Monday, December 23, 2024
by Rev. Erik Khoobyarian

I realize that talking about the days after Christmas just before Christmas is a little bit disappointing, but sometimes it helps to talk about things before they happen. It takes away a little bit of the sting. For me, the days after Christmas were a disappointment when I was little. After all of the build-up and excitement leading to Christmas, after the dead and shedding tree was out on the curb and the decorations were stowed and the presents lost their shine, I, then, started to get a little bit down – I always seem to miss the excitement!

Our culture, and even our church celebration of Advent, build up to this main event that is celebrated at Christmas. It seems that many people get tired of Christmas once it comes and are ready to move on after it passes. In fact, I have some friends who have all of the decorations of Christmas stripped away by the 26th if not the evening of the 25th!

While Christmas Day is important, the season of Christmas starts at Christmas and continues through Epiphany, on January 6 (we will celebrate Epiphany on Sunday, January 5, 2025). While Christmas celebrates Jesus coming into the world as the baby boy – Emmanuel, God with us – Epiphany is a call to us to show Christ into the world and to be witnesses of God to all who we encounter.

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” between Christmas and Easter are the perfect opportunity for us to consider what the Incarnation means for each one of us. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, which is the coming into the world of God in human form. This is a huge event and sometimes I wonder if all of the distractions of Christmas are designed to have us avoid realizing just how significant this is! 

The season of Christmas between December 25 and January 6 is set aside for us to prepare for the coming year by centering ourselves on God’s presence in our lives and how we will witness that presence to others. So, even if you pack away the holly, ornaments, and everything else, and even if your tree is curbside and dead, consider allowing Christmas – the reality of God with us – to continue into Epiphany and beyond!

I had a thought … even if you plan to move on from Christmas quickly, try to find some physical reminder that you can keep out until Epiphany to remind you of Christ’s presence in the world today. Maybe the nativity or your advent wreath. Come up with a plan for something you can do each day during the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany to recognize God’s presence in your life. One suggestion is to plan on spending time each of the twelve days praying for one month in the upcoming year. Pray that God will make God’s presence known to you in that month and that you will be able to live into the Incarnation in that month. Another idea is to plan on spending time each day praying for someone who is dear to you and sending notes of encouragement to the people. Take a few minutes today to come up with a plan and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running later this week! Merry Christmas (all of it!).