Selling Christmas

I know it's a bit late to be posting about Christmas now, but I wanted to share some stuff that I enjoyed reading in the latest CASE Magazine, which was a Christmas themed edition. The article I found most helpful was one by Simon Angus which was an economic analysis of the way our society approaches Christmas (it's about the gifts), with some suggestions for how Christians can interact with that. It gave me a bit to muse about and Dave and I came up with some good ideas for how we might change the way we do things next Christmas.

Here's an excerpt, taken from toward the end of the article:

First, despite what Brand Christmas would have us believe, Christians ought to push back on the notion that gifts are the sole reason for, or climax of, the traditional Christmas gathering. This would be as obviously ridiculous as if, at the first Christmas, the host of angels suddenly turned their attention and worship from baby Jesus in the manger to the precious, but ultimately inanimate and inconsequential gold, frankincense and myrrh of the wise men upon their arrival. They didn't, and nor should we.

Second, the Bible is full of instructions for how the people of God are to remember key moments in salvation history, and an emphasis of many of these rituals is to educate the young in the nature, character and deeds of God (e.g. Ex 12:26, Deut 6:20, Josh 4:21). So where Brand Christmas goes assiduously after our children's material desires, there seems an important work for Christian parents to educate their young in the true meaning of Christmas from the outset. Attending family church services, singing carols and hymns at home, reading the accounts of Jesus' birth, crafting nativity scenes, and spending time in family prayer are just a few of the ways that I have heard parents pursue this educative aspect of Christmas. Similarly, I know of several families who emphasise gift giving rather than receiving at Christmas for this reason, encouraging their children to select gifts from appropriate catalogues that will go to the poor in the world.

There is also a question concerning how Christians can proclaim the 'third way' of Christmas in non-Christian settings. Whilst Christians may not have control at times over the way Christmas is observed, this does not mean they cannot be salt and light in such contexts. Whilst some opportunities fall into the lap – the solemn silence preceding Christmas dinner, as eyes turn to the ‘senior Christian’ in the gathering to give thanks in even irreligious households – other expressions of the Christian message will take more effort: Bible verses in cards, prayerfully inviting friends and family to church, being sincerely thankful, being the first to suggest a more austere gift approach if Brand Christmas has caused the norm to get out of hand.

If you're interested, you can buy single editions of the magazine here.

Happy birthday to our five year old!

Elsie had her fifth birthday yesterday. I'm aware that birthdays so close to Christmas can be tricky and after canning the idea of the June half-birthday, I'm determined to work hard to make her real birthday special each year. This year we had friends over in the morning (two special friends of hers, plus their families, whose children all roughly correspond to our others, made it quite the party - excellent!). When asked what type of cake she'd like, she suggested something 'strawberryish', so I did a google search and came up with a double decker strawberry-shortcake-type cake which didn't turn out the way it did in the picture and caused me a bit of distress as I watched the marscapone insides of the cake explode everywhere when I put it together, but still tasted pretty good. 

cake number 1 

We also celebrated with both sides of the family with a BBQ (and a visit to a local nursery to choose part of her present) last night and a picnic today.

cake number 2 ...

and 3.

I have decided that while there are negatives to a the close-to-Christmas-birthday, there are some definite pluses.  For one thing, lots of family members and friends who are on holidays (some who live out of town and are visiting Sydney) are relaxed and happy and have time to spend with the birthday girl to celebrate.  For me, Elsie's birth is inextricably tied with Christmas anyway - I'll never forget the long wait through the Christmas festivities 5 years ago (she ended up being 11 days late!). We even called her Elisabeth Mary because of her Christmas connection. 

We're so grateful that God blessed us with her five years ago. 

The Christmas spirit

I came across this quote again as I read Come thou Long Expected Jesus.  Still convicting:

For the Son of God to empty himself and become poor meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony - spiritual, even more than physical - that is his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely men, who "through his poverty, might become rich." This Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity - hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory - because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians - I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians - go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that the Lord might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians - alas, they are many - whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice-middle class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christian spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor - spending and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others - and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need...."You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).'

J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pps 70-71

Links - Christmas edition

When Joy to the World isn't our world - "You don’t have to live many Christmases before you realize that the emotions of Christmas are not all joy. In fact, some years we may wonder if joy will ever come again." -from Noel Piper

On Lonely Christmases - another post on sadness at Christmas, this time from Wendy Alsup:

"The holiday season makes it very clear exactly what we are longing for and exactly what we are mourning. It is especially hard to distract ourselves from our losses during this season. If you find yourself in this place, with the spotlight shining on your losses so that you can not escape the pain whether sitting under the tree, singing a carol, buying a gift, or opening a present, here are some thoughts from someone who has been there before."

Sent into the World: Jesus' Mission and Ours - a helpful blog post on how Jesus' mission is his mission, not ours - "the most important part of the Christian mission isn’t the Christian, but the Christ."

Wasting Good Intentions - from Phillip Jensen:

"Each year we hear again the great news of Jesus’ birth for our salvation and enjoy singing his praise, being with his people, hearing his message and laying our burdens before him in prayer – and then the summer holidays hit. And with the summer holidays comes a disturbance in routine and a forgetfulness of all our resolutions."

