How We Avoided the Christmas Hangover: Setting a Tradition that Honors Christ

My wife and I were approaching our first Christmas together. We were both so excited. We were coming off a crazy time in our lives. We'd just got married and moved to Chicago. We were working for The Salvation Army in separate areas, raising money and meeting needs. 

It was December 24th midday, and we were both tired after a kettle season that started in mid-November.

We met up at our downtown Chicago on-campus apartment at The Salvation Army seminary, exhausted but hopeful. 

We wanted to avoid something we'd felt many times previously on Christmas. We wanted to avoid the Christmas hangover. It's a feeling we'd experienced many times. It was the sense that we missed the heart of what Christmas is really about. 

Among all the unwrapped presents and delicious meals we would sit on Christmas and think to ourselves... we missed what really matters. We would feel engorged, pleasure-filled but ultimately empty hearted.

So we decided for our first Christmas together that something had to change. 

Here is what we did, and the effect was absolutely electric: 

We gathered in our apartment in downtown Chicago, a place we didn't want to be, yet providence had led us there. In the little apartment our Christmas tree was glowing, the ornaments and decorations were beautifully displayed, candles were burning, lights glowing, the environment was set.

We had several activities planned for ourselves. On Christmas Eve in the morning we woke up together and the first thing we did was we prayed together and thanked God for His goodness. The snow was falling as we parted ways that morning, it was beautiful. The city was oddly quiet. Chicago is never quiet, but it seemed so quiet that day.

Immediately after we parted ways, my wife headed to Midway, I headed to Gary, and later that day we came together again around 3pm after work.

First, we sat down on the floor in our living room, wrapped ourselves in throw blankets, and we lit candles and incense. We pulled out our phones and one of us would suggest a hymn, we'd pull up the lyrics on our phones, and then we'd sing it together, worshipping God. Many were Christmas songs, but not all. We took turns, my wife picked one, then I picked one, back and forth we went.

It's very easy in a group setting, or with your loved one to do a hymn sing together. Simply take out your phones, and use google to search for the lyrics of a particular song. A great resource for this is GCCSATX. You can find almost any hymn lyrics on the website, along with piano accompaniment for most of the songs. 

Some of the songs we sang included:

Silent Night

Joy to the World

O Come All Ye Faithful

We Three Kings

Hark the Herald Angel Sing

Angels We have heard on High

The next thing we did was make Christmas cookies together. My grandma had a wonderful recipe for ginger bread cookies. We found a nativity ginger bread cookie cutter set at Hobby Lobby in town and used that. 

After that we went through the nativity story, reading the account from the book of Matthew and Luke, with both our Bibles open, talking about the meaning and purpose behind what God did. 

Scriptures we read: Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-23, Luke 1:26-56, Luke 2:1-40, John 1:1-5, John 1:10-18

This was very powerful, as we read each scripture the historical nativity spoke into our current moment. We reflected on what those involved must've been feeling and thinking. We asked questions. We were inspired. We were touched. We were confused at times, amazed in others. Scripture is so powerful, and the verbal reading of the word shifted the environment around us. 

After that, we shared favorite memories growing up from Christmas and the Christmas traditions of both of our families. We talked deep about the meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, and how Christmas affected us growing up, as well as how we see it now in light of our personal faith journeys. 

Next, we opened presents together. Often the opening of gifts is the center piece of any Christmas gathering, but we knew something was wrong about that. The center piece should be Jesus, and the presents should be secondary. We realized at the time, that by making the gifts secondary, and Jesus and his birth central, we had touched on something essential. 

The presence of God I felt was holy, and moving. As we honored the Lord with our Christmas eve, and Christmas day, the Lord's presence was tangibly perceivable. 

At night we watched a Christmas movie, it's a movie that we've developed as a tradition in our relationship. We watch it every year during Christmas since we first began dating. It's a movie called "The Nativity." It portrays the events of the birth of Jesus in a thoroughly biblical, meaningful and powerful way.

After the movie, my wife and I once again got together and had a time of prayer, thanking God for his amazing gift. We burned candles, and played Christian Christmas music. We enjoyed more deep conversation together, reflecting on everything that had happened recently, and where God was leading us. 

At the end of the day, we took the body and blood of Jesus together in our small apartment, using grape juice from the store, and communion wafers I had ordered online (Amazon). 

After that we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" one of our favorite Christmas movies. Then we went to bed. 

Every Christmas I've experienced in my life I've always sat back a day later and felt like I'd engorged myself on food, consumerism, and selfishness. I had missed the real heart of Christmas. I had ruthlessly fed my pleasures and tagged Jesus on the side of it all. 

