So much pressure. The Holidays. Let’s see, there’s gift buying, decorating, pictures, christmas cards, more gift buying, holiday parties, family celebrations, Christmas programs, church services, cookie exchanges, dinner preparation, guests, and gift giving. Whew! Did I cover it all?? Just verbalizing all that we do and try to do around Christmas is exhausting. And for me, it leaves me a little overwhelmed. What would it be like to feel differently about the Christmas Season? What would it be like to put all that stuff to the side and focus solely on our Savior? How can we do this? How can we accomplish such a task with the whirlwind of activities and to-do lists and shopping?
Last year, if you were at the November meeting, you will recall that we spoke about some wonderful traditions that we could incorporate into our season to make it meaningful. I think we had a great time focusing on what would bring us into communion with Jesus as we celebrate his birth. Well, this year, I would like to again focus on Traditions. But in a slightly different way. Tonight I want to talk about what traditions are, why we have them, and what they create for the future generation. You see, we are creating traditions everyday and every year, just in the very movement of our lives. Some of the traditions we are creating we are very intentional about establishing and some of which we are creating with little knowledge and purpose. Some traditions are truly meaningful and others are hollow and unfulfilling. If we can gather a clear picture of the type of tradition it is that God is interested in us forming and practicing, then maybe we can focus on our Savior in an even more intimate and significant way this Christmas.
What do we know about traditions? What are some elements that make something a tradition?
Dictionary.com defines tradition like this...
1. The passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication.
a. A mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage.
b. A set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present: followed family tradition in dress and manners. See Synonyms at heritage.
2. A body of unwritten religious precepts.
3. A time-honored practice or set of such practices.
4. Law Transfer of property to another.
I heard several words and phrases in the definition that are worth taking a closer look at. The definition we heard included words like practice, continuously, and precedents. So, first, traditions are repetitive. We hardly call something a tradition if we have never done it before. But likewise, it is something more than just repetition, because we don’t call brushing our teeth a traditions, rather we call this a habit.
Second, time is an important component of tradition. The definition included these words: passing down, generation to generation, and time-honored. From these words we see that traditions transcend not just today and tomorrow. They can actually withstand time. They are not limited to an era or period of time.
I recently read a book by Noel Piper called, “Treasuring God in Our Traditions.” In the opening chapter of the book she reminds us that “good traditions strengthen our sense of history and belonging.”
Traditions can become ingrained, a deep way of life. In this way, tradition establishes history. History tells us where we came from, and why we are who we are. So, History is the third component of tradition. It is really the mixture of time and repetition, that creates something defining about the group of people who follow a tradition, that gives them an identity.
Traditions can actually give us a context for our lives, a context for the life we live and the life we leave behind. And in this way they give us a sense of belonging, just like Noel was saying in the quote I read. Belonging is perhaps the most emotional and important component of Tradition. It speaks not just to where we physically have come from, but to what we want to be associated and also received into. Noel Piper says, “As Christians our history is God’s story of drawing us into his family.” It is our adoption by God, as sons and daughters, as heirs to his inheritance, the inheritance of Him as our father.
Which leads us to the question, what is it that God has to say about tradition? You won’t find the word tradition in the bible. But, I don’t think you could argue that tradition is not part of God’s design. There are numerous places in the new and old testament where tradition is established by God for the Jewish people. Passover is a wonderful example.
This excerpt from Treasuring God in Our Traditions, describes several pieces to the type of tradition God wants us to create. Listen as I read from the book:
About the Passover celebration, for example, we read:
It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. (Exodus 12:42)
Some of the phrases in the verse help us see at least some of what God intended for his people through their traditions.
“A night of watching by the LORD” -- God wants his people to remember what he himself did for them.
“A night...to the LORD” -- God wants them to honor him for what he’s done.
“Throughout their generations”--God wants their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to hear the story of his salvation so they too will remember and honor him.
If we look at God’s instructions for the Festival of Booths commemorating the Jews’ forty years of desert wanderings, we see another important piece of his purpose.
