Still time to celebrate Christmas

I grew up in what we in the “church world” call a low-church (or low liturgical) setting. This basically means I experienced a typical evangelical style worship service. This basic worship service placed its emphasis on stripped down simplicity, which included a few worship songs, the Lord’s Supper (we do this each week), offering, and the sermon. Also, there was little-to-no recognition of the church calendar.
I say this as we are about a week removed from Christmas day. Our culture at large has moved on from the hustle and bustle of Christmas and turned its eyes to New Year’s Eve and then 2026. In the same way, I used to easily toss the notion of Christmas from my mind and get on with the new year. My mind was not on the church calendar, where Advent is a protracted church experience over four weeks leading up to Christ’s birth, and then we are given two Sundays—or TWELVE DAYS!—where Jesus Christ coming to live among us is celebrated.
Thankfully, over the last 20 years or so, I, along with many evangelical low-church traditions, have “slowed its roll” so to speak when dwelling on Christmastide. More and more churches and people have realized this time of year requires time, patience, and contemplation. Although we will never be able to fully comprehend its grand significance, God coming to earth in the form of Jesus to live among us requires of us more than a mere day.
Now I do not say all this to harp on my tradition and how it did not have its priorities straight; I simply believe it is important to acknowledge the growth that has taken place in some corners of Christendom. That said, it is also important for those in higher church traditions to be reminded of how easily us human beings can get distracted. Even though these churches dutifully change the colors of the church based on the time of year, the candles are lit in the proper order, and all the readings are geared toward remembering Jesus being “God with us,” we can get complacent and merely go through the motions of worship.
This is all to say we still have time to slow down and remember what this season is all about. We have time to process what it meant for Mary to accept the great responsibility of carrying the Son of God. We have time to imagine what it would be like for Joseph to be told his fiancée is pregnant, but he still should stick with her. We have time to contemplate the nativity scene where royalty was born. And we still have time to be in complete awe that God came down to dwell among us.
During this post-December 25 period may we still sit in wonderment at what has taken place. May we still seek the God who loved us so that He sent His one and only Son so we may truly know what it means to live. May we remember Jesus has come and he will come again!
 
Merry Christmas!