Last week in College I shared a little bit about Stir-Up Sunday and it caught the attention of a few people so I thought I would share (again) a little more about just how many of our Christmas traditions “tell” the Christmas story. When Christmas is so visible in society, I think it’s important to tell the Christmas story and remind people that many of our favourite Christmas traditions are rooted in the biblical story of the Incarnation and the birth of Jesus. Many of our Christmas traditions narrate the meaning of Christmas in a symbolic manner bringing new ways to talk about Christmas with those we encounter at Christmas.
I’ll begin with Stir-Up Sunday as I mentioned above. Despite not being a very good baker, one of my favourite traditions is Stir-Up Sunday. While largely rooted in the Anglican tradition, the last Sunday before Advent is traditionally the day to make your Christmas pudding / cake giving it enough time to mature. It’s named Stir-Up Sunday due to the words of the Book of Common Prayer which uses these words in its opening prayer:
Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Every year on the Sunday before Advent begins these words are heard and, while not intentionally planned, the link between “stirring up” / “fruit of good works” and the making of Christmas pudding have become enmeshed. Moreover, Christmas puddings traditionally have 13 ingredients – 12 for the apostles and one for Christ (we can debate what the most significant ingredient is that represents Christ!?) It is stirred from east to west with all the family taking part to represent the journey of the Magi from the east to the west. And as for Christmas cake, the origins date back to a cake that was made to be eaten on the twelfth night – or January 5th – to celebrate the arrival of the Magi. The spices in a Christmas cake are reminders of the gifts that the Magi brought (and their origin in the East where in times gone by was where such spices were sourced from). Mince pies were similarly spiced for the same reason and originally shaped in a rectangle to represent the crib of Christ. We may not take part in such activities as often anymore, or make our Christmas desserts in the same way, but as we tuck into a Christmas dinner this year, we can be reminded that these sweet treats tell some of the story of Christmas.
But it doesn’t stop there, let’s take Christmas decorations. We fill our houses full of seasonal décor ready for the Christmas festivities. We put up lights, perhaps a wreath, trim a tree, and hang some stockings. Christmas lights are one of my favourites – seeing the bright lights on a dark night brings joy. It reminds us of Isaish 9, the well-used verse at Christmas, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. So much of our Christmas traditions put light against darkness reminding us that, as the gospel of John describes the birth narrative, Christ is the light of the world. Not only do the lights on the Christmas tree remind us of Christ, but the Christmas tree itself does the same. The evergreen fir reminds us of the unending love of God and the eternal life that Christ brought through his Incarnation. We use a star or an angel on top of the tree as symbols of the annunciation of Christ’s birth in the biblical narrative. There’s even a possible predecessor of the Christmas tree that links it with the tree of life. December 24th is the named feast day for Adam and Eve in the Eastern Orthodox church and the tradition is to decorate a tree with apples. Taking over this tradition, the Christmas tree and December 25th, is a symbol of the recapitulation found in Christ – the recovery of Adam and Eve’s disobedience being achieved through Christ’s obedience. Our houses and Christmas trees are often laden with decoration, but also laden with Christian meaning.
And wreaths we hang on our doors communicate a similar idea. The circularity and the evergreen leaves remind us of God’s everlasting love and the eternal life we enter into through the birth of Christ. Perhaps you have a sprig of holly around the house or on top of the Christmas pudding – holly has come to represent the crown of thorns with the red berries a symbol of the blood shed by Christ. It’s a link from Christ’s birth to his death and resurrection reminding us at the beginning about the “end”.
