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Christmas came and went with a whirlwind of activity. That seems to be the case every year. We should all be slowing down and enjoying the coming of the Savior’s birth and instead we inevitably run around like our heads are on fire. This year was no different, and just like the flash of a Griswold Christmas tree, the 25th has come and gone.
Hopefully, you weren’t so busy that your favorite Christmas traditions passed you by. I thought a lot about tradition this season. It seems as though everywhere I went, someone was asking, “What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?”
I did take some time and reflect on what my favorites are. When you really do this and don’t just give a stock answer – we all have them – it takes you through the years and dumps you out into right now. Life changes our traditions. My traditions that I love aren’t necessarily the same ones from when I was a kid. They’ve grown and changed as I started a family of my own.
For instance, every year after we go to church for the Christmas Eve service, it’s back to our house for food and fellowship with my wife’s side of the family. That is one of my favorites, and it didn’t exist before Pam and I owned a home. How about my kids sitting on the stairs Christmas morning as their mom films them telling the camera the real reason for the season?
Right now in my mind’s eye, I can see my little ones talking about Jesus. I can also see my grown kids giving their mom trouble and joking around with her, saying things like “to get as much stuff as possible.” Of course they always give her the right answer eventually. This tradition is still going on as Darby and Cam spend the night on Christmas Eve. So for now my 19-year-old son and my 24-year-old daughter and son-in-law are still sitting on the steps to make their mom happy.
There are many more, but it’s pretty easy to see how those traditions grow and change. As I thought about these different activities, one thing kept coming up, and that was music. Music is so important to all of my family, and Christmas songs help make the season the season. It seems that almost everything we do around Christmas that involves a tradition involves music.
The music may just be in the background of a family gathering, or it may lead you to fully worship the King, who was born and placed in a manager, but the point is, music is there. It seems to be the glue that holds the Christmas season together. It’s the ember that lights advent and helps it keep burning brightly. I think this is the way the Lord intended it to be.
My brother is the pastor at a small church in Georgia. He did a series this season on “the original Christmas playlist.” Playlists are a hobby of mine. I have seven different Christmas playlists, and they get added to every year, or maybe a new one is created. So obviously his title pulled me in.
The four messages he brought were on the four songs recorded in Luke’s gospel. Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55, Zechariah’s Song in Luke 1:68-79, the Angel’s Song in Luke 2:10-14, and Simeon’s Song in Luke 2:29-32 make up God’s playlist to announce His Son. Of course we hear about the angels’ glorious song they loudly proclaim to the shepherds every year. The other songs, not so much. But I think the Lord is telling us something about music and song here.
Music is at the core of the Christmas season. It helps us get into an advent time, to understand what God intended, it causes us to fall on our knees, praise the Reason for the Season, and to come together to celebrate the Prince of Peace in a large Christmas Eve service, or in a small family gathering. Music is at the center of it all; song helped create the first Christmas tradition, and it is still paramount to the traditions of today.
Christmas music helps each of us explain why Jesus is the reason our soul can feel its worth. It explains the unbelievable miracle of Mary carrying the Breath of Heaven in her womb and then laying Him in a manger on that silent night in a little town called Bethlehem. It’s music that helps send out the invitation to come and see the glory of Christ — an invitation to the shepherds, wise men, and us still today.
After this year I will look at Christmas music a little differently. I will still love it and enjoy the excitement, joy, and power it brings to each season, but I will also think of how it is at the center of not only my special traditions, but also the ones God set forth. Until next year…
Hello Noah. Thank you for your wonderful Christmas message. This year was the first time our family has celebrated the Advent with an Advent wreath of 4 candles, 3 purple, 1 pink, and the white candle in the middle for Jesus. Since we had not ever celebrated Advent as a family together, I waited until Christmas Day, before we ate our dinner, to explain to our family that we had a new tradition. I mentioned to them, they are usually lit, one each Sunday leading up to Christmas. I told them next year we will do this but as of this Christmas, I wanted to start it with them with all of us together. It was so beautiful, I read each prayer and cryed alot as I read the prayers that followed each candle lighting by Tyler. This Christmas, with reading the Advent prayers each Sunday myself and focusing on the real reason for Christmas each day leading up to Christmas, I have to say, it was the most precious Christmas I have ever celebrated. Even with all the many reasons to get hurried, I slowed down, made handmade blankets for each family, prayed over each one, and received a sense of peace that was something I had not felt ever in all the Christmas’ that I had celebrated. Advent truly changed me and I believe my family as well. They all said it was the best Christmas they had celebrated in our home as well. Thank you Noah for reminding me and my family of the real meaning. I am so thankful for the intimate relationship I have experienced with Jesus this year. He is truly the Light of the World.