When you were growing up, did your family have any Christmas traditions?
If so, what were your favorite ones?
Have you carried those traditions on into your adult life?
Have you created any new traditions over the years?
Have you ever thought about why we have traditions? What purpose do they play in our lives? I’m not asking why we have any specific tradition, like hanging stockings over a fireplace or putting a pine tree in your living room; I am asking why we have these things called “traditions” in the first place?
Webster’s dictionary defines tradition as “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior”. That makes sense. There are certainly a lot of established and customary patterns of behavior related to Christmas that have been passed down over the generations. This is a good description of what they are, but still does not explain why they come about or what function they serve.
The second definition listed in Webster begins to shed some light on the question of why. It says, “the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction.” Ah, now this is starting to make sense! And I can see why that second item mentioned, beliefs, is so important. Traditions are a way of handing down beliefs from one generation to the next. And, yes, I can see how many traditions can perform this function without written instruction.
This is HUGE, because our beliefs are the foundation of our values. Our values are drawn from our beliefs, and our values dictate all aspects of our life and every decision we make. Think about it for a while: everything I do is because I hold a value that motivates that action.
Every tradition started at some point with the intention of handing down some belief, or set of beliefs from one generation to the next. So, you could think of a tradition as sort of like a vase, or vessel of some kind. It holds the beliefs- and values- inside of it, and makes it easier to pass those beliefs on to the next generation. This is what God was giving to the Isaelites when He instituted the Passover meal.
When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ Exodus 12:25-27
The meal, and all the ceremony and symbolism it has, is a container, and inside of that container is a story, and the story ensures that the next generation will hold onto the belief that God, Yahweh Himself, had saved the Jews from Egypt, redeemed them from slavery, and made them into a people of His very own.
I wonder if I could begin to view each tradition as an invitation? I wonder If I can see the various elements of celebrations and symbols around them as invitations to enter into the story behind them, and the values, and beliefs that are buried deep inside. And I wonder if this would help me discover a fresh perspective and new appreciation for both the traditions, and the values I discover within?
My prayer for you is that God would show you the treasures in your traditions. And in them, you might glimpse the Kingdom of God. And it would be so beautiful and so compelling … well, it would be like someone who finds a treasure in a field, and after finding it, he buries it again, and he gives up all he has so he can get that field and have that treasure!
Yours in Christ,
John Golling
Registrar / Director of Student Life | Covenant Bible Seminary
Faculty Mentor | Kairos University