Jess: On Thursday, we went
to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). This is the second time Wes and I
have had the opportunity to do this, and it was just as awesome as the last
time.
Many of you probably know that TSO's fame revolves around its
Christmas music and "winter" (Christmas) tour. You might also know
that I'm pretty bah-humbug about Christmas starting before Thanksgiving.
Despite all of Wes' begging, I don't listen to Christmas music, put up
decorations, or prepare for Christmas in any way until the weekend after
Thanksgiving. Most of the time, that means the day or two before Advent begins,
which is still a little early for me.
But at the TSO concert, I had a Christmas epiphany. Suddenly I
realized why people, despite complaints, want to put up their decorations, have
a little snow, talk about presents, and plan gatherings earlier and earlier. We
need Christmas spirit. We live in a pretty
scary, messed up world. People are rude, mean, and downright cruel to each
other. But something changes at Christmas. Now I'm not saying that everything
magically gets better, but there is a magical quality of the Christmas season.
People are different, and they stay that way until New Year's Day. We need
Christmas.
The problem is that the feelings, the happiness, the joy that we
have at Christmas because of parties, food, and presents is artificial. It
doesn't last. It can't last. And every year, it seems to wear off a little
earlier. And every year, we want to get started on it earlier so that maybe everything
will be alright in October and November as well as December. But singing
"Frosty the Snowman" and "Baby it's Cold Outside" can only
get us so far.
That spark of Christmas spirit is great, but it's the message of
Christmas, the story of Christ's incarnation that we really need. We need to
know that God stepped into this world for us, and that God cares for us. We need to share this message with the world. Because the true
joy of Christmas isn't (as the Grinch would say) isn't about ribbons or tags, packages
boxes or bags! The joy of Christmas is that God birthed something new in the
world--something that would save us from ourselves and bring us into right
relationship with the Creator of all things. And THAT is a Spirit that sticks
around!
Wes: Jess wrote her part
of this blog about three weeks ago, and I’m just now getting around to writing
mine. Usually, this leads to what Jess wrote needing to be tweaked just a
little bit, because my laziness has meant that her post isn’t as relevant as it could be.
This time, though, I think the opposite it true.
This time, I think her words might be even more important, for
very different reasons. You see, last night, a grand jury in Missouri decided
not to indict a police officer on charges for the murder of a young man.
You know the story. It’s just about everywhere on the news right
now.
And my Facebook home page seems to be split into three groups:
those who don’t care at all about what happened, those who want to make sure
that everyone knows why what happened was the absolute correct thing to have
happened, and those who want to make sure that everyone knows just unjust a
thing happened.
Wow, do we need Jesus.
We are living in an Advent world right now, one that is full of
apathy, extremes, and brokenness. One that is unjust, painful, and desperately
seeking salvation. One that needs Emmanuel.
And this is where the church must step in and be the Christmas spirit. Not the
Walmart-branded, holly-jolly-sing-a-long spirit, but the spirit of joy that comes
to a world in great need of it. In the midst of death, we need to hear again
that unto us a child is born. In the midst of injustice, we need to be reminded
that unto us a son is given.
We need more than Buzzfeed articles about the “12 Best Holiday
Bacon Recipes”. We need more than heavily subjective editorials toting one
side’s ideals over another’s. We need more than a social media. We need Jesus.
This is why I love Christmas, and I love Christmas music. I
crave so badly the manger scene, the star in the sky, and the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes because I know how badly this world is craving it.
We crave it in places like Ferguson, MO.
And we as Christians have been called to prepare the way for
Christmas. To make straight in the wildernesses of the world the paths of our
Lord. In this Advent world, I pray we will engage in this task with love.
Because we need Jesus. We need Christmas.
O come, O come, Emmanuel.
