Peter Espeut | Going back to basics

Christmas is principally a Christian celebration of deep theological and human significance. The broad storyline of our existence – creation, fall, redemption – begins to reach its climax when the creator becomes part of his own creation – “a scandal for the Jews and utter foolishness to the gentiles”.

That God who is perfection personified could become human like us (true God and true man) gives the lie to the Calvinist harangue that humanity by nature is utterly depraved and corrupt, and is not capable of anything good except through a special infusion of God’s grace.

Viewing Christmas as a birthday celebration may help to explain the day to children, but adult faith sees beyond that. Christmas is a statement about the lofty status of humanity, and the importance of the body – not just a container for the soul but something good in itself. On the last day, we are told, bodies will rise from their graves and be reunited with their souls. Bodies are good things – temples of the Holy Spirit. We must celebrate them and look after them.

Grinches and Christmas-deniers ask, “How do we know the date when Jesus was born?” And the answer is that we don’t. December 25 is chosen for theological reasons. The world was in the darkness of sin waiting for the Messiah to come. The darkest day of the year is December 21 – the winter solstice – the day with the longest night. By December 25 the light has begun to conquer the darkness (as the days slowly begin to get longer); what better time could there be (theologically) to celebrate the birth of the Messiah? (Each year the light finally conquers at the vernal equinox when the hours of daylight begin to exceed the hours of darkness, at which time we celebrate Pascha, which some call Easter.

And this is the very reason Christmas traditions include lights at the darkest time of the year.

In northern temperate climes, this time of year is winter, with snow everywhere and leafless trees – except for evergreens, which are a powerful symbol of life in a dark, cold world. It is natural that in those areas, Christmas traditions include evergreen trees.

FEELING OF NEWNESS

It all creates a feeling of newness, and many prepare for Christmas by deep-cleaning their homes, buying new furniture and appliances, and putting new coats of paint everywhere.

Traditions have grown up around Christmas as a celebration of family because the Christ was born into a family, that most human of institutions. Every culture has its special eats and drinks surrounding Christmas, and the family gathering for dinner is long awaited; people travel from far and near to be together at Christmas.

The birth of a child is a great gift to a family, just as the birth of the Messiah was a great gift to the world. The Magi – wise men from the East – brought him gifts. It is another enduring Christmas tradition to give gifts to those we love, especially the gift of ourselves.

All of this food and drink and paint and presents has made Christmas the most lucrative time of year for the business community. It is easy to lose focus on the deep theology of the season when the cash registers are ringing up more sales than during the rest of the year combined. Indeed, in my view, the business community abuses Christmas by beginning to advertise in October, and putting up Christmas decorations in November. Any enterprise which exploits and demeans Christmas by advertising “Christmas in June” or “Christmas in July” will never get my business at any time of the year.

Christmas begins on the eve of December 25, and the period immediately leading up to it is called “Advent” – a holy season of hope and waiting. The Christmas Season lasts for twelve days up to the Feast of Epiphany (January 6), when we celebrate the coming of the Gentiles to King Jesus.

But retailers and radio and television stations have transferred Christmas to Advent, playing Christmas Carols and showing Christmas movies. Which all comes to an abrupt end on Boxing Day when Christmas is really is just starting. For many Jamaicans, Christmas is already over, even though it has nine days of celebration left to go!

HIGH POINT

Christmas – the great celebration of the incarnation (Word becoming flesh) – is a high point in the Christian calendar, but it is not crucial (pun intended). We prefer the baby Jesus lying in the manger to the adult Jesus covered in bloody stripes from the whip, hanging on the cross, and challenging us to take up our own cross daily to follow him; but it is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Day that really do the job of redemption.

The Church keeps this fact in our face, because on December 26 – the English call it Boxing Day – we celebrate the feast of St Stephen the deacon, the first Christian to be killed for his faith in Jesus. We should not let our delight with the baby Jesus in the manger cloud the spectre of Calvary in the distance, and Jesus’ challenge to us to work hard to build the kingdom of peace and justice where he reigns.

And so, when we celebrate Christmas we not only celebrate the birth of the Christ child; we also celebrate the lifting up of all humanity, including those some consider to be of no value. Jesus’ actions elevated the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, the unclean, those possessed by demons – all the outcasts of society. In fact, the circumstances of his birth identify him with the marginalised: he was born not in a palace but in a stable, dressed in ill-fitting (swaddling) – obviously borrowed – clothes, and was laid in a box intended for cattle feed; his parents – although engaged – were not married when he was conceived, which carried some social stigma.

Christmas, then, is a time to reach out to the marginalised, to the poor and homeless, to those in prison, and those who are hungry – all of whom are, in reality, of inestimable value.

In these increasingly secular days, we have to make a clear distinction between Christmas the Christian celebration and Christmas the commercial bazaar; otherwise the former could be totally overwhelmed by the latter.

Peter Espeut is a theologian and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com