While shopping at a favorite department store, I found myself humming Christmas songs as I eyed the vast array of decorations, ornaments and holiday-packaged gifts on shelves and in the aisles.

    It was October.

    Seems like Christmas comes earlier each year. Holiday commercials saturate the airwaves, decorations go up in stores and businesses and several TV networks air holiday movies – weeks before Thanksgiving, which, traditionally, has been the “official” start of the holiday season.

    Has Christmas become too commercialized? The question has sparked numerous debates (official and unofficial) and even polls – neither resulting in definitive answers.

    Has the meaning of Christmas changed? Of course not. It is still a celebration of the birth of the Christ child.

    Have we forgotten the true meaning of Christmas? Several local religions leaders were asked to share their thoughts on this subject:

The Rev. Earl Wheatley

NorthPark Church

    Have we lost the true meaning of Christmas? Of course; this has always been the challenge of Christmas!

    We regularly bemoan the commercialization of Christmas. I hate to see the Christmas items out in stores in early October. Our national fascination with “Black Friday,” “Cyber Monday,” “Consumer Confidence” and end-of-the year sales numbers all too easily pull us away from the great truths of Christmas.

    In tinsel and wrapping paper we lose the fact of God’s love shown to us in the foretold birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem. In crowded store aisles we are robbed of the miracle of this child who would become the Savior for all mankind.  As we worry about the perfect holiday menu for our in-laws, “out-laws” and kids we give up the truth that there was no greater event in human history than the arrival of our Messiah in a stable, laid in a manger, in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.

    But this is nothing new.  

    In the middle ages, Martin Luther had to add candles to a fir tree so his family could better understand the meaning of Christmas. In the 1800s Christians developed the Advent Calendar to help make each day of the Christmas season have a spiritual focus. All of this is part of the continuing corrective we must have to keep Christ in Christmas. It is a challenge for us today, just as it was a challenge at the very birth of Christ.

    Commercialization? Bethlehem was packed with people when Jesus was born, so full of people and commerce that “there was no room for them in the Inn.”

    Busyness? Jerusalem with King Herod and all of his court was so busy they did not even know of the birth of the King of Kings until Persian astrologers arrived in his court with the news. Yet, the very same star that brought Wise Men from the East had shone brightly for months and months in their own night sky.

    This is the challenge of every Christmas. Can we see past the distractions in front of us to gain again the eternal truths that shine from far away? In the first Christmas it was those far away – Wise Men from Persia, Shepherds out on a hillside – who caught the great, good news of Christmas and saw the newborn babe. It is exactly the same for us today.

    Have we lost the true meaning of Christmas? No more than many, many others who have gone before us have. The good news this Christmas is that we can find that meaning once again!

    Go to church this Christmas season. Put up an Advent Calendar on your refrigerator. Attend Christmas Evening Communion with us at NorthPark. Read the Christmas story from the Gospels of Matthew or Luke before you open presents. Light an Advent Candle in your home.

    Above all, ask Jesus to live in your heart this Christmastime. You can do it. You can keep Christ – and all of His meaning – in your Christmas this year!

The Rev. Scotty Cole

The Firehouse Church

    As we prepare to celebrate another festive holiday, I can’t help but look at the evolution of this holiday and pray that we maintain our focus as Christians that Jesus is the reason for the season.

    Christmas ( Christ in Mass), is the result of Pope Julius I wanting to Christianize the pagan Scandinavian  mid-winter festival  known as Yule. He decided to celebrate the unknown day of birth of Jesus on the 25th of December. Saint Nicholas, which was a fourth century Turkish bishop, celebrated a feast day on December 6th. St. Nick was known for his good merit and deeds for children. Eventually the two merged into one celebration throughout our history.

    Realistically, I believe people have developed their own ideology of Christmas, and are now trying to once again separate the festival from the celebration of the birth of Jesus. At one time no one had any issues saying, “Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.” Now you hear people, more or less anti Christians saying, “Season Greetings.” During this time you will find that people enjoy the benefit of giving and receiving gifts, but not celebrating the gift of Christ.

    Have we forgotten the meaning of Christmas? It depends on the context of your development.

    Defining Christmas is shaped in the way you are taught by parents and the previous generations. With the widespread of religious freedoms, the Nation under God, has now become the Nation under gods. I have come to a conclusion that what Christmas means to me can differ from my Jehovah Witness constituent, or my Arabian classmate.  

    As Christians, Christmas should mean a time of gratitude for the restoration of God’s interest in restoring man to himself. The initiation of Grace Covenant, The fulfillment of prophesy, the beginning phase to eternal life with God. It’s not because the wise men brought gifts. It’s not a jolly man in a red suit, but it’s a holy man whose red blood covered our black sins and will make us white as snow. Because of our consumer-driven desires, we have turned Christmas into a time of economic stimulation through debt accumulation. You will find it to be both a joyous time for the ones who have and sad time for the ones who have not.

    Jesus came in the world for all of us, and if we maintain our focus on this reason alone, then everyone’s Christmas will be merry. You cannot have Christmas without Christ.     For believers, TRUE Christmas is everyday.  

The Rev. Vicki Gladding

Church Planter/Lead Pastor, St. Peter’s Anglican Mission

and Lead Pastor/President at Emmanuel Connections

    Since early October, our mail box has been inundated with catalogs designed to entice us to buy the perfect gift to celebrate Christmas. Everywhere we turn, we are encouraged to buy this or buy that to make our celebration flawless. Baking the perfect goodies for the office party or the small group get-together is a must. Running from one gathering to another in addition to our already overscheduled routine leaves us on the point of exhaustion, wearied and spiritually dry. Some years, it is all we can do to all we can do collect enough energy to attend the obligatory Christmas service.

