No Christmas in Russia

There are twinkling lights, tinsel and decorated trees, but there is no Christmas in Russia.  There are presents wrapped in shiny paper, but there is no Christmas in Russia.  You can even find Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, but there is no Christmas in Russia.  There are no nativity scenes, no Christmas carols, and no holiday specials on television.  There are no Christmas cookies, no Christmas punch, no sausage balls, and there is even a lack of fruitcake!  As a matter of a fact, December 25 is just an ordinary day here.  And while much of the city looks like it is getting ready for Christmas, once you learn how to read Cyrillic (the Russian alphabet) you realize that all of the fanfare, including the huge fireworks that you can buy in the grocery store, is not for Christmas at all, but in celebration of the new year.  Even in our evangelical church, this Sunday's service was nothing out of the ordinary.  There were no carols, no mention of Jesus in the manger, no wise men, shepherds or angels.  Even the other American missionaries (not IMB) who attend did not greet one another with "Merry Christmas."

But guess what?  Christmas came...it came all the same.  It came without pageants.  It came without lights.  It came without sausage balls, cookie cutters or Christmas punch.  It came without all of the things that we think make the season Christmas-sy.  It came all the same.

When I was feeling particularly low this week I was reminded that Christmas is not about all of the "things" of Christmas.  It was not when we saw John-John looking at the packages in front of our teenie artificial tree muttering to himself, "It's not about the presents, it's about Jesus...It's not about the presents, it's about Jesus."  Nor was it late on Christmas Eve when we gathered with friends and had a candlelight service.  (Though that was great and I am sure that Kellye will write about it in her blog.)  But it was Sunday night when I was feeling my lowest and turned on the television.  Now I don't really recommend that you take any of your theology from cartoon sitcoms.  And I should not really admit that I am a big "King of the Hill" fan, though it is hard not to be if you have ever known or been friends with anybody who is a native Texan.  (Well I'll be dipped.)  But Sunday night they were running Christmas episodes and as I tuned in Hank found himself in an old-fashioned tent revival on Christmas day.  "He doesn't have to, but He is working on His birthday," screamed the preacher.  And all at once I was reminded about the many sacrifices that Jesus made when he came to earth.  Do you think that anybody really cared about what that small child had given up to be there?  Do you think anybody really understood that this child (and later a man) was used to walking the streets of gold and sitting at the right hand of the father?  I don't think so.

It has been very hard over the past few weeks not to become irritated with the Russians around me.  They don't celebrate Christmas.  There are no mangers, no baby Jesus and no Silent Night.   Now we have no record of it, but I would like to think that when the Bible talks about Jesus going off alone to pray early in the morning that on occasions he looked to heaven and said things like, "Why did you send me here?"  "Why is it that nobody around me can see what is so obvious to me?" or "I am so sick of these people.  Nothing about them reminds me of home."  And, I can only imagine that if Jesus did say any of those things that God sat back on his throne, folded his arms and waited quietly for his son to finish venting and then whispered, "You know why you are there.  How else will they know how much I love them?"  And then Jesus bowed his head, wiped a few tears from his eyes and went back to work...even on his birthday.

I can truly say that this has been one of the best Christmases ever.  No, we didn't get to share the Gospel with our Russian neighbors.  We were not invited into the homes of those around us.  While we opened presents on Christmas morning the busses still ran and the construction workers continued to work in the bitter cold.  The stores were still open and to most in Russia this was just another day.  And it was not good because of the gifts that were exchanged, although it was as sweet as usual and we even managed to make some new traditions for ourselves that had a distinctly Russian flavor.  But it was one of the best Christmases ever because we were reminded once again that this is His story and we get to play a small part.  

We hope that wherever in the world you are today that you are reminded of why we celebrate.  Take time to remind yourself that the creator of the universe wrapped himself in frail human flesh so that we would know how much God loves us.

We love and miss each one of you, especially during this special time of the year.

Merry Christmas!