The idea of Advent has seeped into wider consciousness too. It’s common to see supermarkets selling Advent calendars. I often wonder how many people buying Advent calendars know what advent is. In a mirror of Lent and Easter, Advent is the fasting before the feast day. These days it’s more common to think of it as a time of preparation, but in the Judeo-Christian tradition, periods of fasting always preceded the major festivals (though I’m not sure a fast in the lead up to Christmas would be a popular suggestion!) In fact, in the celtic tradition Advent is 6 weeks long, or 40 days in a mirror of Lent and Easter (which in themselves remind us of all the “40s” in the Bible – 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, 40 years of the wanderings in the desert before entering the Promised Land and so on). And so when we open the doors on our Advent calendars we’re rehearsing the long tradition of counting down towards the feast. We anticipate the joy that the feast commemorates. We walk the paths of the Christmas story in the days leading up to Christmas as we share in the anticipation of the birth of Christ, just as Mary and Joseph journeyed in anticipation of the birth of Jesus.
Of course, how can we leave out Santa and exchanging of gifts! Although our depictions of Santa have evolved over years, there is still a clear link back to the traditions of St Nicholas, a staunch defender of Christ’s divinity at the Council of Nicaea and an extravagant giver of gifts, particularly to children. While the tradition is now quite removed from the biblical story, the giving of gifts nonetheless reminds us both of the gifts of the Magi (whose gifts themselves were symbols of Christ’s kingship and priestly functions, as well as his death and resurrection and his divinity) and of the gift of Christ entering into our world, assuming human nature, and by doing so reconciling humanity to God. Even the stocking we hang are reminders of St Nick’s tradition of filling shoes with gifts which over time has changed from shoes to socks to stockings! As we inhabit these practices, we’re subtly, maybe unconsciously, rehearsing the meaning behind the Christmas story by celebrating the gift that is the birth of the Christ.
Perhaps your favourite bit of the Christmas season is when the busyness is over and you can relax on Boxing Day. Even Boxing Day has links to its Christian tradition. The name refers to the alms boxes which churches used to collect money for the poor throughout the year and opened on Christmas Day to be distributed on the feast of Saint Stephen, the day after Christmas (and why Good King Wenceslas is a Christmas Carol despite not having much to do with Christmas on a surface reading!) The history of distributing wealth to the less well-off carried over into employers giving Christmas boxes as bonuses to their employees. Once again, the idea of gifts and charity are woven into the fabric of the Christmas tradition narrating that love came down at Christmas.
And in the northern hemisphere Christmas is celebrated in the dark of winter. While debates rage about the pre-Christian traditions that Christmas may have overtaken or whether the date of December 25th was set by the early church very intentionally, they are not as important as recognising that over time and tradition Christmas being placed at the winter solstice is a reminder of the light breaking into the darkness. A turning point in the year, just as Christ’s birth is a turning point in history. (Interestingly there’s a corresponding nod to John the Baptist celebrated 6 months earlier on the summer solstice when daylight begins to decrease reminding us of his words that he must decrease so that Christ may increase). While the 12 days of Christmas are now most commonly associated with the song, they are in fact the period between the feast of Christmas and the feast of Epiphany on January 6th marking the arrival of the Magi and the announcement of Christ the King to the world. It is also the end of Christmastide and so traditionally when our Christmas decorations come down (and if we forget they are supposed to stay up until Candlemas on February 2nd – 40 days after Christmas and when Christ was presented at the Temple). I’ve seen quite a lot of references to the 12 days of Christmas (strangely as the lead up to Christmas) as well as a film the 12 days of Christmas Eve, but nevertheless, whether deployed correctly or not, they are all nods to the revelation of Christ to the world – first to his own and then to all the world.
Practices and traditions alone are not enough to communicate the fullness of the Christmas story and some of these Christmas traditions are disputed and most have become a lot less like their original intention. However, whether consciously or not embracing our Christmas traditions and inhabiting their practices are all ways we can help narrate the birth of Christ and remember the meaning behind the history.
I wish you the most joyful of Advent seasons and a wonder-filled Christmastide. May you truly know the light of Christ that shines in the darkness.
These thoughts are not necessarily the views of the College, but hopefully a way to provoke deeper thought. Please feel free to engage in helpful dialogue with me using graham.meiklejohn@uws.ac.uk or through social media if that’s where you see it!