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Church examines symbolic history of Christmas
J.R. Munoz-McNally photo
Gilda Pryor explains some of the symbols associated with Christmas and the Christian faith during the First United Methodist Church’s Hanging of the Greens celebration Sunday night in Troutman.
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Published: December 1, 2008
Members of the First United Methodist Church in Troutman got something of a history lesson Sunday night as they heard how the some of the Christmas season's most recognizable symbols came to be attached to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Linda Franklin, a member of First Methodist's women's group, was the primary speaker during the church's annual Hanging of the Greens.
She told how in the early days of Christianity "emphasis was placed on the Resurrection as the true meaning of Jesus' life and its promise for the future."
During this period, Franklin said, Easter was the only day celebrated on the Christian calender.
"Since they were expecting the immediate return of Christ," Franklin said, "they centered on the resurrection celebration."
Next came the Pentecost which, Franklin explained, was the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
"Paul's emphasis was on the death and resurrection of Christ," Franklin said. "But Mark tells us of Jesus' baptism and Matthew and Mark wrote of Jesus' birth."
Through the lens of "the birth of the baby," Franklin said, God connects with humanity.
"His birth revealed God as a loving God concerned with the poor and rich alike," she said. "Not as as a distant, untouchable figure."
And so that birth began to take on greater significance to the blossoming Christian faith.
The first order of business was to find a date on which Jesus may have been born.
"As Christianity took root in the Roman Empire, Christians replaced the pagan Festival of the Unconquered Sun; the winter solstice," Franklin said.
She said it was fitting that the day chosen to celebrate Jesus' birth was the "shortest and darkest" of the year.
"After years of rejection and persecution, Christians made it a season of new hope," Franklin said. "Christmas became a celebration of new light coming into the world, bringing the promise of bright days and a hope of renewed life."
In the fourth and fifth centuries, Franklin said, Christmas was officially established by the Catholic Church as a day that should be celebrated.
And by the 10th century, Franklin said, "Advent's meaning had been broadened to include the expectation of the Second Coming of Christ."
But the Christmas season began to accrue symbols to its tradition.
The circle of the Advent wreath "testifies to the continuation of life," Franklin said.
Franklin said the meaning of that derives for evergreen trees "having long been considered symbols of eternity."
Evergreen branches were first used Advent adornments by peasants in the Middle Ages, Franklin said.
"We continue that tradition today as we hang greens in our sanctuary, our church home," she said.
Five candles of the church's tradition signify "God's son as the light of the world."
The colors of the candles also have meaning. The three purple ones represent Jesus' royalty as "King of Kings" and one pink for joy.
One in the center is the Christ Candle.
And the most revered symbol of them all is probably the Christmas tree, which, legend has it, was erected by Protestant leader Martin Luther.
As Franklin explained, "Luther was walking home one Christmas Eve when he saw the glitter of stars shining through the snow-covered branches of his fir trees."
Other symbols of Christianity were explained Sunday as well.
Gilda Pryor said, for example, that the fish was first used by early Christians as a "secret sign of their belief."
The star, Pryor said, "reminds us of the angels glory as they sang to the shepherds."
The lamb, she said, "represents Jesus' sacrifice for us."
Leslie Plyler and her family attended Sunday night's celebration. She probably summed the event up for most of those who were present.
"It was very informative," she said. "And it gets us started off right."
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