Receiving Christmas
Ahh…the Christmas season is in full bloom! As the old song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
Are you looking for a great Christmas show to watch this year? You might want to have a look at Rick Steves European Vacation (click HERE to see it on YouTube). It’s a wonderful and warm-hearted tour throughout the storied history of varied European countries featuring traditions and scenery during this special time of year. (Gotta say…I thought I’d seen all the Christmas shows over the years and this one warms me from head to toe! I do hope you enjoy what this Seattle travel guy & filmmaker put together)
Ever wonder how it was decided to pack in the three biggies of the year, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, so tightly together on the calendar? Or who had the authority to do something like that?
Thanksgiving is easy to source-trace, since it’s a uniquely American holiday. Pull a quarter and a penny out of your pocket (those who still use cash these days) and you have your clues; Old George and Honest Abe. Washington’s proclamation stated why our nation would honor the day and when we’d do it (Nov 26th each year – read it here). Lincoln later reinforced why but edited the date to be the 4th Thursday of Nov. (Lincoln’s can be read here). *Thanks for the 4-day weekend, Abe!
Christmas on 12/25 each year? – that’ll take you researching back a bit further than George Washington. You’re going back deep into Rome’s history in the 300’s and 400’s, looking at big realities of their history, realities that continue to shape the world as we know it today; things like the Julian and Gregorian calendars, how we understand summer and winter solstices and new moons and such, the dynamic influence of Christianity in and on the Roman empire. It truly is a profound thing to look back on and then realize: Oh – so that’s how we came to celebrate Christmas on 12/25!
While it’s a little fuzzy as to which day is actually Jesus’ birthday, what truly marked the season back then is that the reality of the birth of Jesus, the life he would live, the people he would touch and teach, the impact he had and the culture-bending movement he began. His life had been so dynamic that the calendar itself changed. Jan 1 became the start of the new year worldwide (before it was typically Sept 1) and the calendar was recalibrated! The New Year would be tied to the reality of the celebration of the original Christmas story.
So there you have a simple tour down history’s lanes. Rome, at her height of power and America, from the pen and heart of her most famous leadership.
So why bring up holiday trivia in this note, save for the fact that we are in the middle of the holiday season? Pretty simple, really…I propose that the original focal point of these holidays, the ones that have been a part of each of our lives for as long as we’ve been alive, is worth refocusing on and holds clues and keys for us today as we focus ahead on where we are going, and why it matters to us.
Talking about Jesus is a turn off/on topic, I get that. Some folks adore him, some find him irrelevant…yet we all celebrate these three big holidays that each have their origin center point on the reality of his life. My point in focusing in on him, and what might seem like an esoteric spiritual thought to some of my dear friends who don’t fancy themselves “into Jesusy convo”, is a practical one indeed. To that end I find myself simply wanting to focus on an aspect of who Jesus is and make an application to how life, business, relationships, etc. improve as we take a look at the One who’s life was so impactful that (A) America’s two most famous presidents made a national proclamation and holiday famous (Thanksgiving) to ensure that our country would reorient her attention on our Creator, (B) learn a thing or two or three from the storied life of Jesus who so impacted the world that history now marks all of time by the central understanding of His coming on that first Christmas morn, and (C) understand a bit deeper how the message and impact of His life still invites us into the life we were destined to live today.
Immanuel - God with us. That is the focal point I’m looking at – His name – what He was called. History anticipated his coming and he was referred to in the naming title Immanuel. Perhaps you know your way around the bible, or you remember watching Peanuts Christmas with Linus sharing the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie Brown, or you’ve been mesmerized by Handel’s Messiah:
For unto us a child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulders. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This famous phrase, from the storied prophet Isaiah, speaks plainly about Immanuel, the one who was foretold and who came as He did – to be with us. Earlier in Isaiah’s interaction with the Hebrew nation, speaking directly with the highest audience in the land – King Ahaz was given this reply from God, by the prophet:
Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm, do not be afraid…Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’
That’s a BIG clue for me this year, as I ponder how to have the life I desire, the impact I feel called to, the business impact and result I envision. Simply put – Go Be With People. Take a lesson from the most famous leader in history and do that. Go be with people who need who you are, who need help, who need some encouragement, who might even need healing.
I’ve been in sales and business a long time. Heck, I’ve been alive for a long time now. I observe that we go see people a lot but, often, for the wrong reason (like needing a sale, in my business case…). Seeing folks because we need the sale or seeing family/friends because it’s been a long time and we feel bad about that – those are human realities. We can be intentional and up-shelf our motivation, if we choose to aim our intent with a most inspired heart and mindset! We can choose to go see others to be a blessing.
And that’s the encouragement today: The lesson from the life of Jesus – the Christmas message - Go see people to bless them, help them, build them up, heal their hurts – you’ll succeed beyond what you ever imagined AND you’ll live (and die, someday) with a whole lot of friends. Blessing others IN PERSON – that is the highest form of living. Anything less is missing out on the highest life possible. Salesy, statusy or pushy folks get a reputation for being salesy, status-seeking or pushy. If that’s what you want to be, you can be that. I’m sorry but that’s just a wasted life. NOTHING wrong with being great at sales – be great at being an in-person blessing to others is the point.
Be good. Be a blessing. Be helpful. Be a healing person. Go be with people and do that. In person. Incarnate. The real, live, you!
There you go – go be with people for their sakes and you will win. Even if they reject you, like they did Jesus, you will win in the end and be rewarded along the way.
Thanksgiving is a proclamation of thanks to the One who is celebrated at Christmas. New Years is the reminder of the relevance of the life we have been given and by Whom it was given. The world can secularize that if they want – but we who want to succeed at the highest levels are reminded to receive the gift and live fully alive lives from knowing the truths, mysteriously wonderful as they are.
Receive Christmas, my friends, with great joy! May it begin afresh in you today. Resist the cultural norms of simple turkey and gravy, wrapping paper and tinsel, countdowns and champagne toasts and staying up late as being the central themes. Be blessed, encouraged, helped and healed in the receiving the Spirit of the holidays – then go be with people and share the given gift!
Open handed and hearted – receiving the good news of Christmas.
Peace~
Craig
