Trees
So have you got your Christmas tree up yet? That was always a very fun occasion in our home, putting up the Christmas tree and hanging the decorations. We'd put some Christmas music on - Boney M probably - and just enjoy a bit of a festive time.
Now I've been to churches where people say “we don't do Christmas trees here, that's a Pagan thing, you know that comes from the wrong sort of history. And so we don't do Christmas tree, we just worship.” And I understand their seriousness, and to an extent I respect that seriousness, but I don't share it. I believe that a Christmas tree in the home, if it is used for the right purpose, can be a great symbol of Christ's presence in your house. But you've got to make it symbolize Jesus and not just let it be a sort of traditional tree.
Symbolic Christmas Tree
Now here at the Church of Nazarene in Boksburg, we are doing a gratitude tree this year. Our Christmas tree has got prayers of our people hung all around it, prayers of thankfulness that people have written on these little cards and hung up on the tree. And it's a wonderful thing. The tree stands as a beacon of hope and light in our church, and of course as a symbol of our gratitude for what God has done in our lives.
You can use your Christmas tree to share the light of Christ if you make it that way, however you decide to. I've also heard of people doing a Jesus tree, hanging anything that has to do with Jesus - so people would hang a nail because that represents his death, or even a cross. People would also hang a little light bulb ornament because he's the light of the world, or a little water jug because he is the living water.
Tree of Christ
And so, you know, it becomes a talking point in the home - “What are all these decorations on your tree?” “This is what we believe about the true meaning of Christmas.”
Don't be weary of a Christmas tree, friends. Yes, don't just put it in because it's a Christmas symbol, but put it in as we celebrate the birth of Christ in this season as a pointer to Christ in your lives.
May it be that whoever sees the tree in your home or wherever you put it up will see the great affection you have for the child born in a manger.
