Harmonizing the Dissonance

Christmas decorations are out in many places where you look. For a while now (some places as long as a month or more) fir trees, colorful lights, fragile ornaments and pristine nativity scenes have graced the aisles alongside the red and green wrappers and peppermint flavors that make their annual appearance. In the past, I have been the guy that looked with disdain on such things. Never – ever – would Christmas decorations be seen in my house before Thanksgiving. I always thought it was such an “UnChristmas” thing to do to wash over what, in my mind, was the most precious holiday of the year – Thanksgiving. Not only was it unChristmas to me, it was unChristian. There was in my mind, a severe dissonance between these two holidays that I struggled to harmonize in my home.

We are exhorted over and again in scripture to live thankful lives

Ephesians 5:19-20

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,

Colossians 2:6-7

"6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Colossians 3:15

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Hebrews 12:28

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,"

And there are others. While at its idealistic core, we celebrate Jesus on Christmas, Thanksgiving seems to fall perfectly in line with our attempt to live Christian lives. No gifts. No materialistic thoughts. No lists. Just a spirit of thanksgiving. A focus on other people. An awareness of the many material blessings we take for granted in every other season of life. As a Christian, Thanksgiving is my favorite, yet often most convicting, holiday. I am reminded every year that I need to live a life of thankfulness. I am reminded that every day should begin, end, and be filled throughout the middle with an attitude of thanksgiving. I am reminded that I live life completely unaware of what I have because I am continually focused on what I lack.

I do enjoy Christmas, too. It makes my heart glad to hear songs about Mary and the Christ-child. I enjoy seeing the nativity scenes and hearing people talking about Jesus. This year I am one of those guys. I was reminded by a Compadre of mine that Christmas and Thanksgiving should go hand in hand. What greater gift do we have to be thankful for other than the gift of a Savior, of a Redeemer, of the Son of God who would come into this world and give his life that I might live?

So Christmas is in full swing at our house. The trees are up, the lights are on, the wreaths are changed, and the music is blaring; Not because we are skipping Thanksgiving, but because we are thankful for the Messiah above all things. We are thankful that our God created a plan of salvation for his people so that we could live in this life with the hope of a reunion with Him in the next. We eagerly await the coming of the Messiah to take us home to be with the Father in glory. In this season, while we await his second coming, we will celebrate his first, and we will live differently in the span between them.

May the grace and peace of our God and Savior be with you in all seasons.