“You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 23:42-43)
As with the Passover, God wants his people to celebrate in a way that re-enacts the story of his mighty deeds. And again he wants the coming generations to hear the story and celebrate him and what he’s done. Then there is an additional piece:
“I am the LORD your God”--God was not just part of their history. Their traditions are to proclaim that he is their God now. He is I AM.
So now, we have some working elements for tradition, repetition, time transcendence, strengthener of History and belonging; and we have an idea how God would have us establish traditions.
Re-enact the story of his mighty deeds
Tell the coming generations the story and celebrate him and what he has done
Proclaim that he is your God now
So, now the questions become what Traditions should we be establishing? And, what traditions already in existence should we participate in?
First traditions are for children and adults and to be everyday and especially days traditions.
Lets look at a specific passage in Deuteronomy 11. (read excerpt 1; 13-21)
Vs 1 - Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements his decrees, his laws and his commands always. 2 - Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; 3-the signs he preformed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh.... Notice here that he is speaking to those who have been witness to God’s Presence and Movement. Young children would not have yet experienced this yet... so to the adults he is saying.... vs 18, “You shall therefore lay up these words of min in your heart and in your soul.” This indicates to the frequency of tradition. Noel says, “The things we do regularly that help us in our deepest being to know and love and want God, the things that help our lives to be infiltrated with God -- those things are tradition.” Vs. 19. Speaking to the establishment of tradition for children, “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up....”
Further, Deuteronomy 4:9-10 says: (read excerpt)
So you see, Traditions help us as adults remember the work that God has done in our lives. They remind us of the work he has done for all believers. Traditions help us praise and glorify our father. Traditions are to include our children. Because our children don’t have the knowledge or experience yet of who God is and what he has done, traditions will tell them, and help them learn. Unlike a family heirloom, children cannot inherit God. We cannot pass down God to our children. BUT traditions help our children know and understand and prepare them to believe in God. Finally Traditions are for everyday. They can be practices that daily teach our children about God. Our everyday traditions could be some of the following:
Family Devotional
Family Prayer
Scripture Memorization
Personal Devotions
Something that defines your family - remember the sense of belonging
Schedule - or Order of your day
Hospitality
Christian World-view - Missions minded
Also - we need especially. Especially traditions are the ones that focus our attention on a specific event. They help bring us back from the ordinary day to remember the extraordinary. When we celebrate these moments, establish traditions to mark them, work is done in our own lives, in the lives of our children and reflect what is truly important to us. Especially traditions can be some of the following:
Birthdays
Weddings
Funerals
Anniversaries
Holidays - like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc
if I had any traditions surrounding Christmas growing up, few were Christ-centered.
No two Christmas’ were alike. Sometimes, we went to my Granny’s, sometimes my Grandma’s and sometimes we stayed home. Once we even went to Disney World. Christmas traditions for me involved decorations, gift giving, Santa, and food. To this day my bro and I still squabble over what type of sweet potato dish is to be made. We settle for a trade off, but since we don’t spend every holiday together anymore, I think he ends up with Sweet -Potatoes his way more than my way. Pie was big too. My mom would still make 3 pies if it was just the 4 of us on Christmas day. When we were at home we would go to a Christmas or Christmas eve service. I honestly don’t recall ever reading the Christmas story with my parents. I think back on my experience. I did feel as though I belonged to my family, but in a greater sense... I didn’t learn to belong to God’s family through our Christmas traditions. Perhaps that is why I feel so much pressure at Christmas. I want to give to my children what I missed. What about you?
Here we are, it’s Christmas time. We’re about to embark on a very significant Christian Tradition. What do we do daily, in the way of everyday traditions that draw us near to God? What have we already established to bring our children into knowledge of Jesus as their own Savior. Will we celebrate the birth of Christ? CAN we, or really WILL we participate in a tradition that is done God’s way? Will we re-enact the story of the miraculous birth? Will we tell this story to not just our children, but all the children in our lives? Will we celebrate God and what he has done? And will we Proclaim that he is our God now?
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