November 30, 2009 by Stacy McDonald
‘Twas the Month before Christmas
McDonald Maidens Christmas Photo 1999Jessica, Christa, Tiffany, Melissa
Throughout the twenty-one years that the Franklins have been a family, there have been many and various Christmas traditions both kept and discarded. At first, they were of the ‘Twas the Night before Christmas variety, but as we became more concerned about adherence to Scriptural principles, we started to look for older and more deep-rooted methods of celebration.
As we questioned and explored, we came across literally hundreds of ideas on celebrating a more Christ-centered Christmas, but the one that impressed us most was contained in a book entitled Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration by Dr. James Dobson. Here, the description of pre-Christmas worship themes used throughout the weeks of December caught our attention.
Although we had heard of “Advent,” we had always considered its observation as distinctly Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, so it surprised us to find a Protestant application of this age-old tradition. We were impressed by the way it caused not only December 25th, but the whole of the Christmas season to be concentrated on the coming and birth of Christ. Having experienced years of child- and self-centered holidays, this new (or rather resurrected) focus was both refreshing and intriguing.
The celebration was based on the Scriptures, and on the real people who witnessed and participated in the coming of the Lord. As we read more about this traditional celebration, we saw that while the details varied greatly from family to family and church to church, its framework was consistent. Given this, we felt free to be creative; to use the basic traditions so well documented in the history of the Church, but to come up with a “Franklin” version including some new traditions of our own.
The word “Advent” literally means “Coming.” It has been tradition since the time of the introduction of the Christmas celebration in the 4th century for Christians to prepare their hearts to celebrate the Incarnation. Most often this preparation begins four Sundays before Christmas Eve, when the Advent wreath is put on display. The wreath is a circlet of evergreen foliage that contains five candles—four purple and one white. Each of these candles stands for a participant in the story of Christ’s birth. The first is the Candle of the Prophets. The second is Mary; the third, shepherds; and the fourth is for the angels. The fifth candle, the white one placed in the center of the wreath, commemorates Christ.
On each Sunday of Advent, we read Scripture and sing hymns or carols about the individuals focused upon, then we light the candles—one for this week and all the others preceding it. We then pray and perform another of the Franklin traditions: the giving of Advent gifts. There are generally three gifts given by the Franklin parents to each child each year, one for each of the first three weeks of Advent. We’ve chosen the number of gifts to represent the three gifts that were given to Jesus by the Magi.
The first Sunday, for example, we might read the Old Testament prophesies of the coming of Christ, sing “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emanuel!” and light the first candle in the wreath. Each child would then receive his first gift of the season. On the second week, we would read the story of Mary and Elizabeth, sing “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,“ light both the Mary and Prophets candles and receive our second gift. It goes on in this fashion until all of the candles, except for the Christ candle, have been lit.
This last candle is lit, along with the rest, on Christmas Eve, when the entire Christmas story is read. Papa takes this night to summarize the whole Christmas story, from Creation and the first promise of a Savior, to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. For the Franklins, this night brings a great celebration, for it is the end of the waiting and anticipation of the Advent season. As part of our tradition, Christmas Eve is a time of hospitality to our church, family, and friends. Sharing the Christmas Eve candles, food and fellowship is the height of our holiday season.
These four weeks of preparation are representative of the ages long past. We are reminded of the Old Testament patriarchs and of women like Mary and Elizabeth who looked forward, with faith, to the promise of the Messiah. We remember with joy and thanks that as Christians today, we look back and see clearly the fulfillment of that promise in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. 
In the Advent, we are memorializing the fidelity of a God who promised and who fulfilled those promises. Our family’s ”Month before Christmas” advent celebration leads us to worship and proclaim the wisdom of God in bringing all things to men in His perfect time, and to the glory of His name.
Advent Calendar:
Day of the Prophets (in 2002, this is December 1st)
Read: Isa. 9:2-7, Isa. 11, Isa. 7:13-16, Deut. 18:15-19, Psalm 89:1-4, Zech. 6:12-13 (All or a selection).
Sing: “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel,” “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”
Light: The first purple candle. Traditionally (for us), the oldest child lights the candle on this night, and the youngest blows it out.
Day of Mary or Bethlehem (December 8th)
Read: Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-56, Mic. 5:2-5, Mal. 3:1-6
Sing: “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Away In A Manger,” “Once In Royal David’s City,” “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
Light: The Prophets and Mary candles.
