The Reason for the Season

I wrote this for our church newsletter that went out last week.


I’m sure we’ve probably all heard the saying that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” It’s a nice sentiment I guess, but sometimes I wonder what’s behind it. Lately I think some Christians have been getting a little defensive over what has been happening to “our” holiday.

I don’t see it a lot anymore but I remember when I was younger people got upset over the use of Xmas and the popular saying was “Put Christ back in Christmas.” (Actually X is the first letter of Christ in Greek but the people using Xmas probably didn’t know that.) More recently there has been a backlash over what people call “political correctness” and Christian people get upset over the use of “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings” in place of “Merry Christmas.”

I certainly wish people a Merry Christmas at this time of year but I don’t get upset if someone wishes me Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings. And there are some people, perhaps relatively few but some, who celebrate other holidays during this season or who might have no celebrations at all.

I don’t feel threatened. So far there’s no law that says I can’t put up a Christmas tree in my home and call it a Christmas tree. Nothing says I can’t come to church on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Christ, my Saviour and Lord. If the schools shy away from an overt observance of Christ’s birth there’s nothing stopping me from teaching my children the true message and reason for the season.

And speaking of the reason for the season as my title says, what is the reason for the season? As I said at the outset, the saying goes that Jesus is the reason for the season but is that really the case? I once caught my children off guard when I suggested that Christmas is really all about presents. They tried to argue with me, giving the expected Sunday School or Children’s Chat answer that Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus.

I couldn’t really fault them. Their answer was correct. But I think I was right too. Christmas is all about presents. What is the greatest gift that we’ve been given? It’s the life and salvation we have in Jesus Christ. God loved this mixed up and messed up world so much that he gave his only Son, “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Christmas is about the greatest gift.

And the reason for the season is US. God sent his Son for YOU and for ME. But not only for us who call ourselves Christians. Jesus came for the ones who replace Christ with an X. Jesus came for the ones who celebrate Hanukkah. Jesus came for the ones who celebrate Kwanzaa instead of or in addition to Christmas. Jesus came for the ones being politically correct by wishing you Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings.

Jesus came and showed us the love of God. So, this Christmas season, rather than becoming angry or defensive when someone wishes us Happy Holidays let us show love to our neighbours. Let us be open and invite family, friends, neighbours, and even strangers to know the love of Jesus that came down as the greatest gift of all.

May your Holidays be Happy, your Greetings Seasoned, and most of all your Christmas be Merry.

Messiah

This past fall I joined a choir. I've been singing with our little church choir for seven years and with my previous church choir for probably about 20 years before that. This year I joined a chamber choir called Choralis Camerata which is Latin for chamber choir.

It has been fun. It's more challenging than our church choir. There are something like 35 or 36 voices in this choir. I brought the number of tenors up to five. Our first concerts took place this past weekend. We performed Handel's Messiah. It was tough but it was fun. The orchestra that accompanied us was the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sinfonia.

The tenor parts that I'm used to singing with our church choir generally go up to an E, occasionally to an F and on rare occasions up to a G. In Messiah there are probably six to eight places where I had to hit an A. I managed it the first few times but when it got to the Amen chorus at the end of the piece and we were supposed to hit the A eight bars from the end or the entire oratorio I couldn't do it except by going falsetto.

We performed Messiah three times. On Friday, December 4 we were at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake. On Saturday, December 5 we were at First Grantham United Church in St. Catharines. On Sunday, December 6 we were at St. Alexander's Roman Catholic Church in Fonthill. Three very different spaces. I felt like our best performance was on Saturday, at least I think my best singing happened then. People raved about us. I think we got the most smiles from our conductor on Saturday. And all three concerts were, if not SRO, at least full. There were no big gaps or spaces in the pews.

Many of the choristers were singing Messiah for at least the second time, some even more. It was my first time and I have to confess that I wasn't prepared enough. I should have practiced a lot more and known the pieces better. I was counting and reading way too much and making mistakes too often. This choir performs Messiah every two years so if I stick with them that long I'll do a lot better the next time around.

But it was still fun, and very moving. If you don't know Handel's Messiah, it's about Jesus. The text is completely from the Bible, starting with Old Testament prophecy that has come to be associated with Jesus, through to his birth, death, resurrection, and then praises to our Lord and King from the book of Revelation. If you've never heard anything else from Messiah you've certainly heard the Hallelujah chorus.

Our next concerts will be in February when we will sing some Gospel/Spiritual pieces in observance of Black History Month. I can't wait to sing some more.