The giving of gifts at Christmas is an old tradition. God sent the perfect gift, in his son, Jesus, to save us. It’s in the power of the death and resurrection that the true meaning of the gift becomes clear. We give gifts to honour God's most precious gift of hope for mankind. The first Christmas gifts were given by the wise men to Jesus, as said in Matthew. Just like this, we exchange gifts at Christmas time. On the more commercial side, people want as much as they can get their hands on, and this masks the real meaning of the tradition. But for those Christians who do not allow greed to overtake them, this is a wonderful thing about Christmas.
Just like we prepare for Christmas, people 2000 years ago were also preparing for something. Mary and Joseph were preparing for a long trip to Bethlehem to register because of the census that the Emperor Augustus was taking out. They were also preparing for a child to be born. They knew that it would be a difficult time, because the time for Mary to give birth, would probably come while they were away from their home. The shepherds were preparing for the long night ahead, of protecting their sheep from the wolves. Wise men were preparing to watch the night sky, looking for stars. Animals were preparing to go to sleep in their barn, when Mary and Joseph came in, and laid their baby in one of their troughs. All of the above come from Luke and Matthews’s gospels, when telling of Christ’s birth. Nowadays, Christians are preparing for the same thing – the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Christian preparation for Christmas is something quite different to that of those who are totally taken in by preparing for a Christmas without Christ in their lives. It is ‘God-centred’, not ‘me-centred’. If we are to think about ourselves at Christmas, it is only because of the thoughts surrounding our relationship we have with God.
Advent, which last about four weeks, is the Christian preparation for Christians. These preparations include prayer, and the redirection of our thoughts to God, and the way that he gave us his son.
The traditional colour of Advent is purple, symbolizing repentance, sorrow, and asking for forgiveness. Today, deep blue has also become popular, symbolizing the joyful side of Advent, and our Christian hope. In churches, as a preparation for the coming of Christ, purple is usually worn by the priest and servers. A special cloth is used for the altar, to show that this is an extraordinary season.
“On their way they saw the same star they had seen in the east. When they saw it, how happy they were, and joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” This passage was taken from Matthew, and tells us of the light that led them to the Lord. The Advent wreath is the most popular symbol of the season. Its bright candles dominate the wreath, as the Light of World overcomes the darkness and warms a wintry world. The four candles are lit, one each week. Just as the star lead the men to the baby, these candles lead us to Christmas day. “Jesus, light of the world”. Candles show us Jesus’ presence.
During the Christmas season, we sing carols, praising God for all he has given us, just as the shepherds had done at Christ’s birth (Luke 2: 20). The shepherds were singing glories to God, and spreading the news of the Saviours coming, and we do the same. The angels also sang praises to God, as we do when we sing carols.
We often use stars as decorations at Christmas time to remember the Star of Bethlehem, which led the wise men to the Christ Child, as told in Matthew.
Many Christian preparations take place at this time of year, and while it is a wonderful thing, we must always be careful that the true meaning of Christmas, Christ’s birth is never overshadowed.
