Christter

In my reading the book of Mark I just noticed that on Christmas day I will be on the 16th chapter.  I will start Christmas day with the account of the resurrection.

I'm finding that interesting to think through.  The account of the birth and the account of the empty tomb are not so far apart. The traditional songs and decorations are different and we celebrate them in different ways, but they are both about life.

God brought life on both Christmas and Easter.

Christmas is the cry of an infant and Easter is the cry of a warrior.  Christmas is the humble beginning and Easter is the dazzling restart.  Christmas is about being human and Easter is about being divine.  The days are different and yet they are inextricably linked.  We can celebrate the birth of Christ because of the resurrection.

I won't mess with years of tradition or the liturgical calendar, but I wonder what would happen if we combined days.  What if we celebrated "Christter?"

If the day represented both the birth and resurrection of Christ would we still have to buy each other presents and wear our best clothes?  Would we still sit on the red guy's lap and hunt for plastic eggs filled with candy?

If we were starting a new holy day (holiday) to celebrate the life and re-life of Christ how would it be different from the two days we have now?  I wonder, what would the songs be like?   How would we decorate?  What foods would be appropriate? What would be the traditions that would be born that would be passed through the generations?  What would Christter be like?  Would we say, "Happy Christter" or "Merry Christter" or "Hapry Christter?"

Maybe rather than start a new day we could include an awareness in both.  The Christ we celebrate on Christmas defeated the power of death, and the resurrected Christ we celebrate on Easter came to earth as a human.

At our church this year we will celebrate Christmas Sunday by baptizing people.  Celebrating life in Christ.  Maybe this year it really is Christter!

May God bless you with a new revelation of Himself to your heart as we celebrate Christ, and may He bless you with the passion to continue the celebration on the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 1st, 2nd…

Celebrating,

Pastor Dave