    Aren’t we missing something?

    The Christmas HOLYday is designated to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and Prince of Peace! Why do we wear ourselves out in Christmas activates all the while forgetting to honor the Guest of Honor?

    At Christmas, we celebrate the gift that God gave us – Jesus Christ. God sent His only Son into this world so that we, while still sinners, would be able to have a living relationship with God Almighty. WOW! That IS something to celebrate! Without Christ’s birth, death and resurrection, we would never be good enough on our own merits to have such a relationship.

    So at this very special birthday celebration, what gift can we give Jesus? First of all, the best gift we can give Jesus Christ is ourselves. This means having a heart that seeks to know Him better each day. It means that we honor Him throughout our day in all we say and do. We honor Him by loving Him. The second gift flows out of the first. As we focus on Jesus, who loves us, His love will flow through us to those around us. Our love for Him will spur us on to respond to others as Jesus Christ would.

    This year, in the midst of the frenzy of the cultural holiday season, let us not neglect Jesus – the reason for the season. As we go through our daily routines and special gatherings, let’s keep Jesus in the forfront of our heart and mind. And through His love working in us and through us let us seek those who are considered the outcast or outsider. (They are in every place we go – from the office party – in the grocery store – on the street. With a special intention, share what you have with them.

     It will be keeping an eye looking for the outcast, and making a special effort to connect with them.

The Rev. Father Frank Cosgrove

St. Patrick/St. Joseph Catholic churches

    There is a lovely story about a 4-year-old boy who was enjoying the attention at his parent’s Christmas party. He kept making excuses for not going to bed – another drink of water, more food and finally, “I’m afraid of the dark.” Attempting to comfort him, his parents said, “There is no need to be afraid. God will take care of you.” “That’s no good,” the boy said, “I want someone with skin on.”

    We all need God with skin on. Whether we know it or not, we all need a God whom we can touch and see and hear. We need a Savior to reveal the face of our loving God to us. “That is why ‘God so loved the world that He sent His only son’ … not to condemn us but to save us.” (John 3:16)

    St. Paul tells us in Philippians, “Have the same attitude that is also yours in Jesus Christ. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8, New American Bible)

    As we prepare for Christmas, it will be helpful to reflect on the humility of God who lowered Himself to “become like us in everything but sin.” (cf. Hebrews 2:14-18, New American Bible)

    In November 2013, I accompanied 28 pilgrims from Meridian on a trip to the Holy Land. We visited the Church of the Nativity, built on what is believed to be the site of the birth of Christ. We entered the church through the three foot high door called “The Door of Humility.” The paving stones had been worn smooth by the knees of millions of pilgrims. As I entered the building on my knees, I thought not only of how God had lowered Himself to become one of us, but more specifically how Jesus had lowered Himself so much that He freely consented to be crucified.

    Perhaps, Christmas has lost its meaning for some people because we are so conditioned to the story of the birth of Jesus, in humble circumstances, that we forget that this was God’s choice. Jesus could have come as a powerful ruler born into a family of wealth and privilege. He could have saved us by speaking in a disembodied voice from heaven. But God wanted to meet us where we are. He came as one of us.

    God also came to us in the least threatening of human states; a baby. He entered the world screaming and crying and dependent on someone to feed Him, nurse Him and care for His needs. God came helplessly into the world to help us. How can we respond to this humble entrance of God into our lives? By being humble enough to acknowledge our need for a Savior.

    We need a Savior to rescue us from a meaningless life. We all know of children growing up with no values or little guidance. More and more people seem to be floating helplessly in the strong currents of today’s secular culture. We all need a Savior.

    In our country, we have seen the trend that when life goes bad in the city, people move out to the suburbs. When our world went bad, Jesus moved in. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He gives meaning to our lives by being with us in both good times and bad times.

    To admit that we need a Savior, demands humility and constant nourishing of our faith. I suggest one simple way of growing in humility and deepening our appreciation of Christmas: Read Luke, Chapters 1 and 2, “the infancy narrative.

    Christmas this year will have richer meaning for us when we enter it through the “door of humility,” admitting our need for a Savior.

The Rev. Dr. Helen Tester, rector

Episcopal Church of the Mediator

    November 30th at the Church of the Mediator is the beginning of Advent.

    It is the season when we prepare our hearts and minds to receive the gift of the Christ child in the world. We are to expect the unexpected. For the next four weeks, we are reminded that we are to … keep awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”(Mark 13:37).

    Awake or asleep, Joseph listened and responded to God and safely brought Mary to Bethlehem. It was there, in humble surroundings that the child, Jesus, was born. It was there, that a poor family in an occupied country, traveled to pay their taxes. It was there that Mary gave birth in a stable using a manger for her newborn’s bed. Jesus, God Incarnate! Emmanuel, God with us!

    No, the “true” meaning of Christmas is not lost in the community in which I “live and move and have my being.” We have four weeks to prepare for the coming of the Christ child into this world and welcome Him in our hearts. Then throughout the year, we hear of Jesus’ life on this earth and of his death and resurrection. Year after year, we live into our charge to “Go into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark: 16:15)

    Yes, we continue with all the other delightful surprises of Christmas that our culture and traditions offer. We trim our trees, wrap and give our gifts, surprise one another with unexpected treats and enjoy time with our families and friends. This is Christmas as well! But as we come together week after week in worship, we are always reminded of the gift of Christmas…

      “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John, 3:16)

    Merry Christmas!   

    Helen