It's Christmas, and the sights,
sounds, and smells of the season are everywhere. Did you ever wonder where your favorite Christmas traditions came from? If the first Christmas, the birth of the
Christ child, happened over two thousand years ago in the Middle East—how come
so many of our traditions have to do with snow?
In one pivotal movement, when the apostle Paul had decided to take the
gospel eastward, he had a vision in which a man from Macedonia pleaded for him
to bring Christian teaching westward (Acts 16:6-10). From that time on, Christianity became a
predominantly European religion, and its traditions derived largely from Europe
as well. Hence, the cold weather
traditions. The Roman Catholic church
celebrated the Christ Mass as a minor observance, but as the faith reached
deeper into pagan territory, Christianity began to develop holiday traditions that
competed with non-Christian practices.
Lights. The winter solstice, called Yule by many
pagans, marked the shortest day of the year.
This meant it was the last day that the days grew shorter, and the first
day that light would begin to return.
Pagans would light a Yule log to welcome the light. This seemed to correspond to the Jewish
festival of lights called Hanukah.
Likewise, i made sense for Christians to celebrate the increasing light
as the time when Jesus, the Light of the World, was born—even though he was
probably born in springtime. All of our
Christmas holidays involving lights trace back to these roots.
Mistletoe. One website says, “According to Francis X.
Weiser, in his Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: ‘The Mistletoe was a
sacred plant in the pagan religion of the Druids in Britain. It was believed to
have all sorts of miraculous qualities: the power of healing diseases, making
poisons harmless, living fertility to humans and animals, protecting from
witchcraft, banning evil spirits, bringing good luck and great blessings. In fact,
it was considered so sacred that even enemies who happened to meet beneath a
Mistletoe in the forest would lay down their arms, exchange a friendly
greeting, and keep a truce until the following day. From this old custom grew
the practice of suspending Mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of
good will and peace to all comers. [p. 104]’”[i]
Holly. Pagan yuletide
celebrations involved decorating with these holy plants. The Scottish and Irish Society of the Black
Hills reports, “To the Druids, it was holly's evergreen nature that made it
special. They believed that it remained green to help keep the earth beautiful
when the deciduous trees (such as the oak, which they also held sacred) shed
their leaves. It was also their custom to wear it in their hair when they
ventured into the forests to watch the priests collecting mistletoe.”[ii] As Christians adopted these plants for their
own use, they changed the significance of the red berries from representing the
blood of the goddess, to the blood of Christ.
The
Christmas Tree. History.com
tells us, “Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we
now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees
into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with
evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that
Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted
candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a
sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To
recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and
wired its branches with lighted candles.”[iii] What started as the German Tannenbaum became the English Christmas
tree.
Jolly
Old St. Nicholas. The St. Nicholas Center reports: “The true
story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third
century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on
the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a
devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying
Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor,"
Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the
suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra
while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for
his generosity to those in need, his love for children.”[iv] Today, “Santa Claus” gives gifts in honor of
St. Nicholas of Myra’s generosity, and to honor the Christ child who is present
in all children.
We have so many Christmas
traditions that it would be a long article indeed if we were to discuss them
all. What can Christians take away from
a discussion of the history of the holiday?
Some Christians believe it’s wrong to incorporate practices from other
religions in our celebrations, but I have a different opinion.
It’s
good to have traditions.
Just as Christians’ spiritual ancestors, the Jewish people, had
traditions to celebrate culturally and religiously significant events, out
traditions reinforce those things that make our faith so dear.
Traditions
teach our children. In
Deuteronomy 6:4-12, God tells the Hebrew people to impart their heritage to
their children, and to do it using holy narrative, sacred song, and even divine
decorating as tools for teaching. As
Christians, we do the same thing with our Christian traditions.
It’s
okay to borrow.
Psalm 24:1[v]
says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and
everything in it. The world and all its
people belong to him.” Remember,
unless you’re 100% Jewish, it’s not just the Jewish people who are your
spiritual ancestors. You are the
offspring of the world, and it’s important to remember that all cultures have
something to offer. It’s been said that
“whatever is good, belongs to me, as a Christian.” So as Christians it’s okay to borrow, to
adopt, to adapt, and to make something our own.
Ecclesiastes
1:9-10 says, “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. People say, ‘Here is something new!’ But
actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.” When Christians encounter ancient traditions
that come from outside of our own faith and practice, we have three
choices. We can reject them outright, we
can receive them in their totality, or we can redeem them, and make them out
own. This is what we have done with the
world’s winter traditions—we have made them Christian. From donating to charity to decking the halls,
from carols to candles, we love our Christmas traditions. We don’t need to reject them just because we
find out where they came from. All that
is good belongs to us as Christians. If
we have “baptized” those traditions and placed them under the blood of Jesus,
they become Christian practices for us. So I hope, if grinches come around to steal
the joy of your Christmas traditions, you won’t let their humbuggery get you
down. Deck the halls, light the tree,
give your gifts, and do it all to honor Jesus!
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