Christmas is almost here and the teacher asked if any of the helpers had found any God-Connections that involved the Christmas holiday. Three of the helpers raised their hands, stepped forward and said that they had found a God-Connection that involved the Christmas holiday. The teacher pointed to one of the helpers and asked him to go first.
This helper said that he had traveled to the Fort Vancouver Historic Site, located in Vancouver, Washington on the Columbia River, just north of Portland Oregon. This historic site is maintained and operated by the National Park Service.
In the 1830’s and 1840’s Fort Vancouver was a western outpost of the Hudson Bay Company, which was one of the major fur-trading companies in the country. Christmas was an important holiday for the people of Fort Vancouver and they celebrated for the whole week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
There were many groups of people living at Fort Vancouver; there were French-Canadian fur trappers, Native Americans, European settlers, English military people, and immigrants from Hawaii who were servants. All the people were included in the Christmas celebrations.
The Christmas celebration did not focus on Santa Claus, and they did not have fancy lights or even Christmas trees. Instead, the celebration focused on leisure, recreation, feasting, and worship.
Life at Fort Vancouver was hard! To build a new community in the wilderness is not easy, it involved working hard all day, every day. Having a whole week away from their normal work was a very special treat for them!
The people at Fort Vancouver worshipped God, but they did not all worship God in the same way. Some were from the Catholic Church, some were from Protestant Churches, and some like the Native Americans and the Hawaiians were just learning about God. There were Church services at midnight on Christmas Eve, and other Church Services on Christmas morning. Some Church services were in the French, some in the English, and some in the Hawaiian language.
The houses, the community and even ships on the river were decorated with holly berries and branches from evergreen trees. On Christmas morning, the people would dress in their best clothes and walk around the community greeting each other and enjoying each other’s company.
The people looked forward to the special Christmas dinner and the feasts continued throughout the rest of the week until New Year’s Day. On Christmas afternoon and throughout the rest of the week, the people enjoyed outdoor activities such as: riding, hunting, and shooting.
It truly was a special time of rejoicing that including all the people at Fort Vancouver. Today the people that work at Fort Vancouver have an annual Christmas celebration, and they try to make it just like it was in the 1830’s.
Application for you and me:
The God-Connection is found by comparing the Christmas celebration at Fort Vancouver with the birth of Jesus.
The celebration at Fort Vancouver included all the people; the rich, the poor, the young, the old, those in the military, the leaders of the community and the servants in the community. The birth of Jesus also included people from many groups. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was probably a teenager, Joseph, the earthly father, was older. Mary and Joseph were poor, the wisemen who came to worship Jesus were rich and very well educated. The shepherds were probably not well educated, and they were not popular people in the community. The people in Bethlehem were not especially interested in the birth of Jesus, but the shepherds told them about it anyway! When Jesus was presented in the temple after His birth, two very old people, Simeon and Anna, blessed Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Most of the people in the story of Jesus’ birth were from Israel, but the Wise Men traveled from the far east to find Jesus and worship Him.
Jesus was born for all people, it does not matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, well-liked or unpopular, and it does not matter what race or culture that you come from.
The story of the birth of Jesus is found in the Bible in Luke 2 and Matthew 2.
Luke 2:1-40
The Birth of Jesus
2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.”[a] 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”[b]
The Prophecy of Simeon
25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
The Prophecy of Anna
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four.[c] She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
Matthew 2:1-12
Visitors from the East
2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men[a] from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,[b] and we have come to worship him.”
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities[c] of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’[d]”
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.