The more `Christmas Seasons’ I endure, the less I recognize these seasons as actually having much to do with Christmas – at least in the way I regard Christmas. Each year end, we humans immerse ourselves in a frenzied lifestyle of intense shopping, contrived partying and oversized home decorating -- to combat, it would appear, the reality of a harsh winter, with short days and cold nights, as well as the stinging truth of our own shortcomings in a world gone mad. We insulate ourselves with soothing songs and pleasant dreams. We surround ourselves with idyllic talk of family, friends and togetherness. By the sheer human effort of `acting happy,’ we conspire to pretend that this time of year is, should be or could be the `most wonderful time of the year.’ And all of this in the name of Jesus. Nothing could be more fancifully false. The truth is: We humans use the `Christmas Season,’ in large measure, to deny how regularly hollow our lives actually are. And once again, in a matter of weeks, even days, this `Christmas Season’ will be gone for another year. Can you believe, some are bold enough, or naïve enough, to ask why Christmas can’t last all year.

The more `Christmas Seasons’ I endure, the less I recognize these seasons as actually having much to do with Christmas, since I regard Christmas as having to do with God, Good Friday and Easter. After all, it was those three, fateful days in 33 C. E. that contain the essence of God’s life with humankind and capture our souls and imaginations. It is not so much His birth, rather His Death and Resurrrection, that grant His teachings, healings, miracles and ministry full meaning. And only in His Death and Resurrection does His birth among us realize any value at all. The sustaining force of Christmas meaning, if there is any, derives from Good Friday and Easter. Just so, we `back into’ our celebration of Christmas because of Good Friday and Easter. Hence, I contend that Christmas must begin with our grasp of Good Friday and Easter, if Christmas is to hold any triumphal value. Otherwise, we Christians may as well join the `festive winter frolic’ with the rest of the world and simply regard the religious portion of the pageant as a church-like `baby shower’ for Jesus.

Profoundly, Christians regard Christmas as the inception of God’s great giving of Himself to humankind. While we certainly enjoy participating in many of the fun elements of this wintering wonderland, we maintain a core conviction that Christmas is not ultimately dependent on any of this for its integrity; rather, on God’s initiative of Love. Christmas, for Christ’s people, is the beginning of a lasting truth … a truth about God and a truth about us. And unlike Santa Claus and other seasonal characters, Jesus does not just exclaim niceties to us as he `rides out of sight;’ He doesn’t ride anywhere at all -- He stays with us and grows.

This year, the `Christmas Season’ will undoubtedly be, for most of us, a `mixed’ experience of blessings and woes, of sorrows and joys, then fade away till next year. Soon enough, it will return. In the meantime, hear this: You don’t have to put life’s hopes and dreams away in a closet with the ornaments. There is a bit of Christmas truth that is kindled beyond the cold days of December, well beyond the tinsel of human tinkering. That truthful bit of Christmas is the liveliness of the Christ, who isn’t just `born’ in this season, to remain juvenile forever, but grows and matures and loves beyond measure. To finally say: The more `Christmas Seasons’ I am enduring, the less I am regarding these seasons as actually having much to do with anything worthy of Christmas as I know it, since Christmas as I know it has to do with the destined place we share in the bosom of God! Let us celebrate this divine truth at Christmas Worship!

 Sunday Services:
Members, guests and visitors, all are welcome!

Rev. Rodney S. Kopp, Pastor
Wayne Lutz, Church Administrator
Karl Schneider, Shut-InMinistry
Sheila D. Booker, Director of Music
Rebecca Ehrlich, Parish Associate

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5900 N. 5th St., Philadelphia, PA. 19120
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