I don’t know what to think about Christmas 2021, but it’s creeping up. A friend of mine who works as a city employee took a photo of a house, which was already decorated for Christmas on November 1. Santa, a Yoda-elf, lights, the whole thing. We were both kind of stunned. I mean, “yay” for a bit of color and fun, but should Santa come out of the box so early?
Covid, Halloween, Christmas, and Colored Lights
This Halloween was particularly colorful in my small town. In the past 20 years, I have never seen so many Halloween displays, many of them just warm orange lights, which served as much to celebrate the Thanksgiving harvest as to light the paths of trick-or-treaters.
I’ve rarely seen so little controversy among Christians over what to do about October 31 — whether or not to trick-or-treat and carve pumpkins. Whoever was against it saved their vitriol for Covid and masks while the rest threw up their hands and said, “Let’s just have some fun.”
I was dressed up at work as a fully clothed cabaret singer complete with a sequined mask. Inflatable ghosts and Frankenstein’s monsters dotted lawns and filled patios all around my subdivision.
Will Christmas inspire this same frivolity; a similar sort of abandon as far as lights and displays are concerned? I suspect this will be the most sparkly, most frivolous Christmas here and across North America that we have ever seen.
After all, it’s a bit gloomy in the world generally. We have so little control over anything, and I think (personally) that many individuals are really chafing against that reality. Since this is the truth about the big stuff, we’ll do our best to enjoy the little stuff.
Here, the winter weather is cold, wet, and grey unless it snows, in which case the whole world shimmers for a while. So many staff parties are canceled and the number of people who can gather at one time in a living room is limited.
Can parents catch flights to see their kids, or would they even want to? With so much suffering, why not alleviate the drear and depression with a blow-up Rudolph? I’m all for it.
Living in a basement suite, no one would see my lights except me and my guests. I’m still going to put them up, just for myself. Why not? I get depressed like so many people I know. This is the first year I’ll wake up on Christmas morning without both of my kids there.
At least one of them will certainly be with her dad; the other will have to choose, and I don’t want to pressure her. It’s hard on everyone, so if I can liven things up, I will. Several of my girlfriends are facing similar situations — they’ll love the lights too.
But That’s Not Christian
Hold on a second, I hear you say, why can’t you find your joy in Jesus? I can. I do. Does that mean we don’t suffer and grieve? Suffering is a circumstance, it’s real, it’s prevalent and varied.
Joy is a choice to have faith in spite of the suffering. Get real about this for a second — the psalmists loved the Lord and they still cried out to him. They danced and sang before him, but they also said, “Why God, why?”
Our pastor puts it this way: the difference between the faithful and the unfaithful is not the decision to paint on a smile and be happy even when life sucks, or to pretend it doesn’t; it’s the choice to cry out to God or to turn away from him and just mutter fruitlessly about pain. “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6). That’s honesty, and it’s in the Bible for a reason.
It is totally right for a Christian to process pain before a loving and merciful, Sovereign God. For everyone who is separated from their loved ones for any reason at Christmas or grieving a death; for each person who suffers in any way from hardship or a big change, while the world promotes “all joy, all the time” at Christmas, the pressure is particularly heavy.
Right Suffering and Christmas Lights
If we survey the brightly lit commercial chaos and there is still a question in our hearts, perhaps a sin issue has to be addressed. What do we, as Christians, really think about the material displays associated with this holiday?
Should we admire from afar, engage, or just stay fully away from blow-up Santas and hundreds of light bulbs? Are we being judgmental about others or asking tough questions about our own faith walk? And if we wonder about the choices other people make, what is the redemptive purpose in the questions we ask?
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Why do we string the lights and bake the cookies? Why do we buy gifts? Are we asking Jesus what he wants us to do with our time, money, and other resources? Or doing what we want and asking/expecting him to agree?
Some people really do seek to please the Lord by spreading comfort and cheer. They make their homes welcoming in whatever ways they know how, and they touch lives individually, locally, and deeply for Christ. They share the gospel or attract people to the way they live life with Christ at the center. Many people buy gifts for the same reason — to share with others and bring joy.
Lights and Darkness
A number of your neighbors, however, will put on a good show and, by doing so, will evade the sin issues they need to tackle. They will avoid talking to their spouses about addiction issues or emotional abuse.
A number of those around us will use Christmas gifts as a way to buy favor or will unwittingly cause pain by their thoughtlessness. Imagine the surprise on the face of a lactose-intolerant, celiac friend when she opens a giant Kit-Kat she has to give away. Friends, please pay closer attention than that.
And what about those gifts, which put a person further into debt? How do friends feel about receiving those? How about the ones who fret over the next bill payment? Will they appreciate lavish items of clothing and jewelry when they have to carefully tally up the cost of groceries before they make it to the checkout?
Keep in mind that groceries have gone up significantly in price — maybe it would be kinder to give people what they really need, like vouchers for the gas station or the groceries store or the shop that sells eyeglasses.
It’s Not Always Fun
No, it’s not. You’re right. I want to wrap something as much as the next merry Christmas person, but I also want to give people what they need, not what I need, and it’s more than giving five seconds of cheer. Jesus gave a lasting gift and I want to be more like him. People wanted bread, water, fish, miracles.
He gave them more of himself. I can’t wrap up Jesus with a bow and give him to you. None of us can do that. But I can somehow inspire you to consider this: you are seen, heard, known, and loved by the Lord of the Universe. “The Lord is near to all who call on him” (Psalm 145:18).
For further reading:
When Is Christmas? Holiday Dates for 2021
What Is the Meaning of Christmas?
10 Classic Christmas Hymns to Renew Your Holiday Spirit
The 12 Days of Christmas - List of Gifts and Lyrics Meaning
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/eggeeggjiew
