You probably have overheard children talking about Christmas this time of year. Often it goes something like this, "When does Santa come to your house?" The child is really asking, "When do you celebrate Christmas at your house, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?" It is not a simple question, because it has to do with calculating days. We know that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25, but we know that the Western church has more or less celebrated His birthday on this date since AD 336. Like the Sundays of the church year, the dates that certain things are "remembered" may be on commemoration days long separated from their actual occurrence on the calendar. Today folks argue about Christmas, whether to have it, who should celebrate, and all kinds of similar arguments. But when push comes to shove, the vast majority of Americans celebrate Christmas. But which day?
Celebration does not satisfy the confusion over when Christmas comes, e.g., Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In the Christian community which shares many cultures and peoples, it turns out that Christmas Day starts at different times, depending on the culture. Think about the Bible and the Book of Genesis, particularly Genesis 1:5. In the Creation story, God begins with creation of "the evening and the morning, the first day." In one sense in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the day technically starts at sunset and ends the next day at the subsequent sunset. This is why Christmas Eve doesn't come Christmas evening, but the night before, keeping with this tradition. Another culture looked at day beginning at midnight and ending the subsequent midnight. It is harder to fit that tradition with the phrase, "Christmas Eve." Yet a third tradition looks at the day beginning with sunrise and the day ending on the subsequent sunrise a day later. Again, it is hard to reconcile "Christmas Eve" with that kind of time keeping.
But these different ways of reckoning days really relates to when Christmas comes. We may have Christmas Eve worship at 6 PM the day before Christmas. We may have Christmas celebrations at midnight. Or we may have Christmas festivities at daybreak on Christmas Day. When we peruse the newspaper to discover when Christmas comes to our churches, we find Christmas services at all three times! (Christians are notorious for being set in their ways, even when their time-keeping for Christmas events come from Old World time-keeping systems!)
Many Christmas church services may have extra events, especially Christmas music, perhaps communion, but especially candles. The "Candlelight" Christmas Eve Service or early Christmas Morning Service seems to be present in our nation's Christmas remembrances of our Savior's birth. The reasoning is simple. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. With the birth of Jesus, that Light shone in darkness. In our Silverhill church as in many others, the light from the Christ candle in our Advent Wreath is passed on to the congregation, candle by candle. The symbol of God's Light passing from person to person because of Christmas, is a powerful image of God's love and care for a lost and fallen world, a world that had to be redeemed through our Heavenly Father's Son, Jesus Christ.
Guess which of the traditions we are following on Christmas Eve? We will celebrate the coming of Christ at our 6 PM Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. Yes, there will be candles and we will pass the Light of Christmas at the conclusion of our service. Friends and visitors are welcome. We will share Christmas music and we will bless one another through our recognition that God shared His Son with us on Christmas. Zion Lutheran Church is located a block south of State Highway 104 at 15875 4th Avenue at 7th Street in beautiful Silverhill.
