“Keeping Christmas In Our Hearts” 

     When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”  So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.    (Luke 2:15-20)

There’s something about these after-Christmas days that can be more satisfying and meaningful than many of the pre-Christmas days.  Advent is, of course, an opportunity to do some spiritual preparation and be mindful of the significance of God’s gift to us of his beloved son.  But the everyday world crowds in on us, “celebrating” Christmas earlier all the time.  So perhaps the fact that our church calendar builds in some time after Christmas and before Epiphany, when we learn of the arrival of the wise men, is both helpful and healthy.

It seems that every year, a day or two after Christmas, I drive down the street, and there will be Christmas trees already at the curb, waiting for the recycling truck.  They seem so tired and a little shabby, and I’m thinking, “What!  Christmas isn’t over!  How can they take down the tree already?”  Well, everyone does things their own way, and usually for their own good reasons.  But I’ve never been able to do that, and take great pleasure in having our homey little decorations up for another week or so.

I encourage you to take advantage of our Lutheran Christian tradition in the coming week and enrich your Christmas experience by reading the beginning verses of each of the four Gospels.  Each is a little different, with each contributing a unique perspective and understanding for us.

For instance, the Gospel of Matthew meticulously sets forth the genealogy of Jesus as directly descended from David, and then tells of Jesus’ birth as seen through the perspective of King Herod and the wise men from the East.  The Gospel of Mark doesn’t include a nativity story, but opens with John the Baptist proclaiming the coming of the Christ.  Luke provides a detailed, chronological account, in order to educate the readers.  The poetic opening of John focuses on the creative power of God’s Word, describing Christ as the Word in human form.

The young girl who became the mother of our Lord is a model for true spiritual maturity, as she treasured and pondered all that the shepherds had told them.  We would do well to take a little time during this season of Christmas to do the same.

 

Keeping Christmas a little longer,

Your friend in Christ,

Mary Rogers