It’s the time of year when half the world starts putting family customs and traditions into practice. Last weekend we carried on a custom, a tradition, in our family, readying the house for Christmas. Like millions of other Americans, the weekend after Thanksgiving, we carried tub after tub up and down the basement stairs. Here’s the Fall tub, take that down and get the Christmas tub. No, that’s not the right one, please take that back and get the other one, etc.
There are so many customs and traditions that surround Christmas and some of these customs and traditions have been handed down for many years — from family tree cutting outings, topping the tree with grandma’s star or angel, clutching the side of the house to hang lights, to baking certain yummy family recipes — applesauce cake, red velvet cake, chocolate chip cookies. Woohoo! Customs are the habits we establish and those customs become traditions as they are passed down by word, act, or recipe card, and some are deeply embedded in family lore. Customs and traditions govern our actions, our words, our decorations, our plates. They’ve been handed down and handed over, generation after generation after generation, until one day you find yourself in line to fry the oysters on Christmas Eve.
Customs and traditions with family and friends are important. They are interwoven into our lives and become these beautiful tapestries that cover us. I dare say we can go a day without enacting a custom or a tradition in our life (good or bad), even if it’s so subtle we don’t recognize it. It is good to have customs and traditions, they bring us together, they give us a sense of belonging, a sense of comfort, they are full of sweet times, and remember when’s. All of those things make up who we are.
During this Christmas Season, as we put our customs and traditions into place, let’s keep in mind the Reason for the Season, it sounds so cliche, but it’s just truth. For believers, the whole reason we practice our Christmas customs and traditions is grounded in the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
God is not tied to man-made customs and He is under no obligation to fit in with our expectations. Alistair Begg
Begg gives us a gentle, or not so gentle, reminder that God’s ways are not our ways. To me, it’s a gentle reminder that but for the birth of the Messiah, we would not be putting in place all of our customs and traditions of Christmas, those that are man made. God cannot be pigeon-holed into our customs and traditions. We can’t pull out the manger and say to Him, Lord, just sit right there.
Our God is a God of custom, tradition. Our Bibles are replete with those examples. But He also gives us perspective for those customs and traditions — remember — we honor Him with our lips but our hearts are far away from Him? We need to remember that the customs and traditions we put in place are the window-dressing for the Grand Celebration — the Birth of Our Savior — he came once and He’s coming again! As we hang the greens and mail the cards, let’s not get so tangled up, like the lights for our trees, that we forget not only who God is but whose we are. Jesus should be forefront in our minds. All our hustle and bustle, our scurrying around in breathless preparation would be for nothing without Him. May our customs and traditions of the Season include the Reason. Let’s not forget to pass that down, He came to do something that no amount of custom or tradition could ever do – our Savior has come!