Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
The Light of Christmas: Unraveling Its Origins and Finding Hope {Reflections}
Ever wondered why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, despite clues that point to Jesus being born in the spring? Join us as we unravel this mystery and explore the origins of Christmas celebrations, tracing back to early Christians and their encounters with the Celtic people. By intertwining their messages with the Celts' winter solstice celebrations—a time of hope and renewal—early Christians established a profound tradition that resonates to this day. This fascinating historical journey invites us to reflect on our own lives and seek light and hope during our darkest times.
Listeners will hear from Alexander Shia as we dive into how grace and hope can experience rebirth in moments of deep darkness. The transformative power of these cherished values is illustrated by the Christmas story, where light pierces through the darkness, signaling a renewal of love, life, and joy. This episode encourages us to embrace this renewal in our lives, to find that glimmer of light even in our most challenging moments, and to welcome a resurgence of hope and happiness today. Let this exploration inspire you to uncover your own stories of light overcoming darkness.
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What is up everybody? Hey, it is Christmas. Merry Christmas everybody. Merry Christmas, mike. Merry Christmas. Hey, we are recording this a couple of about a week in advance of Christmas. But hey, if you're tuning in and it Merry Christmas. Hey, we are recording this a couple of about a week in advance of Christmas. But hey, if you're tuning in and it's Christmas for you, merry Christmas. Or if it's not, hey, still Merry Christmas. Hope you had a good one, hope you have a good one.
Speaker 1:And you know, if you want to ruin any kid's Christmas, tell them this. Tell them. Hey, you know what young man, young woman, jesus was probably, most definitely, not born on December 25th. He wasn't, in fact. Maybe some of you are like what, but it's true. There's really a lot of evidence that suggests that Jesus was probably born in the springtime, although the gospels don't really say a whole lot, but there's a lot of evidence, and scholars believe that he wasn't born in the winter, probably in the springtime. And so if you want to drop a bomb at Christmas dinner tonight, tell your friends and family. Yo, dudes, jesus was not born on the 25th. So it raises the question, though why in the world do we celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Well, here's why this is a great story. I just heard this a couple of years ago and it like blew my mind. I love it, I want to share it with you.
Speaker 1:So Christmas, as this major festival, began around the 4th or 5th centuries and it seemed to develop because there was this particular need in the world in the early days of Christianity. So when Jesus is crucified, he's raised again, he goes to be with the Father and then Christianity just begins to spread like a wildfire out of this area in the ancient Near East, like we call it, palestine, and Christians in the early days of this movement, they begin to evangelize and spread the message. They go north, so if you can imagine them going out from Jerusalem, this area of Palestine, and they head north and they go north of the Alps to take the Jesus story there. And they wanted to evangelize, tell the story, have it spread. And there they encounter the Celtic people and so they try to evangelize the Celts.
Speaker 1:And it didn't go well because the Celts didn't really understand our own experience, or at least the Jewish story with the Christ as a theological construct or using theological language. It was like they were almost speaking different languages. I mean the Celts. They were like people who are people of the earth. They wanted to know how does this story happen in the earth and in the world all around them? Like, show me the story in real life, the dirt, the earth, the natural world, the environment we live in. Because the Celts, for them, life was deeply connected to the earth and the seasons and the elements and all the things around them, what was happening all around them, and so they needed to hear the Jesus story in their own context, Like, how is this story manifest in the world all around us? So that way it would make more sense to them than just some kind of theological construct or language.
