CBC’s Advent Devotional 2015

Sunday, December 13, 2015 – Friday, December 18, 2015

Lynn Wolcott 

            This is Week Three of CBC’s Advent Devotional; as of Sunday, December 13, there are only twelve days until Christmas!  Twelve days until one of the most joyous celebrations of the Christian calendar.  Except for its excesses, I don’t see anything wrong with the secular practices in our culture.  However, for us as well as for the many other churches across the Unites States and the world, this holiday means ever so much more: The Love, Hope, and Joy of our existence was brought forth into this world in the form of a tiny little baby who grew into a man who showed us the way to our God.  What joyous news!

            This week’s devotional covers some things that are so very important to many of us here at Central Baptist Church.  For our families: An extension of the Black Lives Matters program by the practice of Kwanzaa that Africans and African Americans celebrate.  For the rest of the week, we will focus on another group that has been important to the women and men of many across the world: the oppressed and wounded: women and men, girls and boys.  We will touch upon the Tree of Jesse (known to most Baptists as the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew).  From this starting point, we will think about how Jesus came to set the oppressed free along with the wonderful Love, Joy, and Peace that resting in the arms of the Almighty can bring.

Kwanzaa:

Treasuring Black Lives at Christmas and All Year Long

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Family Day 

            Have you seen the yellow and black banner on the front lawn of the church?  Do you remember what it says? If you have not seen it, please ask your parent(s) to show it to you.  It reads “Black Lives Matter.”  Some people are very happy that it is there, but there are others who are very upset.  Many of them are upset because they think that Black people do not matter as much or in the same way that white people do; this is known as racism.  Moreover, some people are concerned because they say that “All Lives Matter.”  That is true.  That is not the point of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Rather, many, if not most, Blacks are not being treated with the same respect that is given to white people.  To some objectors of the sign, perhaps it might be better written as Black Lives Matter, Too.  I think that that waters down the painful impact that our society has, in particular, on Black People.

            The celebration of Kwanzaa began in 1966, and their official website explains that “as an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.”  It is celebrated for one week right after Christmas, December 26 to January 1.

            Like our advent wreath, those who celebrate Kwanzaa also have a candle holder, but it has seven candles.  (Do you remember how many candles are in the advent wreath either in your home or on the communion table at church?  If you don’t, please go up and count them either at home or before or after the service at church.)  In the Kwanzaa candle holder, three of the candles are red, another three are green, and the center one is black.  A candle is lit every day from December 26 until January 1, and they each represent something that is important to the culture of Africans and African Americans. (Unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, remembering and restoring their customs, cultures, and history, creativity, and “believing in people, families, leaders, teachers and the righteousness of the African American struggle” (Kwanzaa -- Christmas customs and Traditions -- why Christmas?.com).  Your mom and / or dad can explain some of these to you or you can ask me.)

            Black lives matter both as we celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa, but also every day throughout the year.  God does not love any one person over another.  Black people have suffered racism for many, many centuries, and I am glad that they have the celebration at Kwanzaa to remind themselves and white people of just how precious they really are.  Let us think of them and their special celebration that occurs right after Christmas.