Christmas Colors

Colorful Traditions

So what are the things that really seem to support the holiday mood for you? You may be thinking about certain tastes or smells that are a part of your holiday experience. Maybe you think about the changing of the season and the chill in the winter air. Possibly it is the decorations and hustle and bustle associated with this time of year. Because of the different traditions and practices that we have developed, even certain colors have become associated with the season. In this post, I would like to consider how these colors can be used to remind us of the true reason for the season found in the incarnation of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Garden Green

Green is one of the colors considered a Christmas color. This probably stems from the practice of bringing in the evergreen tree to be decorated in celebration of the coming of new life. Of course there are many various claims and legends surrounding the origination of the phenomenon of the Christmas tree. Some argue that it is a pagan symbol and a direct violation of the prohibition given by God to the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:1-5). I would like to say two things regarding this view. 

First, if you are convinced that this is evil you should not just go ahead with it because so many other Christians seem to enjoy this tradition. However, since this is not something that is clear and there is not a consensus among other believers, I would say that we should treat this as a category of Christian liberty (Romans 14). This would mean that while you may choose to not celebrate the birth of Christ with a Christmas tree or to celebrate at all, you should not judge your brother for you each are seeking to obey Christ according to your own conscience informed by Scripture.

Secondly, the text in Jeremiah seems to me to clearly refer to fashioning an idol. We should not be making an idol out of our Christmas tree. The passage is not prophecy about our future celebration of the birth of the Messiah but rather the ancient practice of idolatry taking place in Jeremiah’s time. So it is not a prohibition on our current practices and traditions at all.

But maybe we could reimagine the use of the color green to remind us about the garden of perfection into which God placed our first parents. This lush and fruitful paradise is the portrait that God has given us of our being in close connection with God. Of course, they sinned and the peace and tranquility was lost, but Jesus came to bring us back into the right covenantal relationship to God.  Thinking about the garden should give us hope as we remember that God through Jesus has promised us a future paradise where we will dwell with Him forever (Revelation 22:1-5)!

Blood Red

The other color, probably on the same Christmas status level as green, is red. Red is ubiquitous from the suit worn by that famous but fictitious jolly old elf to the glowing nose of his magically reindeer. Red is everywhere this time of year. I know that I am not really reaching creatively to point you to see the association between red and blood of Christ shed for us at the cross. As we see all of this red used to celebrate the birth Jesus let it also be a reminder that this baby was born to die as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-34)!

Pure White

The other color I would point out to you is pure white. Everyone may be dreaming of a snowy white Christmas but the white that we should most of all be celebrating is the white robes of righteousness provided by Jesus for all His people (Isaiah 61:10-11). It is an interesting thing to ponder that our robes are washed white in the red blood of Christ! So when we see the white and red of a candy cane we should think of the amazing gift of God’s grace given to us by Christ. 

Maybe one more way that white reminds of the true meaning of Christmas is the pure light coming from the star that proclaimed the birth of the newborn King (Matthew 2:1-12). We should also point everyone we can to the fact that unto us a Savior and King has been born, but even more than that He has died for our sins and been resurrected for our justification. So brothers and sisters, let's celebrate our Savior's birth!

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