Day of the Shepherds (December 15th)
Read: Luke 1. (It’s good, on this day, to have a discussion about the symbolism of the news of Christ’s birth coming first to the shepherds. This class of people was considered the lowest on the social scale in the ancient times, and yet the Good News comes first to them, and second to the Kings of the earth.)
Sing: “While By the Sheep We Watched At Night,” “Saw You Never, in the Twilight,” “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.”
Light: The Prophets, Mary and Shepherds candles. (As you light more candles, you are building a picture of the time drawing nearer—the light growing brighter, until the true light comes on the last night of our waiting.)
Day of the Angels (December 22nd)
Read: Luke 1:26-35, Luke 2:8-14, Matt. 1:18-25.
Sing: “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “It Came upon the Midnight Clear,” “Angels From the Realms of Glory.” Light: Four purple candles (Prophets, Mary and Shepherds and Angels).
Christmas Eve
Read: Gen. 3:6-15, Psalm 22, Isa. 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-20, Luke 23-24:12, Luke 24:50-53.
Sing: “On Christmas Night All Christians Sing,” “Good Christian Men Rejoice,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” etc.
Light: Light all of the candles, and rejoice at the fulfillment of the promises of God!
Advent Foretold by Wanda Sanseri
Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration. by Dr James Dobson
Advent: Worship & Activities for Families by Margaret Huffman
The Advent Wreath: A Light in Darkness by Debbie O’Neal
This article first appeared in the November/December 2002 issue of Homeschooling Today magazine.
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19 Responses to “‘Twas the Month before Christmas”
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Stacy,
May I ask which hymnal the girls were singing from? We just ordered the book of psalms for singing along with two cd’s from the Serven family which teach harmony.
I bet your girls sound beautiful. I remember your mentioning how your girls sang at a family members funeral a while back and how they touched the hearts of many during that difficult time. Our family CAN’T sing. We are painful to listen to, but I am determined that we sing all the same as it does seem to lighten our step while house cleaning! :)
Have you ever considered putting together such a tape? We also love hearing about your daughters’ love of old dances such as the Virginia Reel. I wonder what resources are available to teach my girls those lovely dances??!!
Thank you for the Advent Bible verses. We love the season of Advent. The entire season is wonderful and keeping the focus on Christ in our homes lets our little ones see that although tree trimming, christmas cards, and sweet treats are lots of fun that Christ is at the center of it all!
Blessings,
Laura in Va.
Our family is relatively new to the idea of celebrating advent, but the book that hooked us is “Jotham’s Journey”, by Arnold Ytreeide.
http://www.jothamsjourney.com
It is the first book in an Advent trilogy, and it is utterly captivating. Jotham is a shepherd boy whose own story is intertwined with the Advent story as he meets Zacharias and Elisabeth, the Magi, etc. I won’t tell you any more for fear of spoiling it, but this book will have you in tears by the time you finish it. Let me add that although Jotham’s story starts with an act of rebellion against his father, the rest of the book focuses on the problems he faces as a result and his repentance and reconciliation with his father. Need I say that I highly recommend it?!???
Sincerely,
Hannah Hill
stay-at-home daughter
I truly love your blog and I find it a great encouragement, but I must say I have to disagree with this particular post. This seems a bit ritualistic to me. I'm all for topically reading through the word of God and choosing hymns and Psalms to fit the text, but I don't get the candle lighting and why does the celebration of the incarnation always have to revolve around the Roman calander?
I just can't think of Christmas without being reminded of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, and how they offered up strange fire before the Lord. Of course they were trying to worship the Lord, but they were doing it in their own way according to the imaginations of their own sinful hearts. This is how I perceive the celebration of Christmas. God hasn't given us any clear word of how to keep the celebration of the birth of His Son and I think it is dangerous to invent our own ideas of how God is to be worshipped. Especially when so many other cultures are celebrating similar things this time of year, I think it makes us Christians vulnerable to adapting man's ways in worship of God. I know that this is not a popular view of the incarnation, but I belive it to be a biblical one.
We choose to celebrate the birth of Christ each day in our hearts as we come before Him in prayer and devotion.
