5 Reasons Christians Can Put Up a Christmas Tree (even before Thanksgiving!)

Here we are before Thanksgiving. First Electric already has their Christmas decorations up. I'm grateful for that. I wanted to talk about today five reasons why Christians can put up a Christmas tree.

Now, I know some people have conscience issues and if you're just convinced that you shouldn't put up a Christmas tree, absolutely don't do that. But I want to talk about some reasons today why I think Christians can put up a Christmas tree and maybe even why they should put up a Christmas tree.

Of course, the Bible doesn't command us to do that, so you certainly don't have to. I don't buy the Jeremiah arguments that putting up a Christmas tree in your living room is idolatry or whatever. I guess it certainly can be.

But I don't buy that it's de facto idolatry to put up a tree. So I'm going to share with you five reasons why the Nelsons put up a tree. Hey, and we usually put it up before Thanksgiving because for us, I think many Christians don't understand Christmas.

Like for us, we're thankful for Christmas. We're thankful for the incarnation. And so, hey, it's not that we try to trump one of these holidays with the other. We're just thankful for what God has done for us in Christ.

And so we begin celebrating the Christmas season early as part of, not in spite of, our Thanksgiving tradition. So let me give you five reasons, five ways that we use the tree to point to Christ, or at least I should say that's probably better.

The Tree’s Shape Points Upward to God

Number one, the shape of the tree. So one of the things that we tell our kids is the tree is shaped like an arrow. It's small at the top, big at the bottom, and it's pointing upward. Who's it pointing us to?

The kids answer, of course, it's pointing us to God. It's reminding us that Christmas is about God. Every other religion is about how we can get to God. Christmas is about how God came to us in Christ.

The Evergreen Tree Reminds Us of the Everlasting God

Number two, the tree is an evergreen tree. We're reminded, as Isaiah says, Isaiah 40, that God is the everlasting God. He's eternal. Triune, one God, three persons, and He is forever. Thirdly, the lights on the tree.

The Lights on the Tree Point to Christ and Christian Witness

The lights on the tree remind us that Jesus is the light of the world and that the church, Christians, are to be lights, not just this time of year, but year-round, pointing to Christ. By our good works, we point to Christ, and by explaining and sharing the gospel, we point to Christ.

The Wood of the Tree Points to the Cross

The fourth way that a tree points to Christ. The tree is made of wood. The Bible says that He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. The tree reminds us that Christmas is not just about a manger, it's about a cross.

God became man to live for us and then to die for us, to lay down His life as a ransom for many, and to raise up that life again for our justification. Fifthly, the fifth reason we use our tree to point our kids to Christ is the ornaments, and we're reminded of God's faithfulness.

Ornaments as Reminders of God’s Faithfulness

So the way we do our ornaments is we collect ornaments over the years that remind us of God's goodness, places that we've been, trips we've taken, different years, old ornaments even from when I was a child.

We do these things to remind ourselves of how God has been faithful year in, year out. His mercies are new every morning, and His faithfulness endures from year to year. God has been so good to our family.

So we put our tree up, we talk about these things. This year we recited our memory verse, Luke 2 .10, that our church is doing. We sang a song, O Come Let Us Adore Him, and we prayed. And we made this part of our tradition, and we do it every year to use our tree to point to Christ.

I hope this is helpful to some. I hope that you'll use this and build your own traditions, and remember that Christmas is about the glory of the Incarnation. Celebrate Christ this time of year for the glory of His name.

Amen.