Christmas: Tinsel, Yule or Jesus?

Someone who holds dearly to a different faith to Christianity recently asked an honest question. They asked about the way Christmas is celebrated in the UK, noting (correctly) that a lot of it seems to come from directions like paganism.

I was encouraged at the openness of their question, and the insight they already had - intuitively sensing that much was little to do with the Christian faith and beliefs. To answer the enquirer properly would require an in depth face to face conversation. Churches up and down the country will rehearse the line 'in amongst all the tinsel let us remember the real meaning of Christmas - Jesus is born to us', but it is worth remembering that there is a clear principle to explain.

Jesus came - was physically born and lived. Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom, and taught Kingdom principles that were centred on believing in Himself. But Jesus did not teach a 'Ritual How To ...' guide, with nothing about calendars, festivals and special celebrations. You can argue that this is surprising, given that the Jewish faith he was fulfilling did indeed have such a calendar and prescribed festivals. Instead he left us with a clear call to believe in Himself, and the communion fellowship meal (with its connotations and links back to the Jewish passover) as one clear ritual.

I wonder if the enquirer, coming from their own religious base of prescribed festivals and observances, expect to find the same in the Christian faith? Just as their own faith has things that relate back to the founding figure(s) that became well prescribed as annual faith-rituals in the early days of their own faith tradition, perhaps they assume the same should exist for us Christians?

The possible conversation opportunity here is to explain that Jesus called people to Himself. He was not signposting to an otherwise distant God, but calling people to life in God through Him. That is available to all, and therefore to any and all cultures. In drawing people to Himself Jesus was not hoping to convert people culturally, but to transform each and every culture from within, starting with me and you.

The messiness of this approach is that, with it's lack of fundamental prescription, believers might re-appropriate existing festivals, or mix in their belief in Jesus with them. The real picture that we inherit is even more complicated than that, since the Romans introduced their calendar which combined with the natural European seasons, mid-winter and so on. The result is all of a bit of a tangle - plentiful grounds for confusion for those of other faiths!

But in amongst the crossed wires and maybe even mixed signals is the truth that God reveals and comes to us. In human form He has a name - His name is Jesus, the one who saves!  We can join with God not by observing ritual but by knowing the One who was sent to us. That is worth changing your life for, and was set in motion through the birth of Jesus as a baby - something worth remembering with a special celebration once a year (just as we celebrate one another's birthday)!