Denise, I can sympathize with your questions because I used to have the same ones! You said here:
"I just can't think of Christmas without being reminded of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, and how they offered up strange fire before the Lord…God hasn't given us any clear word of how to keep the celebration of the birth of His Son and I think it is dangerous to invent our own ideas of how God is to be worshiped."
We are not perverting God's call to worship like Nadab and Abihu were. They were CHANGING worship – disobeying what God had called them to do.
When we celebrate Christmas, we are setting aside a time to remember the miracle of the incarnation. The time when God became flesh and dwelt among us. We feel that's pretty exciting and we're glad to celebrate it with those we love – what an opportunity to glorify God!
Would you be against scheduling a party or dinner where the focus was to remember some great miracle or event in the Bible? A time where you prepare a wonderful meal, read Scripture, and sing with the Saints (and others who would come)? How is celebrating Christmas (without the commercialism and secular garbage) any different?
As to why we use candles, it is a teaching tool. (Jesus is the light of the world, after all.) The symbolism behind the colors and different times for lighting the various candles makes for a memorable time for all. It gives us and our children time to reflect and learn what God has done in an organized and interactive way.
This article seemed fairly helpful:
http://protestantism.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_meaning_of_advent
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3, KJV)
Mrs. McDonald,
I'm sorry I couldn't read the article that you linked to. I don't think that the entire link posted on the page.
In your reply you asked,
Would you be against scheduling a party or dinner where the focus was to remember some great miracle or event in the Bible? A time where you prepare a wonderful meal, read Scripture, and sing with the Saints (and others who would come)? How is celebrating Christmas (without the commercialism and secular garbage) any different?
Of course I would not object to a dinner in honor of Christ's birth or any other aspect of His life. I wish we saw this kind of thing more often! My complaint is with the traditions laid down by the Roman Catholic church and paganism that generally go along with the celebration. Not to imply that you and your family keep these traditions, but many of them are commonly kept even in Christian circles. Some similarities between the celebration of Christmas and the celebrations of the pagans surrounding the winter solstice include: the time of year, the tree, the gifts and the birth of a son. Some Christians may not understand where these traditions come from. You can read about their origins here.
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/xmas/celeb.htm
Celebrating the birth of the Son of God is of course a good thing. I said earlier that we choose to celebrate His birth each day. But, when we make it our practice to mingle the worship of God with traditions that come from paganism I believe that this is offering up strange fire. When Elisha offered up his sacrifice on mount Carmel in the contest with the prophets of Baal, he didn't use their altar. He used a seperate altar designated wholly to the Lord.
God commands us to have days of thanksgiving and feasting unto Him. We know that this is His will because He expresses this to us in His word. He does not however, give us commandment to keep a Holy day in celebration of the incarnation. I believe that all of this is included in the Lord's Day and The Lord's Table. We come together to remeber 'Him'.
If these celebrations didn't enter the church, I would have much less to say about it. But, since it is almost always added to the public worship services I must protest based of the Regulative Principle in worship.
I'm sure I've said more than enough already. I know that your blog is not the place to open debate, so I will respecfully agree to disagree with you on this point.
Hi Denise,
I don't want to view this as a debate either because I think there is more we agree on here than disagree. However, I want to clear up a few misconceptions.
First, when I say that we "celebrate" Christmas, I am not viewing or treating it as a "holy day." We do not replace the Lord's Day with a "Christmas service." Biblically ordained corporate worship must not be set aside for a man made tradition. But God does not forbid celebrations and feasts that point others to beloved events in Scripture.
I think part of it is in "how" we celebrate, not that we celebrate at all. Are we getting caught up in a Hallmark moment with sappy quotes about the "spirit of Christmas" or are we enjoying a time of "remembering" what God has done? Are we giving Santa glory by lying to our children about gifts and reindeer or are we praising God and proclaiming God's goodness in song and rejoicing?
We must be careful to avoid getting caught up in the materialism and hype that is so much a part of our culture. But that doesn't mean we must hide from an event that man has abused. We are to confront the culture, not hide from it.
We believe it is a wonderful opportunity to glorify God in the midst of a people (and extended family members) who are particularly open to hearing about Jesus during this time. It is also a blessing to create warm family traditions that point to Christ and that the children will remember forever.
As far as pagan traditions, Dr. Sproul discusses this here:
http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2008/12/is-the-celebration-of-christma.html
Every day is the Lord's. If Obama were to declare November 30th as "Sodomite Day" it wouldn't change the fact that today is the Lord's.
