How to Hate Christmas Less (and maybe even enjoy it?)
But how to we stop it?
The obvious answer is "Focus more on Jesus" and that's right but also makes me want to strangle the person saying it with the fairy lights I'm still trying to untangle.
How can we focus on Jesus more? Cos if the answer involves doing another thing this Christmas then someone's going to be mistling some toes.
Thankfully, I think the answer is this...
Do Less.
I can hear you laughing but before you come and beat me over the head with a turkey hear me out.
Firstly...
Let's remember what the point is.
Christmas is when we celebrate the long awaited arrival of the Saviour of the world. God's plan for humanity finally beginning it's end game. The call for His children to come home. When we look into the manger there's no home made pavlova or hand crafted gifts. There's hay and animal poo and the Saviour of the world. All wrapped up in a shed and stuck on the outside of a tiny town. The simplicity of the birth of Jesus is one of the most utterly beautiful things in the bible. And as we look at the battered feeding trough that none of us in our right minds would let our own kids sleep in, our minds should be drawn to the fact that He lies there as a baby so He can go and hang on the cross as a man. It's enough to make you cry.
Secondly...
Let's remember what we're doing.
In all of our activities at Christmas, they should all be pointing us back to this beautiful Saviour in the manger. They should be showing us the wonder of God held in human hands. They should be showing us the love that is too magnificent for us to comprehend. They should be making our hearts long for the day when we see Him face to face. When He holds His arms out wide and welcomes us. And so here's possibly the most controversial thing am going to say...
IF IT DOESN'T DO THAT,
THEN DON'T DO IT.
Before you start listing off your Christmas to-do list wait one more second.
Most of the stuff we do at Christmas we don't need to do. And I don't just mean the homemade soaps lovingly wrapped in screen printed paper and tied with ribbon you weaved with your bleeding hands. I mean most of the staples of what we call Christmas - the tree, the dinner, the gifts, the parties, the staff night out, the endless wrapping. You don't need it. So let me challenge you to be brave this Christmas and take up this tactic...
In whatever I do this Christmas I will make sure it pulls me into the stable where I will fully enjoy it or I won't do it.
Enjoy giving gifts or don't give them. Enjoy putting up the tree or leave it in the forest. Enjoy the pigs in blankets or let them sleep in the cold.
You don't need to do any of it. It doesn't matter. It doesn't make you more loved by Jesus cos you got up at 3am to baste a turkey no one wants to eat. He loved you in the manger, He loves you now. Decide to spend Christmas in the stable.
And in the things you absolutely HAVE to do (the school Christmas plays, the 17th mince pie etc) make every effort to fully enjoy them. These are things that we should delight in and that does actually take some effort on our part. If we're doing that Christmas thing, then don't just delight in the fact you can tick it off your massive to do list, but delight in the truth that you are loved enough to die for and that this moment is when you celebrate that.
Make a list of all the things you usually do and then cross of the ones that are pulling you away from Jesus. Don't worry about what other people will think if you don't do them - they already think you should have done it differently anyway, and that's why we're in this mess! Think about the things that you will really be 100% invested in this year and then do those. The other things are just unicorns.
We're supposed to enjoy Jesus, so put the glitter glue down, He doesn't need it and neither do you. Come, sit in the hay. You'll have a much better Christmas.
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