Sermon: The Christmas Tree — December 4, 2024

This is the word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. AMEN. 

Are Christmas trees really Christian, or are they just an old pagan practice that we co-opted and dressed up in a lot of religious symbolism?

Well, which came first, God or pagans? Who made the tree, and who does the tree praise and worship? Spoiler alert: it’s not the pagans. Instead, in the Christmas tree, what we see is a pattern. This pattern is basically an image, a picture that tells us something about reality.

But before we get too deep into this, which Christmas tree are we talking about? There are plenty of different versions of Christmas trees. If you go online, all you have to do is Google “Christmas tree,” and you will get thousands and thousands of images of Christmas trees. They’re all different, but they also all have something in common that makes us recognize that they’re, in fact, Christmas trees.

There are several things that come together into a pattern, which helps us recognize that it’s a Christmas tree and not something else. Okay, so far so good. You’re all slightly confused. But stick with me: What are the things that tip us off to a Christmas tree being a Christmas tree and not just any other tree?

First, it has to be a pine tree or a fir or spruce, something that is conical, that is, it has to be a triangle. And what’s at the top of the Christmas tree? We put either an angel or a star on top of the tree. Now, a star and an angel actually are pretty much the same thing in the Old Testament. For example, the word for star, the word for angel, and the word for king are all either the same word or are in the same family of words. They are what the Bible calls “principalities” or “chiefs.” They are the head, the summit, at the top of things, and then it goes all the way down to everything at the bottom.

That’s the basic idea of a pyramid. That’s where the idea for building pyramids comes from. The idea comes from a perverted notion of going up to worship God, but instead of worshipping God, we climb the pyramid so we can elevate ourselves to the level of a god. But a pyramid just represents a tree or a mountain. The mountain of paradise with the tree at the top can be seen as, like in the story of Moses, a going up the mountain and encountering the head of this whole thing, the principality, the chief, the God who holds everything all together. And that’s what the angel or the star at the top of the tree points us to.

Now, around the tree there are (supposed to be) ribbons, and these ribbons are the same thing as a wheel that goes around and around the mountain of the Lord, or the Tree of Life, like the serpent. The ribbons are like a parade or a procession that goes around a city, like when Jesus enters Jerusalem, or again, a snake coiling around the tree in the garden.

Then, around the tree, we also have lights and ornaments, which are precious things. They symbolize golden objects, shiny things that are all hung on the tree as an act of rebellion against the horrors of the world and how culture warps reality to render us dependent on things that are not God, dark things void of life and hope.

So you see, all the mysteries of reality are shown to us in the Christmas tree. But, it is a hidden reality unless one is given the eyes of faith to see the truth. These lights reveal Jesus, the Light of the world, who scatters the darkness. The light that comes from above is filling up the entire tree and showing us that God is still very active at the bottom, in the world, redeeming it and us. And so, at the bottom of the tree, what do we usually have? That’s where we put the gifts.

The gifts are wrapped, hidden from prying eyes, until the day comes when they are all excitedly ripped open, revealing their true contents, grasped by eager hands, baptized with laughter and joy. The gifts really are the most important part because it wasn’t so long ago, in our grandparents’ generation, that they could get either a gift or just a chunk of coal. So the idea is the gift could either be something positive or negative. But now, we have become so wealthy we get to choose to keep the positive and abandon the negative. But this points us to Jesus and his grace and mercy.

 The gifts, like the lights on the tree, point us to Jesus, Light-Bringer, Gift-Giver. And this is very, very important. Remember, Christmas is the Solstice. And what’s going to happen at the Solstice? We are going to be overwhelmed by darkness. But the lights and the gifts, the star or the angel, the shiny decorations, remind us that the world is not going to just keep on going like it always has, in its depravity. The world is not completely lost. We are not completely abandoned by God.

Instead, we are children excitedly wondering what’s hidden under the wrapping paper. What is hidden in darkness must be revealed by the light that emanates from the tree of life. And that’s the entire point of setting up a Christmas tree at Christmas time. It sets us up to hear the Christmas story.

But, before we get to doe-eyed, the Christmas story involves the killing of the innocent. It’s a very important part of the story. King Herod, in looking for Christ, trying to find the Messiah, started to kill the newborns in Bethlehem. So Jesus’ birth was a time of death; lives were ravaged. It was a time of darkness and death, and yet, there was this one light that survived. This one child survives and grows into the new chief, the new king; he is the God at the top of the mountain, the tree of life, who has come down from the mountain to dwell with us at the bottom, permanently.

His birth and life herald a new world. So a new sun rises up to its zenith to illuminate all our days. This light comes from the top of the tree of life, from the top of the mountain where the Lord dwells wrapped in glorious light that no darkness can quench, that is not brought down and given to us. So now, there’s nothing to fear. We don’t have to worry about the encroaching darkness at the bottom of the tree because it’s been chased away, and now there are only gifts. There’s no death at the bottom of the mountain. There’s life because Jesus has descended to dwell with us, and he is our light and life, the God who gifts himself to us, not just today, but always.

So the Christmas tree you may casually pass by without a second thought because it’s so familiar this time of year, is no small thing. It’s a picture of Genesis, the serpent, and the Tree of Life. It’s a symbol of Mount Zion, where we will stand in the congregation of God’s baptized children on the Last Day, bathed in light-eternal, singing his praises with joy and thanksgiving.

The Christmas tree is a sign for people today that darkness and death do not get the last word. That is reserved for Jesus, the Light of the World — the light no darkness can overcome. And he has descended to live amongst you and gift you with his life so that you too may live in the hope of Christmas — the time when Jesus wipes away every tear from your eyes, and death is no more, and neither is there any need for mourning, or crying, or pain anymore, because those things, which are leftovers of the old world of sin and death, have been chased away by Jesus, your light and your life.

This is the word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. AMEN.