Christmas questions for Christian parents - an interview with Steve and Penny Morrison about how to approach Christmas with their kids.  We haven't reached all the same conclusions, but it is helpful to read how other parents come to their positions and to see people thinking deliberately about how to teach their children about Christmas.

What it meant for him

What Christmas is really about:



HT: Desiring God

Building more than we can see

I found this quote from a Christmas sermon from John Piper not only very relevant to me at the moment but also very encouraging:

There is a principle here that applies to you and me: God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory. O, how we should take courage in our little spheres of influence! And is this not the message of Advent and Christmas? What more appropriate word could God have said to Mary as Jesus was growing up: Take courage, young mother, you build more than you see. And so it is with every one of us. Nothing you do is a trifle if you do it in the name of God. He will shake heaven and earth to fill your labor with splendor. Take courage, you build more than you see.

Nativity Scene

Cathy is doing her annual nativity scene challenge, which we had a lot of fun doing with lego last year. This year you can use any material to make the scene and  I had hoped to enter with a nativity scene kit I bought for the kids to sew. When I opened the kit, however, I discovered that it wasn't a felt kit, as I had thought but a cardboard one that you had to slot together. The kids did put it together, but since it only took 5 minutes, I'm not sure if that counts!!

We did have the opportunity to be part of a real nativity scene the other day, though, which also may not strictly fit the requirements, but was a lot of fun! My friend Sarah had a first birthday/Christmas party for her little boy and decided to get the kids to act out the Christmas story. It was a wonderful idea, and relatively simple. She asked the mums in advance to bring a few things that might be suitable from our dress up boxes, and on the day we allocated parts and while one of the kids read the story from a kids Bible, the other kids acted it out. You can read more and see some lovely photos at Sarah's blog. See if you can spot all 4 of my kids!

The local carols

We had a great time at the Carols by Candlelight in our local park again this year (I wrote a post about it last year, saying why I think it works so well.) We've been attending every year for the past 5 years now. I love that every year there are more familiar faces in the crowd as we make more connections in the neighbourhood. It is a wonderful community event which is genuinely local, and Jesus is proclaimed. 

Lydia Grace at 6 months

Our Lydia Grace had her half birthday on the weekend. I can't believe that she is already six months old. She's not crawling but she's very mobile, which is keeping me busy.

She continues to bring us lots of laughs and joy!

We're so thankful to God for her.

Colin Buchanan's Compassion trip...

Compassion Christmas with Colin Buchanan from Compassion Australia on Vimeo.

Some links - 19/12/12

Here are some links to posts from other blogs:

The Driscolls and Real Marriage: Tim Challies has shared some wise thoughts about the soon-to-be-released book on marriage and sex by Mark and Grace Driscoll. Among other things, he points out the inadequacy of an ethic that works from the assumption that whatever is not expressly forbidden in Scripture is 'lawful', and fails to provide any coherent theological guidance for how we might answer the question about what is 'helpful' (to use the language of 1 Cor. 6:12) and what glorifies God.  You can read Challies' first post here, and his second, here.

What are you doing after high school? - school leaver Lydia Sorkness writes about a gap year with a difference.

Christmas Carol Grammar - I enjoyed this post on some of the grammatical questions which might arise in relation to the Christmas carol “What Child Is This?”.

Caring for the kids of a loved one with cancer - some helpful suggestions how to love and practially help the kids of someone with cancer.

Reading through the Bible in a year or two - Jean writes about the benefits of reading through the whole Bible in a year and shares some helpful resources to help us make that happen. A good time of the year to plan to do things like this!

Constantine Defended - Michael Jensen writes about a new perspective on Constantine in Peter Leithart's book, Defending Constantine – The Twilight of Empire and the Dawn of Christendom: "Leithart seeks to defend Constantine as a historical figure from the charges of using Christianity out of manipulative cynicism; and also to defend him as a model of Christian politics." Dave bought me this book last Christmas, and while I haven't finished reading it I've been loving it so far.

Window on the World at breakfast...

We usually read the Bible as a family at breakfast.* This month since we are doing Advent Bible readings together after dinner, we thought we'd take a break from that and try something different. We're reading and praying through Window on the World, which works its way alphabetically through various nations around the world and gives a bit of information and some prayer points about each country and the progress of the gospel among the people who live there.

I have been encouraged by how much the kids have enjoyed it, and have listened and learned so well from it.  I have learned an awful lot as well - it's highlighted how little I know about God's mission in the rest of the world. I've especially enjoyed the chance to pray specifically about a different country each day with the kids - that's been pretty special.  

Although our reasons for doing this in December didn't really relate directly to Christmas, we've found it to be very appropriate to do at this time of year. It's given us a bit of perspective on the lives of the majority of people in the rest of the world which has helped us see the madness of the consumerism of Christmas a little more clearly. And it's made us even more grateful for the gift of the Lord Jesus this Christmas, and more eager to see his name made great everywhere.

* We mostly use Table Talk for our material, and we still love it.

