For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been listening to Sirius-XM Holiday Pops, and each morning I’m greeted with the sweet sounds of the choirs of King’s College, Chanticleer, Boston Camerata, and other fine ensembles and choirs presenting sacred works and hymns of the Christmas season from Händel, Bach, Tschesnokoff, and other great composers of the Church (as well as some classical secular music).
So you can imagine how striking it was to get into my car the morning that I write my newsletter, to the brassy refrain of a John Philip Sousa march, Stars and Stripes forever. What happened to Christmas? Christmas carols fill the radio waves for a month or more before Christmas, but on December 26—only the second day of Christmas—there’s complete radio silence. No more silent nights, no more glorias in excelsis, no more joy to the world. What happened to Christmas? The Church’s celebration of Christmas is from the evening of December 24 to January 6, but the world spends one-twelfth of the year trying to get you in the Christmas spirit only to dump that spirit the day after Christmas like so much crumpled wrapping paper and last week’s fruit cake. It’s as if Jesus is born, and then He’s immediately irrelevant.
What happened to Christmas? The Christmas season gets longer each year. Black Friday Christmas deals can now be had as early as Thursday morning (I’ll take that turkey to go, thank you). Christmas trees illuminate the Halloween stock in many department stores. But try to find a caroler on the day you return your Christmas sweater that’s too small, and you’ll find none.
What happened to Christmas? Clark Griswold might have the answer for us. The month before December 25 isn't the Christmas season, but the Christmas shopping season. Why can you hear Christmas music in stores for a month or more before Christmas? Because when you hear Christmas music, you’re reminded that you have to buy gifts for people and spend your money at their stores.
The Gospel isn’t just another great deal of the season, but free grace of God lavished upon us richly in Christ. One of the ways we keep that in perspective is through the Church’ year. While the world is getting into the spirit of the season, we enter into the presence of God in Advent to remind ourselves that the birth of the Christ Child is a cause for repentance. And when the world throws Christmas away like yesterday’s garbage, the Church keeps singing the newborn King’s praises for another two weeks.
So, merry Christmas! Still.
JWE
