EVERY DAY IS NOT CHRISTMAS AND CHRISTMAS IS COMING

Some of my fondest memories of my childhood Decembers include Brenda and I designing and making greeting cards and house decorations. Thanks to our parents’ generosity, we would buy cardboard papers in assorted colours, pencils, poster colours, markers, and glue, and we would make the loveliest cards you could ever imagine, pen the most imaginative blessings and greetings, and send them to our loved ones. It didn’t matter whether we used “Season’s Greetings” or “Merry Xmas.” Those types of debates were unthinkable at the time, and those alternate greetings did not in any way minimize our understanding that Christmas was a commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world.

As we grew older, our family transitioned from Western Orthodox congregations to Pentecostal ones, and we started to hear, “Every day is Christmas.” The Pentecostal churches threw the baby out with the bath water (and eventually dirtied their new bath, but that's a topic for another day). December somehow stopped being special. We stopped getting new clothes for Christmas, and I really believed that every day was Christmas.

Every day is not Christmas though. Just like every day is not my birthday, your wedding anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday, or even the Lord’s Day. Yes, every day is not Sunday! And every day is not Christmas. Even though we do not know the date of the first Christmas, the actual date that the Son of Man was born in a manger, sometime in the fourth century Anno Domini, church fathers chose December 25 as the day to commemorate as the birthday of Jesus. (Some other church traditions choose other dates, and there is nothing ungodly or unholy about their choices.)

Photo by 🇻🇪 Jose G. Ortega Castro 🇲🇽 on Unsplash

The Bible says nothing about celebrating Christmas or birthdays, so why do we observe special days? One key reason is that they compel us to pause, remember, and reflect. They force us to remember the things that matter to us amid our busy and often restless lives. They are also an opportunity for us to tell others about these events that are important to us, and why they are important. So, yes, every day is not Christmas. I accept December 25 as Christmas Day. I celebrate Christmas.

Sometime in the same fourth century that gave birth to the tradition of Christmas, Church fathers introduced another tradition – Advent. Advent means “coming.” Advent is the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ. It commemorates the anticipation of that first coming thousands of years ago and reminds us that we are waiting for the Second Coming. For many Christians, Advent is not only about the preparation for the Christmas celebration. It is also a season of prayer, fasting, and repentance because we know that Jesus is coming again and this second coming has implications for how we live our lives.

The Christian faith is centered around promises. It is based on belief, based on God’s promises as recorded in Holy Scriptures. God promised that the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. God promised a Son who would be the Prince of Peace and ruler over Israel. Israel waited many long years for this promise, and finally, Jesus was born. Promise kept. Among other promises about the life and times of Jesus, the ancient prophesies also promised the death of this Son, as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then, there was the promise of the outpouring of God’s Spirit, which Jesus reminded His followers about, and which was fulfilled on the famous Pentecost Day.

One promise remains unfulfilled though. That day, when Jesus was taken up before the very eyes of His disciples, two men dressed in white stood before them and said to them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1 vs 11). Other passages in the Holy Scriptures repeat this promise, that Jesus is coming back again. The Revelation of John paints multiple pictures of this Second Coming. Christians through the centuries have been waiting for this Second Coming, yet no one knows when it will happen. Will it even happen?

Advent starts on the 4^th Sunday before Christmas, in the Western Orthodox Church tradition, and it ends on Christmas Eve. It is interesting to me that the annual calendar of the Western Orthodox Church tradition begins with Advent. The first day of the Christian calendar year is the first Sunday of Advent, not Christmas. We begin with anticipation, and hopefully, all through the year, we remember that God keeps His promises. If He kept the promise about the First Coming that first Christmas and all the other promises, we can trust that He will keep the promise about the Second Coming. Advent also reminds us to wait in hope, faith, joy, peace, and love, for the Second Coming. We should live our lives in anticipation, expecting, watching, and waiting.

Today, a new calendar started. Sunday, November 27, 2022, is the first day of Advent. I have lit up my Christmas tree and started listening to and singing advent and Christmas hymns and songs. I am looking forward to the Carol Services too, and the parties. But there's more to this season. What does this build-up to Christmas mean to you? Whatever your persuasions about Jesus or Christmas are, I hope you know that the reason for Christmas is Jesus. I hope that this season reminds you to live your life in joyful anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus.

I wish you many blessings and good times. Yes, Christmas is coming. Jesus is coming too. Soon. Happy Advent!

PS. What are some of your favourite Advent/Christmas songs? Maybe we can do an Efadel's Musings Advent/Christmas Playlist? If you share your song titles in the comments section, I'll see what I can do about that.