Becoming Lutheran - Part 3 The New Christmas

My family did advent during the christmas season. Perhaps they once told us what each candle means but I have long forgotten. I believe we stopped the tradition by the time I was in Jr. High.

Advent in the Lutheran church though is different. Yes they light a candle on Sunday morning, they read a passage scripture just like my evangelical church did. But they also meet on Wednesday nights to celebrate.

The Lutheran church as you know follows the church calendar. They wear the color of the season, and Advent is the color blue. I learned that the blue stood for patience and waiting as the celebration of Christmas in the Lutheran tradition is more about the promise of Jesus's return than it is about his first arrival. Christmas is just the reminder of what is yet to come.

I do not know if I have thought of Christmas in that way. I always thought of it as more a memorial I guess. Makes it sound a bit morbid - but it was the celebration of the historical account of the day of Jesus's birth (despite the day not being necessarily historically accurate).

Everything continues to be turned upside in my new walk of faith. Either I have misunderstood all of these years, or I was grossly mislead. Perhaps a bit of both.

This Christmas season begun with the "Starbucks cup controversary" and the murmurs of the "war on Christmas" began. This of course is fueled by those in the evangelical church. Rather than spreading joy and love, we have christians shouting "Persecution!" over a blank red cup. When did this become the churches mission?

This Christmas season, I hope the Body of Christ remembers what is truly important about Christmas, and remembers that Christ will return again - what a shame it would be if he came while we were arguing about paper cups.