Exhortation for Fourth Sunday in Advent:

For many the Christmas season is not a time of good cheer but almost the opposite. It’s a time of frustration, anxiety, bad temper, family strife, and disappointed expectations. It’s a time when kids eat too much candy, which leads first to hyperactivity and then to grumpiness until a dark surly cloud descends on the whole house. Plus, Dad is home from work for several days, and just gets in the way. Older kids are home from school and they spend their days picking on their younger siblings and trying to avoid chores. Grown-up children look back with relief that they’re out of the house and don’t have to endure any more holidays with their families.

It would be nice to say these descriptions applied only to unbelieving families, but they don’t. Christian families, who go to church and sing songs of peace and joy are often as angry and frustrated, as surly and bitter as any unbelieving families. Evil desires, James says, war within us also, and cause strife and quarrels and conflicts. Ultimately, the solution is the one James gives: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” You must resist the temptations that will come your way during this season, but in order to resist them, it will helpful to identify and anticipate some of these enemies beforehand.

First, envy. Gift-giving is one of the wonderful customs of the Christmas season, and it is a custom deeply rooted in the gospel. At Christmas, we celebrate the gift of God to His people, God’s gift of Himself to the world, and we are caught up in God’s gift-giving by our own gift-giving. But as sinners we are constantly tempted to be dissatisfied with what WE get. Somebody else gets the game or the skirt or the bracelet or the shotgun that we’ve had our eye on all year, and instead of rejoicing with them we envy them and complain about our own gifts. During this Christmas season, be thankful and joyful in everything. Don’t envy your neighbor, or covet your brother’s or your sister’s gifts. Remember that God has given you a gift better than any other, a gift you did not deserve in the least. Remember that, and give thanks.

Second, anger. The Christmas season is so busy, there is so much to do, so many cookies to bake and so many special dinners to serve, so much shopping to do — there is so much to do that many times patience wears thin, pressure rises, and tempers break out. But anger has no place in a Christmas celebration. Christmas is all about God showing unutterable mercy to sinful people, it’s about God putting aside His JUSTIFIED anger in order to show us His love and grace. Relax, put away your anger, and let your speech and conduct be filled with the gentleness and grace that God has shown to you.

Third, bitterness and resentment. Christmas means doing many things for other people. Spending so much time thinking about getting gifts for other people, or cooking for other people, or baking cookies for other people can lead to resentment. What have they done for me? you’ll be tempted to ask. Are they spending the same energy and time to pick out the right present for ME that I am for them? But if there is anything that is incompatible with Christmas, it is an attitude of surliness and anger, or a sense of bitterness or resentment at all the stuff that needs to be done. Remember again what Christmas is about: God went to far greater lengths than you ever have gone or ever will go for anyone, and He’s done it for you. Remember that, and imitate the lavish generosity of God.

If you fall into envy, anger, bitterness, or any other sin over the holidays, confess it, and repent of it quickly. But better than that, avoid it from the beginning, and pray that your Christmas will be full of thanksgiving, patience, joy, love, peace, kindness, self-control, and every other fruit of the Spirit.