That Christmas eve, and Christmas day the next day were sacred and special. They felt different. They were different. I felt no hang over. I felt enriched. I felt we'd taken steps that had yielded real results.

This was the first Christmas where I sat back after everything and realized, I had really found the heart of Christmas, because we had made it about Jesus. 

If you're sick of the Christmas emotional hang over, try setting a new pattern this Christmas. Make Jesus the center of your Christmas celebrations and watch God bless you as a result. 

Say goodbye to the Christmas hangover and replace it with the joy of knowing you honored the Master who loves you! 

Here is a Sample Outline to Help Plan your Gathering: 

 

Christmas Eve - Dec 24th 

Enjoy a Family Dinner together - share favorite memories from past Christmas celebrations

After dinner turned off all the lights except for Christmas lights (Burn candles)

Sing Christmas Hymns together - by suggestion - Pray before starting

Go through Christmas Scriptures together (Events just Prior to Birth of Jesus: Angel visits Mary, Mary & Elizabeth, Angel visits Joseph)

Scriptures: Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-56, Matthew 1:18-25

Time of Prayer - pray for family, friends, loved ones

Watch Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life"

Christmas Day - Dec 25th 

Sleep in

Enjoy a Christmas Breakfast with family

Bake gingerbread cookies together

Go through the Christmas Scriptures together (Birth of Jesus, Shepherds visit, Magi Visit Jesus)

Scriptures: Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Matthew 2:1-12

Time of Prayer - pray for those hurting on Christmas, elderly, lonely, lost and addicted, pray for gospel to go out to hurting people this Christmas

Open Gifts together (Christmas music playing in background)

Enjoy Christmas Cookies & Gifts that were opened

Time of Prayer - Thank God for everything he's given this year

Take the Body and Blood of Christ together as a family 

Watch the movie "The Nativity"

Discuss and reflect with family on how the movie spoke to them

When Light Breaks Into Darkness: Zechariah and Elizabeth learn of the Birth of John

To begin today, we must go back 700 years before Jesus was even born, to a prophecy written by the prophet Isaiah, to a nation struggling and divided in a time of great darkness.

From Isaiah 9:1-5 "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder. 
4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5 The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.”

We see a time of great sorrow for the nation of Israel. We go back to the year 734 BC. That’s 2,750 years ago. It was the iron age of humanity. Israel was becoming more and more broken, more and more full of false religions and sin. Their leaders were corrupt, and wicked.

It was a time of darkness, and soon the nation would be conquered by Assyria in the north, and Babylon in the south. They would be taken into captivity for their many sins. But, the prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, shared a prophecy that though the nation would suffer greatly, there was a new hope coming in the distant future.

What is a prophecy? A prophecy, is a word from God about the future given to humanity.

This scripture in Isaiah predicts the coming of a messiah hundreds of years before it would happen.

And it says this, “6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end."
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!”

A new movement, created by God, would center around this messiah who would be born.

There is great power in a move of God. And we see the great move of God being prophesied here. A child is born, a son is given, and he will be the Prince of Peace. A movement often starts very humbly, very simply, and this one starts with two babies being born.

In the darkness of the lostness of Israel, a light would come. But really, there would be two lights. One greater, one lesser. We speak of the lesser today.

Fast forward 728 years forward, to 6 BC, and we come to our primary scripture for today, in Luke 1, starting in verse 5.

Luke 1:5-7: 5 “When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.”

We’ve fast forwarded through a lot of events. Israel had split into two nations, as Isaiah prophesied, the northern kingdom was conquered and taken into captivity by Assyria, and the southern kingdom was conquered and taken into captivity by Babylon. But they had returned from captivity, and rebuilt their nation. And for hundreds of years they prospered. They rebuilt the temple, and the walls of the city of Jerusalem. 

But, soon a new enemy would appear on the world stage, the Roman empire. In BC 63, the Roman General Pompey besieged and conquered Israel, placing them under the authority of the Roman empire.

In 37 BC, Herod was appointed king over Judea, by Mark Antony, though Antony was later defeated by Augustus Caesar who ruled over the Roman empire from 27 BC to 14 AD.

I want you all to notice something, Herod, Antony, Augustus, Pompey, Jerusalem, Rome, we see the events of the Bible are firmly placed within recorded history, not myth, not legend, but recorded and verifiable historically documented events.

Our faith is not myth or Greek gods and goddesses or alternative realities, but based in fact and documentation and records.

