottom of it all is Jesus. He came humbly to the lowest of the low. Born to a middle-eastern teenage girl in a rented room where animals dwell, He came to the “least of these.” He comes to us as the greatest gift. Whether the angel or star on the top of the tree, the ornaments draped across, or presents beneath, they all point to Him. The proclamation covers the entirety of our family tree. We give Him all of our quirkiness and craziness, our hopes and dreams, our fears and our faith. And then we give to each other because God gave to us.
In our passage for today we see that the Christmas season is mysterious. Because God did something mysterious, He gave us Jesus in whom is the mystery of the ages. The apostle Paul said that in Him is “the knowledge of God’s mystery.” In that one small child are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Contained in flesh was the Everlasting Father. Lying in the straw of the manger is the Creator God of the universe. In the eyes of that baby boy are all of the mysteries of the ages. Everything points to that little guy. The decorating we do points to Him. The Christmas tree points to Him. The Christmas season is a time to prepare our homes and our hearts. We must make room for Him in our souls.
I pray for all of us. I pray that we might prepare our hearts for what God has for us. He wants our life. He wants the history of who we are in all of our sorrow and sin, joy and junk. He wants it all. We surrender and He blesses. And Like stooping to get the presents out on Christmas day, we each must stoop to receive the one who humbly came to earth to save us from our sins. We all must humble ourselves. God reached out His hand by assuming the flesh of man. And we humble ourselves to receive that hand.
The Christmas tree displays the wonder of Jesus. On top of the tree is the proclamation of peace, covering over the ornamentation of our souls. Beneath it all is the greatest gift ever known. Laying in a manger is the wonder of wonders, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
May this Christmas season be a time of great discovery for each of us. May we all discover the greatest treasure known to mankind, Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son. Amen.
Hi Travis! It's Anastasia, remember me? I read your post and I can't help but wonder how Christmas ever got to where it is today even though the Bible does not tell us to celebrate it and early Christians never did. Actually, come to think of it - aside from the 'family' part, the way Christmas is celebrated demonstrates values that are not Christ like at all. Wonder what you think about that? :)
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. The Bible never does tell us to celebrate Christmas. Nevertheless, the celebration has been celebrated from early church history. The celebration we have today is an evolution of sorts from a hodge podge of sources, including many European pagan rituals that have been baptized as Christian.
ReplyDeleteWhile the New Testament does not give us the exact birth date for Jesus, some early church leaders give us some indication. Apparently around 200 A.D., Clement of Alexandria, wrote about a group in Egypt that celebrated the nativity on Pachon 25, which corresponds to May 20th on our calendar. Two other church fathers, Tertullian (died in 220) and Irenaeus (died late second or early third century), don’t mention Christmas as a major holiday in the church’s calendar or feast list. However, another church leader, a guy named Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox (March 25th), which would appear to indicate that He was born on December 25th (i.e. 9 months later). Another calendar of feasts produced in 243 called, “De Pascha Computus” gives March 28th as the day to celebrate the nativity. In 245, another church father, a guy named Origin of Alexandria derogatorily suggested that the celebration of birthdays was a pagan ritual that should be ignored. But, the earliest reference to any celebration on December 25th was found in what is known as the Chronography of 354, when the birth of Christ was celebrated as part of Jesus’ baptism, otherwise known as epiphany and held on January 6th. The observance of Christmas went back and forth among leaders until 400 A.D. when it entered into the regular rotation of the church calendar, eventually evolving into what we have now.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider the celebration of Christmas to be a litmus test of one's faith. One may observe or may not observe Jesus' birth. I agree with what the Apostle Paul said, "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."--Romans 14:15 (ESV)
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I see Christmas as a time to pause and reflect on the wonder of the incarnation. It allows me to clear my mind of all of the hustle and bustle that has become part and parcel of this time of year. I'm able to focus on another aspect of Jesus' life more fully and wonderfully, seeing how great His love for us really is. And that makes me want to walk closer with Him on a daily basis. Hope that helps and thanks for reading!
Here's a great sermon with a great description of one our celebration of Christmas by one of my heroes, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1026.htm
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply Travis. Guess you gave me the long version! ;) I most certainly agree on what the Bible instructs us: "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."--Romans 14:15
ReplyDeleteI think you would enjoy this sermon "Not Just a Baby" (Francis Chan), here is the link: http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/special/media_player.html (just go to the date 12/23/07
I really like Chan. I just wrote a study guide to his Crazy Love book. I'll be sure to check it out & thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete