A No-Faux Christmas

I didn’t grow up in the tradition of the advent wreath, so I still need reminded of the significance of each candle…

First… the prophets’ candle: hope
Second… the Bethlehem candle: peace
Third… the shepherds’ candle: love
Fourth… the angels’ candle: joy
Fifth… the Christ candle

Each candle symbolizes some aspect of the Christmas story. When you think about it, Christmas is loaded with symbols, isn’t it? The star on the Christmas tree (or atop the silo or the town water tower) symbolizes the real thing that preceded the wise men. Christmas pageants and outdoor displays portray the entire nativity scene and story. And the gifts under the tree (usually a symbolic tree!) mimic the gold, frankincense and myrrh given to Jesus by the wise men. They’re our way of showing someone we treasure them. They symbolize love.

Those symbols are good… if we recognize and embrace the meaning behind them. But it’s possible to go through the season entirely on symbols, and miss their significance. It’s possible to give gifts… but not have love. To attend parties and laugh and sing… but not have joy. To hold a flickering candle at a Christmas Eve service… with darkness in the soul.

A faux Christmas. It looks like the real thing, but underneath, it’s a sham. Artificial. Merely show.

How can we make sure this Christmas is a no-faux Christmas? We can take Paul’s admonition seriously: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18 NIV). And I think he would go on, in the case of Christmas, to say, “For what is seen is only a symbol, but what is unseen is real and life-changing and eternal.”

So light a candle this Christmas. Trim a tree. Get together with friends and family and laugh and hug and exchange gifts. Do all the things that come with Christmas… but do them all with an eye for what’s under the surface. What really matters. Who really matters.

A no-faux Christmas just might be a life-changing one.