Christmas is coming...

The calendar and major retailers are telling me, Christmas is coming… but is it? Will Christmas 2020 feel like Christmas? I’m not sure that I want ‘the new-normal’ version of Christmas. Even without COVID, Christmas can be a confusing time for ministry wives - as the season’s increased gospel opportunities and demands clash with the way our families “do Christmas”.

Christmas is one of those remaining times where we crave tradition rather than novelty - whether we keep well-worn, familiar patterns of celebration from our own childhood, or we begin new ones with the intention that they be repeated in future years. Not being able to sing Christmas carols together (without a mask) may seem trivial in the light of a global pandemic and it’s probably worth skipping Christmas morning pancakes to preach the gospel but still…

It’s only human to grieve changes - both those we choose for ourselves and those that come upon us. Yet, could a ‘COVID Christmas’ be the chance we all need to recalibrate and thoughtfully re-consider what makes Christmas Christmas.

It’s been 10 years since Amy Kuhn moved from the US to Australia so that her husband, Chase, could do his PhD at Moore Theological College. Recently, they did a podcast together - ‘Traditions, Christmas and Thoughtful Christian Living’ - at the CCL (Centre for Christian Living) where Amy reflects on how their family has cultivated traditions and celebrations in the face of loss and change.

…moving to Australia was huge. I think that the first couple of years that we moved here, I really grieved Christmas, because it was so incredibly different from anything we had ever experienced. We’d come to a warm climate where Christmas is in summertime, and the city doesn’t do decorations like the US, and people talk about going to the beach and having salads, and I was used to turkey and stuffing, and so I really grieved…

Amy said it made Chase and her think through the question, “Is it still Christmas if…?” It wasn’t just about live pine trees and cities decked with amazing lights, or even if her extended family were there. It came down to something much more indefinable, did it feel like Christmas?

We often want the feeling of the season that then brings on, I guess, recollections of things, but the question we had to really decide on was “Is the feeling a real reflection of the thing we’re celebrating, and can we celebrate without the feeling?”

As Amy and Chase chat through the things they’ve done and why - the key word that they keep coming back to is expectation, building the right expectations. It’s interesting examining our cultural and personal Christmas traditions in that light - what expectations do they build? For an alien observing us, what would they discern Christmas is about? Or our children and neighbours, what would they say? Or the women at church, what fills our conversations as the 25th draws near?

The word ‘advent’ is derived from the Latin word adventus meaning ‘coming’, which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. Today, we primarily associate Advent with Christ’s first coming - in the manger. But historically, the early church didn’t stop there. Christmas inevitably points to Christ’s future coming - in the clouds. Speaking practically, the Kuhns talk about the value of advent calendars and devotionals - as a way of being “very active” in building expectancy of Christ’s coming(s). The Kuhns use the Jesse Tree Advent that Barbara and Kent Hughes talk about in their book, Disciplines of a Godly Family. Chase says,

… it’s effectively a biblical theology that you develop as you hang an ornament on the tree each day.

As the kids open each day’s ornament, there’s a sense of surprise which builds anticipation or expectation as you head towards Christmas Day. Year on year, there’s also a familiarity that grows, as they remember and associate each ornament with a marker in the Bible’s big story. It’s an annual re-telling of our history as God’s people that points to our greater hope of salvation that’s yet to come. And it’s not just for the kids! Amy also recommends committing to an advent devotional for yourself. She says it’s a great way to help her refocus amidst all the distractions of the season - like how to ship presents to the US in a pandemic! Even when it can sometimes feel like you’re just going through the motions of reading the passage - “because you know you should” - it’s still a way to get “shaken out” of what you’re thoughtlessly drifting towards.

The Kuhns helpfully conclude with an important but often forgotten point. A few years ago, Amy’s beloved dad passed away - and this Christmas, there won’t be any grandmas visiting from the US either. They acknowledge that for many people, Christmas is a time of terrible grief or a “real drag”. Surrounded by merry-making, it can be a tangible reminder that all they are longing for is still yet to come. This Christmas will probably leave us all with a taste of longing - as we miss things that we’ve previously taken for granted.

Whether we feel like celebrating or not, the reminder that God is faithful to his promises - ‘Christ has come!’ - gives us real hope for our future. And so we wait with the certain expectation that ‘Christ will come again!’ - and all God’s good promises will be finally be realised. Surely that’s worth celebrating - and even more in the midst of a pandemic when it’s all too clear that along with our fallen world, we are weary and waiting.

These days, Amy says she loves a summer Christmas and she could easily get carried away with the new traditions they’ve made in Sydney - like heading to the beach for a swim on Christmas Day. Whatever traditions we cultivate, whatever our circumstances, long after COVID-19 becomes history, the question to ask is…

Are we passively moving through something that gives us all the feels of Christmas, or are we deliberately heading into that season expectant of Christ?

Amy and Chase Kuhn

originally hale from California. They met in high school at their church group and got married after completing university. Chase lectures in Christian Doctrine and Ministry at Moore Theological College and is the Head of the Centre for Christian Living. The Kuhns are part of God’s family at St Thomas’, North Sydney. Amy loves the opportunities that being a minister’s wife brings to serve alongside Chase - especially having people in their home, sharing the ups and downs of life together. Her biggest tip for ministry wives (or anyone) is - “the Word is what we need”, in every situation life throws our way.

Recommendations from Amy Kuhn

Treasuring God in Our Traditions, Noel Piper

Disciplines of a Godly Family, Kent & Barbara Hughes

Just Nicholas, Anna Kratzsch

Advent devotionals

The Jesse Tree Family Advent, Missional Mums

Repeat the Sounding Joy, Christopher Ash (Read reviews: The Best Advent Devotional I have read; The EQUIP Book Club)

The One True Story, Tim Chester

The One True Light, Tim Chester

Good News of Great Joy, John Piper