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The Radically Normal Christian:
Part XII: A Radically Normal Christmas
December 11, 2011
Scripture reading: Luke 2:1-20 (Sarah)
Prayer
Christmas memories
Q What was your favorite Christmas?
I think one of my favorites has to be when I was 10 and my family went to Victoria.
That is a beautiful city during Christmas; it looks so European, like something out of a book.
Because we spent our money on the trip, we didn’t get very many gifts, but I still remember the tin filled with gummy candies.
I remember walking the streets, seeing the miniature shop, the horse drawn carriage, the museum, having Turkish delight.
~* Since we didn’t have a lot of toys, we spent the morning reading the Christmas story and playing games together.
One unexpected gift was Christmas morning, going to the hotel’s restaurant and being told how much we could spend, only to be told by the waitress that a friend from home had paid our bill, and to get whatever we want.
~* Looking back, it wasn’t gifts, it simply the memories that made it the best.
Tying is all together
This is the final part of our series on being Radically Normal and it is also my Christmas sermon, which is wonderful timing.
~* Christmas is where we are the most torn between being radical and being normal.
But first, we need to briefly review what we have talked about.
Radically Normal is based around five principles that are at the core of everything I have said:
1. God wants us to be mostly normal – the Bible deeply values living our everyday life to God’s glory and our joy.
This make our faith attractive to outsiders (Tit.
2:10).
2. The OT tends to emphasize earthly things and the NT spiritual things, both of which God deeply values.
If we only study the NT we will have a hyper-spiritual faith.
3. God’s preference is for us to enjoy this life as much as possible without being distracted from him; yet long-term and eternal happiness is his higher priority.
4. God’s rules are for our joy not misery.
Obedience brings more joy, not less, though it doesn’t bring instant gratification.
5.
This life, these bodies, art, beauty, earthly needs and this planet matter; this is the first chapter of the Great Story, not a rough draft.
These points flow through everything I have to say about having a radically normal Christmas.
Split Christmas-personality
Christmas is America’s biggest annual traditions.
It isn’t just a day, it’s an entire season dedicated to celebration, “the holidays,” beginning with the Thanksgiving grocery shopping and ending with the New Year’s hangover.
It is also the one of the two holiest days in the Christian calendar, celebrating the Incarnation, God becoming flesh.
~* It is no wonder that Christians can be so split-personality about Christmas.
The American part of them wants to go have a great time and buy a ton of presents for the kids.
The Christian part of them keeps wanting to bring it back to Jesus.
~* CS Lewis as an amusing piece on “Xmas” vs. “Christmas.”
(http:~/~/www.khad.com~/post~/196009755~/xmas-and-christmas-a-lost-chapter-from-herodotus)
It is normal for Christmas to be all about celebrating the holidays: Food, drinking, gifts, decorations.
What’s so bad about that?
It is radical for Christmas to be all about Jesus.
Every time I hear “Jesus is the reason for the season” and “Let’s put Christian back in Christmas,” I worry that “they” won’t be happy until Christmas is nothing but Christ.
~* But it is not “this or that” it is “this and that.”
It is radically normal for Christmas to so intertwine celebration and Jesus that we don’t know where one ends and the other begins.
Nor do we care.
~* A radically normal Christmas will be the most joy-filling, meaningful, wonder-driven, and deeply satisfying Christmas.
Have a Merry Christmas!
One of the most important ways to have a Biblical, God-honoring Christmas is to have a lot of fun.
Think about that:
~* When you deeply believe that joy is actually from God, it changes your perspective on everything.
And it is in the OT that we learn that.
Buried in all of the OT laws about what not to eat and how to deal with mildew in your house is great instructions on how to have a party.
ESV Nehemiah 8:9-10 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.”
For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way.
Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord.
And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
This idea is repeated again and again – Festival after festival, holy day after holy day, are filled with celebration.
~* We have 10 legal holiday, plus 4-5 non-legal – they had 28.
Q It makes you wonder, why does God command so many parties?
First, who doesn’t want their kids to have fun?
~* Principle #3: God’s preference is that we enjoy this life.
The best part of parenting is not making them do their chores or disciplining them, it is when those things are done, and we get to play with them, or when they are playing with each other.
~* Because joy comes from God, happiness, in its own right, is God honoring and has the power to draw us to God.
In Screwtape Letters, it is when the backsliding patient simply enjoys a walk and a good book that he is drawn back to God, because he saw the falseness of his tainted fun.
Joyful by association
Second, the festivals were designed to associate joy with God.
As I said, most people think that God is dull and Satan fun.
A good radically normal Christmas will dispel that notion.
This is how I see it: God knows that we cannot fathom the eternal joy of heaven, so he gives us earthly joy not as a substitute, but as sample.
~* It’s like going to Costco and enjoying all the samples.
A good Christmas celebration will be a good sample of joy in God, not a lack thereof.
I know of one woman who was required, every Christmas, to give away her favorite toy, you know to teach generosity and not to overvalue thing of this world.
~* That is a bad way to associate joy with God.
On the other hand, I have watched Christians make it all about the presents for the kids, where the youngest child got so many gifts that her capacity for enjoying them had maxed out.
Q What does your Christmas celebration teach your kids about God and joy?
I think that this is a damnable heresy that removes tangible joy from our faith.
~* In our day and age, Satan has led more people astray with this nonsense than better defended doctrines.
I pray that our children will not be among them.
But if they don’t find it in God and his channels, they will go elsewhere.
~* And Christmas is the best place to teach our kids that God and joy go hand in hand.
Party foulS
It would be silly, and dishonest, of you or me to pretend that every part of our celebration is God honoring.
It is the sin that we add to joy that makes is wrong.
~* Eating to the point of gluttony (and discomfort).
~* Getting plastered.
~* Flirting with the boss’ wife at the company party.
~* The jealousy, bitterness, and otherwise unpleasant interactions with your family.
~* The unrestrained materialism, teaching our kids that stuff = happiness.
The Biblical to restraint, to contentment, to holiness, aren’t meant to decrease joy, but increase it (Principle #4).
Think about the downside to the holidays:
~* Getting the credit card bill.
~* The hangover.
~* The fights with your spouse over your behavior.
~* Children that just want more and more, and are less grateful for what they have.
Learning games
Going back to the biblical festivals: They were more than just fun, they are also teaching opportunities.
The holidays intentionally blended joy and meaning, giving meaning to the joy, and joy to the meaning.
Jewish festivals are filled with symbolism and fun traditions that point back to God:
~* They live in tents and party for seven days to celebrate God’s provision in the desert (this is what is happening in Neh. 8).
~* At harvest time they hold a huge party thanking God for his provision, bring their crops and waving them before God.
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