Like many families, we have several Christmas traditions. We bake and decorate cookies every Christmas Eve. My wife, Shelley, cooks ribs in the crockpot all night long from Christmas Eve until Christmas morning. Waking up to the smell of BBQ ribs is the aroma of Christmas! In addition to candy canes, I set out Slim Jims. I know what you are thinking, “Why aren’t we doing that?” We always watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It is the best Christmas movie ever! On the more serious side, well, BBQ is serious, we have also celebrated Advent every year in various forms since our kids were little. I really love our traditions and this time of year.
Like all kids, it did not take long for them to figure out that Christmas meant they would be receiving gifts. With the way we do things, our kids figured out that some gifts just appear during the night and are there when they wake up on Christmas morning. To be honest, we never made a big deal out of Santa. We told our oldest that he was not real when she was five. But we have always “played Santa”. Knowing that gifts would appear, I needed a way to prevent them from being able to look into the living room if they got up at night. So that created another tradition.
The Christmas Sheet.
It is a sheet I hang in the hallway so they can’t see into the living room. Once the sheet is up, you do not dare come past it or look around it until I say so on Christmas morning. Actually, no one can come out of their room on Christmas morning until my wife and I say it’s okay. No bathroom breaks!
After the kids are in their rooms, Shelley and I begin to get everything just right for Christmas morning. And like many parents, I have built all kinds of things late into the night. However, it is not just about assembling the latest gadget. For me, and I get a little mocked for it in my family, it is all about presentation. Everything in the living room has to be perfect. Everything in its place. Everything ready.
So Christmas morning arrives, and I am awakened by the beautiful aroma of the Christmas ribs, and I make my way past the Christmas Sheet to put the final touches on the living room. I turn on the tree lights, some nice Christmas music, and start a pot of coffee (a key ingredient for a Merry Christmas).
I make sure everything is just right for the moment the kids come into the room. When everything is how it is supposed to be, either Shelley or I will get the kids and have them wait just the other side of the sheet from the living room. At the right moment we pull the sheet back and they come into the room to enjoy all that the day holds.
The tradition of the Christmas Sheet is symbolic of the birth of Christ.
Look at this beautiful passage from Galatians 4:4-5,
“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
God had a plan for your redemption for a really long time. Look at that first statement, “when the time came to completion.” God was finished getting everything ready. You can think of it like this. For all eternity, God had been preparing the perfect moment for Jesus to be born. He had everything in all of creation how he wanted it for this history-changing event. Every person was alive that he wanted alive. Every person had existed that He wanted to have existed. Every road, every tree, every city, every town. The weather. The cultural conditions. The government. The census that sent Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. The “there just happened to be no room in the inn” situation. The stable.
Everything was exactly how God wanted it to pull back the “Christmas Sheet” so that we could know Jesus and receive the gift of adoption into His family.
That is what this season is about. As you get everything ready and enjoy your traditions, don’t just squeeze in a quick thought about Jesus. Take a long pause and reflect on all that has been done for you in the sending of Jesus Christ to earth. He was sent because of the Father’s love. He was sent to purchase your freedom.
He really loves you a lot!
God, at just the right moment, told us all that we can belong to His family.
Merry Christmas!
[This article was adapted from the Abiding in Jesus Blog by Doug Hunt]
About the Author
Doug Hunt has been in vocational Christian ministry for over 25 years. Currently, he serves on staff at Rock Bridge Community Church as the Dalton Campus Pastor. Want to read more by Doug Hunt? Visit his website here to read his full catalog of spiritual encouragement!