But notice we see our two main leaders, Zechariah and Elizabeth, two godly people, they were both blameless in their walk with God.

Also notice it says, they were careful to obey all the Lord’s commands. That stuck out to me, these were people who were careful to obey God’s instructions. And I wondered to myself, could the same be said of me? Could the same be said of each of us?

Are we carefully looking into the word of God each day, saying, how do I obey this word from the Lord? Or do we take it as something suggestive, but not really binding?

Zechariah and Elizabeth took God’s word seriously. I hope the same could be said of us, that we really do look into it, and say, "This is how I’m going to live my life" carefully studying and obeying it.

Also notice in our first portion today, that we see there is a problem, Zechariah and Elizabeth are both very old, and yet they have no children.

Next, verses 8-10: “8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.”

This was a great honor for Zechariah to be chosen to go into the temple and burn incense before the presence of the Lord. He was chosen by chance, but we know with God there are no accidents. Zechariah was meant to be chosen that day. So he went into the temple, burning the incense before God. Like the incense, Zechariah’s life and obedience was a fragrant offering before the Lord. At the same time, everyone outside prayed.

Second point today, watch for God lining things up in your life, for your favor. There are no accidents. He does things for a purpose. Sometimes we may avoid and dodge His purposes, but we can always repent, and turn back into the flow of His will.

Next, 11-15, “While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.”

We talk about history, manuscripts, archaeology, but here we see the inevitable entry of the supernatural into the moment. God shows up.

When you talk about a supernatural experience, these are rare. I’m sure this was new for Zechariah or Elizabeth, to have a supernatural encounter like this. They are rare, but they do happen.

Just thinking about this church, numerous people here have had supernatural experiences. There are approximately 2.6 billion Christians in the world today. Something like 600-900 million of them will be in church on any given Sunday. I wonder how many have had some form of a supernatural encounter. They are rare, but they do happen.

I think of Jan, Joe, Eileen, Jennifer, Wayne, my friend Jenny, Chelsey, Scott, my uncle Art, my Mom Karen, they’ve all shared with me supernatural experiences where they heard the voice of God, or saw vision, or God did something that changed their life, protected them, showed them a dream.

Third point today, dare to believe in the supernatural. Expect that God may give you just such an experience at some point in your life.

In Zechariah’s experience, he sees an angel appear before him, and his first response is terror.

Angel’s response: Don’t be afraid.

Notice, the angel cites the fact that Zechariah has been praying. The angel confirms, God has heard your prayer, clearly the prayer was his desire to have a child. And the angel confirms, your wife will become pregnant, and you are to name the child John.

Why does this supernatural event take place?

Several reasons for any supernatural event, one, it’s to communicate a message. In particular, it’s often to communicate something that will happen in the future. And in particular, it’s to get someone, like Zechariah ready for what’s coming.

This son would bring Zechariah great joy and gladness. It’s a reason for excitement and rejoicing. We will see that over and over in this series, that the nativity is a reason for celebration and joy. It’s a gift and a treasure for all of us, every day.

One last thing to notice here, the word says John will be, "Great in the eyes of the Lord."

Fourth point today, what we view as great is often very different from what God views as great. We as humans look at how popular someone is, how much money they have, how well respected they are, how often they appear on television, how eloquently they speak. But God looks at the heart.

I had to figure this out, that being great isn’t what I thought it was at all. I thought it meant clicks online, and videos, and subscribers, and money, and influence. But God doesn’t view greatness that way. John the baptizer was great beyond imagining, and he lived in the wilderness, and ate bugs and honey, and had wild hair, and preached a message of radical repentance, and baptized people in the Jordan river. That is God’s idea of greatness. And that’s the only definition that really matters.

If you want to be great, follow God’s design, not man’s pyramid chase for popularity and power.

Next, the angel continues his message, “15b He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

John would turn many to the Lord in Israel. Another translation says he would, "persuade many to turn to God."

We also learn that John would have the spirit and power of Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament.

John would come before Jesus, to prepare the way for him. John’s role was to prepare the people for the arrival of the true messiah.

There’s a fascinating line here, it says he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.

John’s ministry would bring restoration to the most important unit in society, the family unit. Selfish, selfish interested fathers would be brought in the heart, to love their sons and daughters. John’s ministry brought humility, and real heart love. That’s the key to all this, is a change of heart, not just being forced to follow rules, but a deep-cutting message that got into the peoples hearts, and convicted them, and brought humility, a humbling that led to an honest devotion to God.

Point number five today, God wants our hearts. He doesn’t want outward obedience and inward distance. He wants us to search our hearts and humble ourselves, and fall in love with Him.