Reinventing the routine

Something that the arrival of Lydia has reminded me of is how much the birth of a baby can disrupt my patterns of Bible reading and prayer. It's not so much the new baby per se (though being sleep-deprived will make prayer and reading difficult!) but also the complete change in routine that always throws me. I loved this recent post by Jean  (including some helpful ideas from her own life) about needing to constantly reinvent the routine to make it happen:

There are two things you can be sure of with motherhood (or life, really). The first is that God won't change. The second is that everything else will. Just when you think you've found the one, true solution - the cure for sleepless nights, or disorganization, or prayerlessness - circumstances shift sideways.

What works for me won't work for you. What works for me won't work for me. Babies wake all night, then sleep through, then - surprise! - start waking again. The morning routine runs smoothly, then falls apart. One child loves "alone time"; another craves constant attention. Sometimes there are no quiet moments. Sometimes you have to create them out of nothing.

We've just recently got back into our old method of taking it in turns when we can in the mornings, but there was an extended period of post-Lydia turbulence. How about you?  What things have you done to make sure you get the time in the day to read your Bible and pray?

Some links 11/12/11

I have my computer back and I'm slowly working my way through the blog posts I've missed over the past couple of weeks.  Here are a few that I'd like to share with you:

Presents don't make my kids happy - Cathy on how to help your kids be truly happy this Christmas.

Is Handel’s Messiah under-utilized by Christians? - A friend of ours who is a very talented musician argues that Handel's Messiah is under-utilized as a  resource by Christians at Christmas.  

Choosing great toys for kids - some good suggestions from my dad which may be helpful at this time of year!

Myths about introverts - As an introvert, I found myself agreeing with a lot of this post.  Recommended reading for all extroverts.

Loving people at our school - Jean writes about getting to know and learning to love the other people from your children's school.  She has some wonderful ideas of how to approach what can be quite a daunting task.

More links to come soon...

Stay at home mums and nursing homes

I recently came across this post suggesting that pastors should encourage stay at home mums to visit elderly widows in their congregation. I found it encouraging. Over the last five years (since we moved to this part of Sydney) I have had the chance to visit Dave's elderly great-aunt, who is a widow and lives locally. There are times when my visits have become quite sporadic and I've felt tempted to stop altogether and tell myself that 'someone else can do it'. However, time and time again, I've been convicted that this is something that is very, very compatible with the stage of life I'm in at the moment. So I found myself agreeing with him.

 

His reasons why stay at home mums are (generally speaking) in such a good position to visit widows include: 

•  availability - being at home during the day, when it works best to visit the elderly;
• the fact that kids bless older people - I'm always quite moved by the way the nursing home residents react to my children when I visit Dave's aunt;
• it can be an opportunity for a younger woman to care for an older woman;
• it can be an opportunity for an older woman to instruct and encourage a younger one. (I think the way this happens will depend on the elderly woman - who she is, what her health is like, etc... - but I have found this to be true).

I would also add that I think going into an environment (particularly a nursing home) where there are elderly people is sobering and is good for learning wisdom. It makes the possibility of death feel more real. I also think that the kids have a lot to learn from visiting an older person. They can learn about the past (Dave's aunt was in China as a missionary at the time of the Communist revolution, and in her more cogent days, she shared some amazing stories with them!); they can learn about their family; they can learn how to be polite and respectful to a person who has lived a lot longer than them.

I'd really like to think of a way of doing this more, and visiting more people, and even trying to do it in a more systematic way. I heard of a mothers' group visiting a local nursing home with their young babies a few years ago which I thought was a great idea at the time. Does anyone have any other ideas for ways young mums can encourage each other to care for the widows in our community? 

Advent fatigue

I usually get pretty excited about Christmas time. Not so much the version you get at the local shopping centre, but the bits and pieces of family tradition that we inherited from our parents or established in the early years of marriage and when we first had kids.

For the last seven years, one of those traditions has been our advent calendar. It started simply and has grown over the years to include some other activities as well, many which have been borrowed from contributors to this blog.

But this November, I have to confess, was a bit different. I've been tired, we've had a few viruses through the family this term, and we have a new baby who's been rolling around the floor and generally making her presence felt. Then my grandfather died, which has brought all sorts of grief and stress. Suddenly, the whole idea of pulling out the old calico advent calendar and cranking it up for another year felt more like a chore than a joy.

In the end, it was just tradition, stubbornness and my children's sense of expectation that motivated me to do it again this year. So, last week (on the very last day of November!) Elsie and I stuck some numbers on 25 paper bags and threw some goodies into a few of them, and I sat down and read Luke 1 and 2 and tried to remember some of the activities that worked last year.

I'm glad I forced myself to do it! As I read those first two chapters of Luke I remembered why I started the tradition in the first place. I was particularly struck, all over again, by these words from Zechariah's prophecy:

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

(Luke 1:76-79 ESV)

Advent is not just a season for shiny, happy, crafty people with model families gathered around beautiful handmade nativity scenes in gorgeous, glowing, tidy living rooms. It's also - in fact it's mainly - for 'those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death'. And it's to them that the light is promised. 

That's a promise I need to keep remembering.