Dear Fellow Children of God,
So, traditional western Christmas Day is past. The candlelight services are completed. The presents are opened. Most family meals and celebrations are eaten,
and we know we ate a little (or a lot) too much. What happens now?
When do you take down the Christmas tree? When do you take down the manger scenes? When do the decorations get put back in the
boxes and stored in the crawl space or the attic? In some ways it is almost like there is peace
and joy while the holiday is here, but then it vanishes until December 25 rolls
around next year.
Let me share with you a number of ways that God’s people
have continued to celebrate His Christmas love throughout the years, even after
the dates of celebration have passed.
Because, you see, God’s love and
blessings are forever!
Do you know about the Jewish festival called,
“Purim?” This celebrates the deliverance
of the Jewish people living in the Persian kingdom during the Babylonian
exile. The evil ruler Haman was going to
have all the Jews killed, because Haman hated Mordecai. But, by the grace of God, with the help of
Mordecai’s niece, Queen Esther, Haman was foiled and the Jews were saved and
blessed. This was such a significant
event that in Esther 9 the Jews were given the following instructions
concerning the celebration of this deliverance by God.
“21 . . . have them celebrate annually the
fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of
Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got
relief from their enemies, and as the month
when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the
days as days of feasting and joy and giving
presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.”
It has always struck me that this Old Testament
celebration in many ways sounds like our present day Christmas. Purim included feasting and joy and presents
of food, and gifts to the poor. And,
notice this was an annual
celebration. The annual celebration
reminded the Jews, and God’s people today, that even when the days of feasting
ended, the love and blessings of God continue.
(By the way, in 2016 the Jewish celebration of Purim begins on March
22.)
Or, maybe you have heard the song called, “The Twelve
Days of Christmas.” Actually, this is a
song that was written by Christians to celebrate Christmas when there was
persecution in England centuries ago.
But, why twelve days? Christians have always included the
account of the Magi as part of the Christmas story, even though we are told
Jesus and his parents were no longer at the manger, but now living in a house
at this time. (Matthew 2:11) The traditional day for celebrating the
arrival of the Magi is January 6. If you
count from Christmas Day through January 6 you’ll find there are 12 days. In other words, the blessings of Christmas
are not just given to us by God on just one day. In fact, the good news of Christmas, that God
is with us and forgives us and saves us in His Son, are eternal blessings worth
celebrating throughout our lives.
In Hebrews 2 we have a different kind of sharing of the
blessings of Christmas. “14 Since
the children have flesh and blood, he too
shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who
holds the power of death-- that is, the devil-- 15 and free those who all their
lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15) All our lives we struggle against
the temptation and power of the devil. How
appropriate that we continue to celebrate that Jesus destroyed the power of
our enemy when he shared in our
humanity.
So, the candlelight services are completed. The presents are opened. Most family meals and celebrations are
eaten. BUT, the Christmas blessings of
God continue. God IS with us in and
through Jesus! May you continue to live
in the peace and joy and eternal life God gave that first Christmas, and
continues to give to us throughout eternity!
A Child of God, Thankful for the on-going blessings of
the Christ-child!
Pastor Jonathan
****
P.S. Here is a
picture from an ice fishing ADVENTURE! The
lens was foggy, but he smiles are real. A
story will follow later! https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/IceFishingWinter20152016#6231208772976097074
****
ABOUT
‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages,
hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I
have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case
you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you
don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave
your name off my list for this message.
****
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