Second statement there says, John would, "help disobedient minds accept godly wisdom" one translation says.

The key word there is "accept." That is the great difficulty for our entire world, billions of people with different ideas, different philosophies, different concepts of what life is really about, and the power of God’s word, and God’s people, is to cut through all those ideologies and systems and concepts and philosophies, from post-modernism to unitarian universalism, John would be one who would have unique wisdom, marked with an anointing of the Holy Spirit, that could convince people to turn to, accept, receive, and live in God’s wisdom.

And when we say God’s wisdom, it’s simply the truth of what the world really is. Not the deceptions, not the half-baked philosophies out there, but the actual, base truth of what is really going on in this universe.

Point number six, we have the ability as Christians, with the help of God’s word and the Holy Spirit to communicate with people in such a way, that they will be able to see through the lies, and accept Godly wisdom. And it will radically transform their lives. And ultimately, that leads to a person, to Jesus himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

And frankly, God's word has that same power in our own thinking processes, to convince ourselves of some area where we’re struggling with a lie or deception, to instead embrace God’s truth. And it will change our lives too.

Let’s see how Zechariah responds to the angel.

Verses 18-20: 18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! 20 But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

Zechariah flat out doesn’t believe the words of the Lord here. Ironic that God is going to give Zechariah’s son John such wisdom to turn hearts, but Zechariah’s own heart needs to be turned. I guess it kind of proves why John is needed, even his own dad needs him to be born.

I love the messenger’s response: I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.

Gabriel’s words make it clear, this message came from your God. And it was good news! But I get it, Zechariah is very old, he’s thinking, how could me and my wife ever have a baby!

In any case, Zechariah is given a rebuke for this. He is told you will not speak until John is born.

Next, verses 21-22: “21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. 22 When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.”

The supernatural event ends, and Zechariah is profoundly affected. Just like us, an encounter with God will change our lives. But, we do have a choice. We can run with it, and chase it. Or we can ignore and minimize it.

For Zechariah, he really embraces what God said. All the people around him are affected as well. They gather around and they can tell, he’s seen a vision from God. Our supernatural encounter often becomes part of our testimony.

If you’ve never had a supernatural experience with God, don’t take that as a bad thing either. The only experience we really need is with Jesus Christ, to call upon Him, and receive His salvation. Anything else is extra.

Lastly, verses 23-25: “23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.

24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”

It really happened. The word of the angel came true. It went from something spoken, to something fulfilled. It really happened. It confirmed everything God had said.

What was Elizabeth's response? She went into seclusion for five months, I’m sure in deep prayer and communion with God.

God had finally taken Elizabeth’s disgrace away. In those ancient times, it was the big thing for a woman as far as her status in society, to bear children. The fact that Elizabeth couldn’t I'm sure meant she was treated poorly, treated like she didn’t matter. But, God reversed all that and she became pregnant.

Disgrace, shame and guilt had turned to favor, honor, and joy. But Elizabeth took it very seriously, she went into seclusion, to seek God’s will and pray.

Seventh point today, this is what God did for Israel, and what God does for us. The people had been disgraced, but now, through Jesus, they would receive hope and victory. That’s what Jesus did for us too.

It’s just like the prophecy of Isaiah 9, the people in darkness would see a great light. The disgrace would be replaced with hope.

This Christmas season, remember the events of the birth of John, and ultimately that birth of Jesus. I remember for many years looking at the nativity scenes, and the Christmas lights, and the trees, and the ornaments, and wondering, what’s it really about? Why does Jesus matter so much?

And it’s like you just can’t grasp it, until you’ve encountered Jesus yourself. That’s the most important supernatural encounter, when we really turn to Jesus, and say Lord Jesus, I need you, come and be my savior. And suddenly, it all makes sense.

Christmas occurs in a time of snow and winter and darkness, just like Isaiah’s prophecy, a time of darkness and suffering for Israel, but in the darkness, a light would suddenly burst forth, and that light was Jesus, and for those who embraced Jesus, and accepted Him, that light would burst forth within them. A supernatural change, a new birth, a transformation, in which we suddenly understand what Christmas is really about. It’s about Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of the birth of John. We thank you that he prepared the way for Jesus. This Christmas help us to see past all the flashy lights and gifts and parties to the truth about what Christmas is really about, it's about you Lord Jesus, and we worship you, be at the center of our Christmas preparations, be at the center of our celebrations, help us to change our traditions to refocus them on you Lord Jesus! Be glorified in everything we do this Christmas, in Jesus name, amen.