Advent Devotional

I volunteered to write an piece for my church's Advent Devotional and here it is:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.
--I Thessalonians 5:16-19

When I was in grad school I knew a couple of guys who were movie nuts. Their favorite was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I loved that because it’s one of my family’s favorite holiday movies as well. But while my family tries to get in just one viewing before Christmas, these guys would watch it in April, July, whenever!

When I read my scripture verse I was immediately drawn to the last line, “do not quench the Spirit” and I thought about those guys and that movie. And I thought about how we play Christmas music earlier and earlier each year and how in September there are already Christmas decorations in the stores. But mostly I thought about how sometimes we quench the Spirit, especially at Christmastime, by focusing on trees and gifts and parties. We worry more about accommodating houseguests than what the holiday actually represents.

And that’s where Christmas Vacation comes in. That movie, that tale of a man trying to create the perfect holiday experience for his family, is the perfect example of what we, yes, even us church-going Christians, do to Christmas. And if you watch it all the way to the end, you’ll find out what Clark Griswold found out: it’s just not worth it. All the shopping and the cooking and the people pleasing. It doesn’t make Christmas Christmas. So what does? Doing things like watching Christmas Vacation with your family. Making one batch of cookies, instead of forty, and talking to your friends while you let them stir the batter. Taking time each day to read an advent devotional. (If you’re reading this, you’re ahead of the curve!) Taking a moment after reading a Christmas card you’ve just received to pray for the sender.

Yes, yes, it’s easy to say if we do these things, Christmas will be all bright and shiny. And maybe it will. Or maybe, more realistically, Christmas will become more of a personal celebration of your Savior than a holiday process we have to trudge through. So “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit!” His will is for you to celebrate His birthday, so get to it!