Christmas on Sunday

There's a problem with Christmas this year! …..apparrently in some parts of the world anyhow.  

Well its more a problem of the calendar…..the problem that Christmas is on a Sunday this year. 

It's actually a subject that is not on my radar at all, but I have just read an interesting blog post about it.  While I continue to live in Africa or Australia it probably won't ever be on my radar…..but the blog post was encouraging Christians in the USA to still go to church on Christmas Day.

This seems to be a unique cultural 'problem' for Americans, who as I understand it do not normally have a Christmas Day Service at their churches.

As Australians living in Africa, it doesn't pose a problem for us at all, in either our home country or our country of service.  

In both places it is normal tradition to always go to church on Christmas Day for a special Christmas Day Service.  The UK is the same.  Even the British Royal Family go to church on Christmas Day.

Because, (as I read recently somewhere else), Christmas day in the USA has become a day 'for family not faith',  Amercians seems to be worried about how they can manage to have family gift-giving on Christmas morning AND get to church. And like in the blog I mentioned above, some are concerned that people will opt for a family devotion at home and skip Sunday church for that week altogether.  

In my husband's family, family gift giving was on Christmas Eve when they were young kids, and in later years the gift-giving happened after church.  In my home as I grew up,  gift-giving was first thing on Christmas morning and we had a quick breakfast and all piled into the car and headed to church.  

It was never a problem, and in fact as kids we seemed to all manage to wear or take something to church that morning that we had received as a gift to be able to share stories with other kids of gifts received.

It was a wonderful time of carol singing, and remembering the whole reason for Christmas. Often the service structure was a little bit innovative with a 'sermon' in parts interspersed with appropriate carols, or the opportunity for the Pastor to bring out an aspect of the Christmas story that normally gets overlooked.  It always set a good tone and focus to the day.  

It was also the day that we knew church service numbers would swell with people who normally would never go to church - those twice-a-year folks - Easter and Christmas.  It was a great opportunitity to share the gospel with those who came, simply by reminding everyone of the real meaning of Christmas and its implications.

From there folks would head back home or to relatives' homes for family Christmas Lunch.  

Since it was holiday season anyhow, Sunday School was in recess and on Christmas Day the service was normally scheduled a little earlier (normal at the church I grew up at was 10am and Christmas was 8am) and it was limited to 1 hour to allow those time who had to travel longer distances to reach family gatherings. 

Here in our corner of Africa, it is the same, there is always a Christmas Day service.

So the fact that Christmas is on a Sunday this year, if anything it will feel a little strange for us because we will only meet together as a church once in the Christmas week instead of twice.

Though Americans may be stressing as to how they will manage to have proper gift giving AND gather with the church in the morning, other parts of the world have always done that and find no tension in the process, but instead find that it enhances the focus of the day and reminds us of the real reason for the day and its meaning for us.  

After all - we are the church only because of Christmas. Because the Son of God came and entered our world for the purpose of dying for sin and rising again to bring us new life, we in this world can be reconciled to God and united with Christ as His church.  

Surely for Americans,  that is a great reason to WANT to have such a unique opportunity this year to combine Christmas with a Sunday and share it not just with our earthly families but be reminded of our greater spiritual families and the GIFT that made it all possible!!  

We are just sorry that Americans only get to make it a church family day this one year, when in our part of the world, we get to do it every year!