Relationships are roots
A couple weeks ago, we came to church and found one of our trees doing what trees are not supposed to do: laying down. It had been a little windy the night before but, beyond that, there wasn’t any direct cause for it falling over. Though it was beautifully shaped, it seemed odd that such a large tree, which had been standing for years, would suddenly come toppling down.
Then I looked at the root base. The roots were remarkably shallow for such a large tree and hardly grew out from the trunk. I am not an arborist, but even I could see the reason for the tree falling over: its root base never developed. Worse, there weren’t any other trees nearby for its unambitious roots to intermingle with so it could draw strength and stability from connecting with others. Because the roots never set themselves deeply and firmly, and because it was isolated, it gradually grew weaker and weaker as the tree kept growing. Finally, one night about two weeks ago, it toppled over of its own weight.
I think about that in regard to this Christmas season.
The Christmas “thing” that we have going on in the US has become quite a large animal. There are Santas everywhere, advertisements on TV, family demands, vacations, gift-giving, and all the rest. There’s so much pressure, noise, and expectation around this season; no wonder we get so busy and stressed! Christmas has become a gigantic “tree” in the calendar of our yearly lives that, if we are not careful, celebrating can actually push out the reason for it.
That is why it is important to make sure our roots as Christians go deep into what this season is about. We need to remind ourselves that the reason for the season, the reason behind all of it, is this little baby born into our world to bring us hope, peace, joy, and love. This little God-child came into the arms of those that meant nothing to the world and had nothing but himself to offer. He was God giving himself in relationship to us and inviting us to do the same with each other. Such a miraculous gift, this gift of love! Love is all about relationships and connection.
And so we celebrate that love at Christmas, and we see echoes of it in the ways we do so. We put up evergreen trees as a sign of the message of hope never dying. We decorate with lights and candles to symbolize the light of the world coming into ours. We give gifts in the tradition of the Magi to show love, honor, and respect to our loved ones. We take time off to remind ourselves that our lives and our world are not defined by what we do but rather by who we care about and spend time with. Christmas is first and foremost about relationships.
These deep roots give strength and meaning to this Christmas season. First, it must be rooted in love for this little baby that came to be with us and love for the others we share this life with. If we forget that its meaning gets lost. The apostle Paul challenges us about this in Colossians 2:7 – “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
If we forget that, the danger is the meaning of Christmas can collapse under its own weight. We can end up spending too much, striving too hard, resenting all the obligations, and, ultimately, just waiting for it to be over, resenting the extra debt and the extra pounds. Christmas can collapse from something beautiful into something that has nothing to do with that little baby at all.
We need to grow roots that go deep and wide into the meaning of the season. We need to reach down into the one who is the reason for it and out to the others he has given us. We need to push deep into the meaning behind what we’re doing, reach out and connect with others, and hold to the love it is all about.
If we can do that, we can carry the craziness of the season and help ourselves, and others stay grounded in what matters. We can stay rooted in what Christmas is all about. Let’s grow deeply into that!
Until I see you around, I pray you enjoy this week of celebrating the joy Jesus has promised us. I very much look forward to celebrating the reason for the season at some of our gatherings ahead. Stay rooted in Merry Christmas!
--Trevor Owen, Pastor of Spiritual Formation
