Keeping Christmas Spirit Alive Dont’ Rush Through The Season Rev. Michael Sager Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

Thu., Dec. 25, 1997

By Angie Gaddy angieg@spokesman.com

As store clerks were beginning to stock shelves with Christmas decorations last month, the Rev. Michael Sager wanted to make sure his two-year-old son knew Jesus was in Wal-Mart.

Standing in the Christmas aisles brimming with trees and ornaments, Sager and his wife asked their son, “Where is Jesus?” The boy immediately pointed to the plastic baby Jesus in a Nativity scene.

Rather than completely refuse Christmas commercialism, there’s a way to balance the spiritual side with tinseled shopping malls and Tickle Me Elmo dolls, says the pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

The Yuletide season may be filled with sugarplum fairies and Nintendo games, but you don’t have to live an ascetic life to get in touch with the true meaning of Christmas, he says. Just take time to enjoy the 12-day celebration.

“We can get a balance between the celebrations of the world and the celebrations of the church. I don’t think we need to be in conflict,” he says. “I don’t think we need one or the other. If we have one then it will put the other in perspective.”

The holidays have become a season of hurry and worry for many. Snowglobes grace store shelves before the Thanksgiving turkey has thawed. Too many people stress about Christmas chores rather than bask in the peace of the season.

“We tend to celebrate it once. On Christmas afternoon we unbuckle our belts and forget about it,” he says. “It’s actually a 12-day celebration. The 12-day period begins on Christmas Eve.”

Ironically, he notes, this time is the busiest time of the year, with people hurrying to send out Christmas cards, buying presents and preparing for parties. Yet Advent, he says, is actually about waiting.

“We’re waiting for God to enter our lives.”

Sager tries to demonstrate that to his 260-member congregation by singing only Advent hymns during Advent, by focusing his sermons on waiting and by beginning the Christmas celebrations on Christmas Sunday.

“I try not to let myself get wrapped in the hurriedness as much as I can. I allow myself to enjoy the season.”

That means cutting down a Christmas tree closer to the holiday, going to worship services on Christmas Eve and even Christmas shopping after Christmas because it’s a slower, less hectic time.

“It’s really about longing - an inner sense of missing and desire. We long for acceptance and love. That’s what the Christmas season is about,” he says.

And whether those days are spent roasting chestnuts by the fire or throwing snowballs in the front yard, savor the time. Meditate on the meaning of Christmas, he says. That’s how we can balance modern culture with spiritually.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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