About a month ago, I wrote a blog post about how Thanksgiving was being replaced by a new holiday: Black Friday. Rather than expressing gratitude for what they own, people use the four-day weekend to hunt down and stock up on what they don’t have. The focus has shifted from the past to the present. It’s hard to be thankful when you don’t take any time to look back and reflect.
We Americans are an optimistic and forward-looking people. We envision what might be, we speculate on what we could accomplish, and we dream of what we can achieve. In many ways, the future is our home.
And that compounds the problem of Thanksgiving. It’s tough to be thankful when looking at the future because it’s empty, containing nothing more than possibility, potential, and hope. We’re not in the habit of giving thanks for these.
Whether we’re setting goals (New Year’s resolutions, anyone?), making plans, or filling out next year’s calendar, we focus on the future. And in doing so, we drift from our past; we lose contact with what God has done and how He has provided for us. Detached from the past, spending on the present, and striving toward the future, we diminish our capacity for gratitude. Thanksgiving fades because our hearts do.
Christmas solve the problem of Thanksgiving by comprehending the past and the future.
Jesus’ conception by a virgin fulfilled Isaiah 7:14. And His birth in Bethlehem was foretold centuries beforehand in Micah 5:2. Did Mary and Joseph contemplate these Scriptures as they thanked God for the Christ child? Christians should take time to review the past and praise the Father for sending us His Son.
I suspect that, like most parents, Mary and Joseph pondered Jesus’ future. Babies have more years in front of them than behind them, so it’s natural for His parents to look ahead to what He would do, what role He would play in Israel, and how He might serve God.
Jesus’ arrival fulfilled some prophecies, but not all. Christ didn’t heal the sick at His birth; He delivered no teachings from the manger. Good Friday was years away from the first Christmas. Those who saw the holy infant could thank the Lord for the privilege but they’d also likely remind Him that more remained to be done. The work of salvation had yet to be realized.
So Jesus’ birthday teaches us to appreciate all that God has done for us. It reinforces the value of gratitude. But Advent also calls us to reach out to the future that the Lord unveils through His Son.
Thanksgiving and Christmas belong together. On the calendar and in our hearts.
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