According to the church calendar, this Thursday will be the last day that it is liturgically correct to greet each other with the words, “Merry Christmas.” January 6 marks the 12th day of Christmas which is also known as Epiphany, the day that we celebrate when the Wise Men visited the Christ Child and offered him gifts.
For some of us, we might be experiencing some of those post-holiday blues. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is coming to an end.
Well, it depends on who you ask.
Matthew and Luke are the only two gospels that include the Christmas story. They describe the events that surround Jesus’ birth. For example, they tell us about who was the ruler when Jesus was born. They also describe the people who were there at the time of the birth; people like the shepherds, the angels, and of course, Mary and Joseph.
So if we would ask Luke when Christmas is over, he might refer to the day after Jesus’ birth. If we would ask Matthew, he would probably say, not until the Wise Men visited the Christ Child which we observe on January 6th.
Mark doesn’t even include a Christmas story so all we have left is John’s Gospel. When would John say that Christmas is officially over? I think John would say that Christmas is never over. It’s something to be celebrated every single day of the year.
No, it’s not because John is a fan of the Hallmark Channel. It’s because he sees the story of Jesus coming into the world in theological terms. For John, Jesus, who he refers to as “The Word” has been with us since the beginning of creation and will continue to be with us for all time.
Listen again to John’s theological take on the coming of Jesus into the world. “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being.”
Now, I’m sure John had no problem with Matthew and Luke describing the Christmas story the way they did. Perhaps John felt that there was nothing left to add to their telling of how Jesus was born. And so, John does what John does best. He wants us to explore the theological meaning of who Jesus is.
Yes, Jesus was born in a manger during a particular time in history, but Jesus also transcends history in a theological way. John connects Jesus to the creation story from the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Jesus and God are interconnected as the same entity. Jesus is both within our space and time and also beyond our space and time.
So for John, how can we ever confine the celebration of Christmas to just twelve days beginning on December 25? It really should be celebrated year round. Since there is no time in which Christ did not exist, Christmas can be celebrated throughout the year.
In a church I served, we celebrated Christmas in July. We thought of this idea because July 25th fell on a Sunday that year.
Our church even had a float that promoted our Christmas in July event in the city’s annual July 4th parade. Here’s is a picture that we took before the parade.
I felt bad for our Santa Clause because he had to wear his beard and heavy Santa outfit for two hours in 90 degree heat that day. We had to put ice packs his Santa pants to keep him cool.
Radio stations across the country found out about our Christmas in July focus and people were calling our church office asking about it. A former high school classmate who I hadn’t spoken to since High School lives in the state of Washington and he told me that he heard my name mentioned on the radio and wanted to make sure if it was the Robert McDowell he knew in High School.
A family in the church decided to have a family Christmas dinner on July 25thafter church. People in the congregation were sending Christmas cards to each other during the month of July. For our July 25 worship service, we had all of our Christmas decorations up including our Christmas tree in the front of the sanctuary. And during the service, we sang Christmas carols and I preached about the good news of Jesus’ birth.
But really, the best part of having Christmas in July wasn’t the float in the parade or the Christmas carols we sang during worship. The best part was that we used this fun idea to raise money for missions. During that July 25th worship service, Santa made a special appearance during worship. Here’s a picture of him.
During our offering time, he went up to the Christmas tree in the sanctuary, pulled out a large gift wrapped box, opened it, and inside was a check of $10,000 that our congregation had raised for that special missions offering.
By celebrating Christmas in July, not only did we have fun as a congregation, but we were also able to share the good news of Christ’s birth through that special missions offering.
I think that John would be pleased that we celebrated Christmas in July. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
Maybe we should celebrate Christmas year round.
Will Wold, a United Methodist pastor tells the story of Jerry who was a member of one of the churches he served. Jerry was a gentle and loving man and was one of those people who never knew a stranger. Jerry had a heart to get to know people and love them.
During Will’s first Sunday at the church where Jerry was a member which happened to be in the month of September, Jerry greeted him for the first time after the worship service that day. Jerry introduced himself and his wife, and when he left, Jerry said to his new pastor, “Merry Christmas!”
Will thought to himself, “but it’s September, why is Jerry wishing him Merry Christmas?”
The following week, he saw Jerry sitting in the front office volunteering and the first thing out of Jerry’s mouth was, “Merry Christmas, Pastor Will!”
Will was again confused why Jerry greeted a second time by saying, “Merry Christmas” since it was only the month of September. So he asked Jerry why he greets him with “Merry Christmas.”
Jerry than leaned back in his chair and with his hands on the back of his head and looking very relaxed he said, “I had a pastor once who told me that when Christ came to earth it’s too important to celebrate just one time during the year. It should be celebrated every day even in the month of September.”
From that point on, whenever Jerry greeted Will with a “Merry Christmas,” Will returned the favor with the same greeting.
Will goes on to say that four years later, ironically, on Christmas Eve, he got a dreadful phone call that Jerry had died of a heart attack. His heart sank when he received the news and all he could think about in that moment were all the times that Jerry had wished him a Merry Christmas.
During the funeral for Jerry, Will began the service by greeting the congregation with the words, “Merry Christmas!” It was a very fitting funeral service for this church member who was known to celebrate Christmas throughout the year.
Our Christian faith is an everyday journey in which we are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ. You know, come to think of it, Easter is meant to be celebrated year round as well. I love the verse from the Easter hymn, “Easter People Raise Your Voices” which contains the verse, “Every day to us is Easter, with its resurrection song.”
Martin Luther, the great 16th century reformer who ignited the Protestant Reformation once said, “Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow.”
I’m glad that the Wise Men were delayed in arriving to Bethlehem to see the Christ Child. Most bible scholars say that they probably didn’t arrive until months after Jesus’ birth. The Wise Men remind us that it’s never too late to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world.
Whether it’s December 25, January 6, July 25, or some other day, John gives us permission to celebrate the good news of the coming of Christ into the world.
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention another fun thing that happened that year when we celebrated Christmas in July. After the worship service that day, a church member gave me a Christmas gift. When I got home, I unwrapped it. And guess what it was?
Fruitcake!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
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