Is it too early to put up the Christmas decorations? Should we be pulling down the boxes of tinsel from the attic, assembling the tree, putting up the lights? Has anyone else noticed Christmas trees going up in people's homes already?
Now this isn't going to be the annual traditional rant about Christmas beginning too early. I think what we're seeing this year is different from other years. There'll always be a few hardcore Christmas decorators who'll be assembling the tree when the last firework has exploded. But what's going on this year is nearly a movement.
People are calling others to put the decorations up now, don't wait for December. Their reason? It's been a dreary year we need to add sparkle and joy as soon as we can. "With the year we have experienced I’m ready for all the Holiday Cheer".
The hope is our Christmas lights will cut through the darkness that surrounds us. That our baubles, little snowmen and tinsel will dispel the sadness, confusion and drabness of our present world. I really like that notion. It's coming from a good place. A place that recognises that light brightens our dark world. We know that darkness and dreariness brings us down. And it has been so dark. Darker than many of us have ever known. Our winter months seem a more appropriate setting for our present circumstances than the brightness of summer. The cold winter evenings are a better reflection of our world under the curse of a pandemic than balmy summer nights. The external darkness mirrors the darkness we feel inside. We are weary. Weary of restrictions, weary of cleaning, weary of the news. We are fearful. Fearful that we or those we love will get the virus. Fearful that it will come into our home.
Our homes have become our sanctuary. The virus may roam out there but our homes are our place of safety. They have more than ever become our castle. None may enter. They have become our temples. If you are to enter (and only a small select can) you must first be cleansed so that you do not contaminate us.
Into this world we need lights and tinsel and baubles and a big tree. We need lights and sparkle to penetrate the gloom. Christmas lights do lift our spirits. When we see them they have a magical effect upon our hearts. Our eyes can't help but twinkle when we catch a glimpse of a Christmas tree. We connect all things Christmassy with hope and happiness. When we experience sadness at Christmas time, it is more intense. Why? Because we have an inbuilt expectation that Christmas should not be a sad time but a time of joy.
Where does that expectation come from? The cynic would say the retailers work it up to loosen our grip on our money. Or movies create unrealistic expectations, through warm, fuzzy stories. There may be some truth in that but the source of Christmas hope can not be traced back to the High street or Hollywood. It finds it's origin in a promise God gave at the very beginning that a son of Eve would destroy the Serpent.
Isaiah (700 years before Jesus) wrote to a world who had turned it's back on God and knew "...only distress and darkness and fearful gloom...". BUT he spoke of a future time when "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
This is why Christmas lights fill us with hope and joy because there dawned in the world the Great Light that shone into our darkness. If we trace our Christmassy feeling back to it's source we come to a stable in Bethlehem. To a baby who the bible says is the Light of the World. Some may argue that hope can be found elsewhere. Maybe science, or education, or medicine, or family, or... I would ask will the light from these good things burn brightly in the midst of darkness, in the shadow of death or will it be snuffed out? The magic of Christmas fills us with hope because of the miracle of Christmas.
We rob ourselves of so much joy when we limit Christmas to a few short weeks a year. We should suck as much joy and gladness from Christmas as we can. We should lay a Christmas hope deep within us that no darkness or gloom can destroy.
But decorations look tired after a while. What brightens us in November and December can frustrate us if it remains up too long into January. We need a way for the magic of Christmas to continue when the sparkle of lights have grown dim. We need to lay hold on the Light that has dawned as we live in the land of the shadow of death. So get the decoration up and the lights on. And lay hold of Jesus the Great Light that truly cuts through all darkness and gloom.
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