Twinkling lights on a tree in the evening
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Topics: Spirituality | Religion

Why I hate Christmas (mostly)

Sure, the holiday season can be a pain, but it also brings the miracle of hope, this minister says

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This sermon was the runner-up in Broadview’s first-ever Best Christmas Sermon Ever contest. You can watch the other winning sermons here!

I hate Christmas.

I hate the busy stores.

I hate feeling guilty about avoiding busy stores by ordering gifts on Amazon.

I hate buying toys that will be broken by Boxing Day.

I hate trimming the tree. Or more precisely I hate when someone else trims the tree and I can’t stop myself from re-trimming it when they’re not looking.

I hate pulling out the decorations I’ve had for 40 years and realizing I’ve had them for 40 years!

I hate trying to co-ordinate everyone’s busy schedules so we can sit down for a meal together.

I hate it when I burn the cookies everyone expects me craft to perfection.


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I hate sappy Christmas movies and radio stations that start playing Christmas music on the 1st of November and I HATE Bruce Springsteen singing Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town almost as much as Mariah Carey singing All I Want for Christmas is You.

I hate the commercials that insist $129.99 for a contraption that heats bath towels is the perfect gift.

I hate the dozen or so emails I get every day asking for money for this or that charity whose CEO earns 50 times the minimum wage.

I hate those Facebook posts that say: “It’s Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays. Like if you agree!”

I hate that. I hate it all.

There. I said it. I feel so much better now.

Let’s be honest; you hate some of that too. That’s why you go to a darkened sanctuary on Christmas Eve to leave all that behind and to soak up the feeling that is in that sacred space. What is that feeling, exactly?

I think it’s hope.

There are two elements to hope: expectation and trust. Hope is an expectation that something good is going to happen and the trust that it will happen, even if the outcome is not what we expected. Hope is knowing there is more than one outcome to every situation, and it might just be better than we imagined.

The people of Israel were hoping, 2,000 years ago. Fuelled by the predictions of prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, they were expecting a king to kick out the Romans and give them back their country, their way of life, the power they used to have. Steeped in the tradition of David, the warrior king, the people of Israel longed for a leader who could call on the power of God to knock down fortress walls like Joshua did, or bring on plagues and fiery tornadoes like Moses did.

What they got was a baby. Not quite what they had in mind.

It’s like when you open that big mysterious box under the tree and inside you find a vacuum cleaner. Not quite what you had in mind, but exactly what you need to clear away the mess Christmas leaves behind.

Who would think what was needed to transform and save, not only Israel, but the whole world, is not a king or an army, but a baby? A baby who grew into a man. A man who healed people. And the people he healed went out and healed other people, and the hope became, because of him, that the whole world would be healed. It isn’t yet. The powers of fear are strong in our world right now, but today we remember that a child called Emmanuel came, a child whose name means “God is with us.” Us with God. God with us.

Not up there somewhere, not 2,000 years ago, but here, now, drifting around in the hope that fills the darkened sanctuary you have chosen this night.

With hope, the crazy, messed up, commercialized, militarized, money-grubbing, hate-filled, bigoted world doesn’t stand a chance. Bring on the demagogues and the tyrants; we’ve got a baby born in a manger. Bring on the pipelines and the climate deniers; we’ve got shepherds of the land who will not be moved.

Bring on the short-sighted, bottom-liners. We will dismantle their empire one stone at a time without raising an army or firing a single shot because God – not nations, nor principalities, nor powers – God, determines the future, and God is with us.

God, in human form, the Christ-child born, in you.


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For there to be hope in the world, you must hope.

For there to be peace in the world, you must pursue peace.

For there to be love in the world, you must love.

Not alone, not in silence, but loudly, boldly, clearly.

Tell it on the mountains.

Ring the bells.

Call your member of Parliament, or, better yet, sit on her doorstep.

Carry a sign.

Hold out a hand in peace.

Don’t let anonymous hateful comments go unchallenged.

Hope. And trust in the power of hope.

Yes, I hate lots of things about Christmas. But every sparkling light, every cookie baked, every gift exchanged, every carol sung is meant to give us hope, again and again and again. So bring it on, Prince of Peace, little baby in a manger, and let the celebration begin!

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Patti Rodgers is a designated lay minister at Bond Head (Ont.) United. Her sermon was the runner-up in Broadview’s Best Christmas Sermon Ever Contest.

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  • says:

    It may feel a bit Scrooge-like, but I have long shared some of the sentiments expressed by Ms. Rodgers. I do like many things about Christmas, but I also feel a fair bit of dislike over the almost-overwhelming aspects of commercialized gift-giving. In many ways, it comes with lots of anxiety for many folks, too much post-Christmas debt for some folks, and lots of needless landfill rubbish! But, then there is the true Christmas message of love, peace and hope. Let us celebrate and give thanks for the real Christmas!