Speaker 1:Well, being that the Celts were deeply connected to the earth, their most important feast on their calendar was this thing called the winter solstice. You see, like living in the cold climates, if you can imagine, the Celts were dependent, of course, on the sun. They needed the sun, and during the fall they would notice that the days would get shorter and shorter and shorter and the nights were darker and colder. And it made it tough because they were deeply connected to the agriculture. We know this a little bit about this, mike and I living in the north, in the frigid tundra of Minnesota. I love it. I love the cold, dark nights, the crisp mornings, but it is cold, the days are short, nights are long and this time of year is the darkest time of the year and the days are the shortest, and so nothing really ever warms up in the wintertime. But then around the winter solstice this is where the Celts celebrated this moment they begin to notice like the earth begins to tilt and the days slowly begin to get longer. So the solstice in this time, a part of the of the world, is December 21st. In fact, solstice literally means sun standing still. So the sun on this day seems to kind of hold still, and then from that day forward, the days begin to get a little bit longer and the light begins to grow again. And so you notice, after the 21st of December the days ever so slightly begin to get a little bit lighter and longer, the nights a little bit shorter. And this for the Celts, whose very lives were tied to the earth and agriculture and growing, it was worth celebrating. So they had this big party called the Winter Solstice. Now we in the modern world, we know that this happens every year and it happens, naturally, the earth just begins to tilt the other way and the light begins to grow again.
Speaker 1:But the Celts believed that they needed to engage in these spiritual practices in order to make the sun come back and to lengthen the days. In essence, they wanted the sun to be reborn again and they would do things to sort of conjure up the sun being reborn and the days lengthening. So it was the darkest time of year, as it is for us, and all they wanted, needed, desperately yearned for, was for the light to begin to grow again, yearned for was for the light to begin to grow again. And man, I, just, I gotta tell you, if I'm honest, there are, there are parts of my life where, like I desperately need the light to begin to grow again, like there's parts of me that have grown cold or dark and feel maybe helpless or hopeless, and I, just I could desperately need for light to be reborn there again. I don't know if you're the same, but there, god, there's a lot of parts of my life where I could just use it.
Speaker 1:And the Celts, every year, in order to kind of have this light be reborn, they would throw this big celebration festival in order to beckon the rebirth of the sun. So the Christians go north and they're talking with the Celts and they hear this story and they're like, oh yeah, we know that story, a story about a very dark time and people longing for the rebirth of the sun and a power that brings a freshness and radiance to everything in the entire cosmos. And they begin to tell the Celts the Jesus story in this frame and they begin to point out all the connections to the Jesus story and the sun being reborn again, a light coming to a dark place. And they just start pointing out what God was already doing all around them and helping them notice him. And so they begin to celebrate the birth of Jesus in this time of the winter solstice, and I love it. This is indeed the Christmas story. It's why we celebrate this day around this time of year. It's the coldest, darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere and in many ways it's like the coldest, darkest times of our lives and literally and maybe even like metaphorically for many of us. And it's a story about the hope and the love and the light and the peace and joy of the sun S-U-N, but also the S-O-N being reborn or coming again into our lives, in this manger story and also in our lives.
Speaker 1:And there's this wonderful writer and thinker named Alexander Shia and he says this I love this about Christmas. He says christmas falls at the darkest time of the year, but it's also at the time, the very moment, when light is once again made visible to the naked eye, you can begin to see the light growing. So, even though it's the darkest time of year, you can actually visibly, with your naked eye, see light beginning to grow. So he says the deepest dark, then, is not the place where grace goes to die. The deepest dark is the place where grace goes to be reborn. Can I get an amen from the people? I'll say it one more time Christmas falls at the darkest time of year it does every year but it's also at the time of year when light begins to grow again and it's visible again to the naked eye.
Speaker 1:So the deepest dark, alexander Shia says, is not the place where grace goes to die, the deepest dark is the place where grace goes to be reborn, which gives you and I hope, because wherever your deepest darkness is, wherever your soul has frozen over in the long winter months, wherever you need light to grow again in the rebirth of the sun and a visit from the sun S-O-N, where you might need grace and love and joy and hope to meet you once again. These are the places where the sun can begin to grow again, where grace can go to be reborn. So, friends, may you know the true depth of the Christmas story is that light has shined in the darkness and that we can have a rebirth of hope and life and love and joy. And may you indeed have that today. Merry Christmas, love you guys, peace, thank you.