"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)
We could counter that declaration with a day that recognizes God and celebrate it with a feast and rejoicing to pull the world's attention back to Christ and what He has done. And that wouldn't be "compromising" or joining in their pagan day.
Doug Wilson had an interesting stand here:
http://www.dougwils.com/index.asp?Action=Anchor&CategoryID=1&BlogID=6466
Hope that helps.
Also, as a family, we use the advent candle during our family worship time, not in our church service.
It is a great way to teach the children and pull them into the Scriptures. Though these are not commands of God, there are examples in Scripture where God told His people to use tangible means to teach future generations:
"That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." (Joshua 4:5-7)
I like the way your family does the Advent candle lighting. May I make a correction, one of the candles should be a Rose color, or Pink.
The giving of 3 gifts is nice. When I was little, it was 3 Christmas gifts for each child, and for the same reasoning as you gave.
I loved this. We, as Catholics, have celebrated the season of Advent for quite a while and I enjoyed hearing the Protestant take on it. I did want to say, in response to Denise's response (ha!) that ritual does not necessarily equate to legalism. Many things can be done in honor of Christ (i.e. lighting candles) and as Mrs. McDonald has said, we were not given instructions how to specifically worship.
Just my $.02…
You know, this made me think: It's similar to the beauty of liturgy…it's all about actively, or interactively celebrating and remembering the great wonders and works of God in an organized and beautiful way.
Stacy,
I thought that this was a reformed blog.? Do you really trample the regulative principle by encouraging our brethren and sister to light candles to Mary?
You have papists in agreement with you on this. This is rather disappointing to see. Perhaps I am misinterpreting what you are promoting?
Hi Rose,
Our family uses a rose colored candle too, but I didn't write this article.
We use the white candle for Christmas Day.
Hello Midwest Herbalist,
I pray you understand my heart here. Too often, words online are taken out of context or are wrongfully attributed. What you said, sadly, seems to be close to this.
Nowhere has my wife encouraged brothers and sisters to "light candles to Mary." Nowhere has she "trampled the regulative principle." What she has done is offer biblical reasons why families might rightly acknowledge the incarnation of Jesus.
Yes, Stacy is a Reformed woman – the wife of this Reformed pastor. So, yes, her blog does have a Reformed bent.
I hope you can see how your note does indeed misrepresent what she is promoting.
Grace and peace,
I also recommend "12 Ways of Christmas" by Dr. David Jeremiah :) Just found this jewel.
It's funny about the whole Santa-thing; I still own a beloved worn pop-up copy of "Night before Christmas". I'd love to read it annually with all my other Christmas books, but those books are all about Christ now and, while "Night before Christmas" hardly contradicts Christianity, I'm afraid my dear old Santa piece might feel out of place in my Christmas books now. Maybe not, it could just be set apart. I'm so grateful my parents didn't either deprive us of Santa or in anyway put him above Jesus; it's been a very long time since St. Nick was the first thing that came to my mind at the mention of Christmas. The coolest thing of all is that the real Nick was a first-priority servant of God.
Thought y'all might enjoy my husband's recent article regarding his memories of Santa:
http://familyreformation.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/dear-santa-an-open-letter-in-recognition-of-black-friday/
Wow, that's a stunning and shocking article; very moving. I wouldn't call Santa a counterfeit, since he was a real being very much giving children Jesus, but many do lose sight of Christ in the suffocating parade of presents and images. The benevolence of the fantasy Santa relies entirely on the benevolence of the child's parents. Thank God we have a Father greater than flesh and tinsel.
MidWestHerbalist, the word is "Catholic" not "Papist". I would ask you respectfully to use the correct term.
I was moved by your husband blog on Santa. A great witness that Jesus can change anyone regardless of their home life. At times I wonder if we allow professional counselors to make us go back and dig up are past so that we can blame others for out problems. Thank you for your wonderful blogs!
One of our traditions is to set up the creche stable at the beginning of the season, but to leave it empty of figures until Christmas Eve day.
Whoever goes to bed last, adds the Infant Jesus.
Advent is still considered a 'penitential' season- not as strict as Lent- but "it's not Christmas yet"! Of course, this is almost impossible to observe completely in today's society, but we make what efforts we can.