Christmas at the Piper Home

00:00:00.000 | (bells jingling)

00:00:02.760 | - Merry Christmas Eve, podcast listeners.

00:00:07.060 | Episode number 499 is a special episode

00:00:10.500 | with Pastor John, of course, but also with Noel.

00:00:13.520 | Noel makes a rare cameo appearance with us today

00:00:16.100 | to talk about Christmas traditions in the Piper household.

00:00:19.340 | And so we'll start with you, Pastor John.

00:00:21.700 | You've had kids in the house for over 40 years,

00:00:24.260 | so what did Christmas look like in the Piper home

00:00:26.340 | when you had kids around?

00:00:27.860 | What were your goals?

00:00:30.120 | - Christmas Day and how we celebrate it,

00:00:34.740 | how everybody celebrates it,

00:00:36.260 | ought to mark an event that is 10 million times

00:00:41.260 | more important than any event that has ever happened

00:00:47.020 | in the last 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the dead.

00:00:51.600 | God, the creator of the universe,

00:00:55.660 | infinitely holy, just, wise, good,

00:00:59.380 | upholding the universe by the word of his power,

00:01:02.620 | absolutely independent of us and doesn't need us,

00:01:06.900 | existing forever without us, took on human nature

00:01:11.900 | and entered this world precisely to die for sinners

00:01:16.940 | so that we could live forever in joy with him

00:01:20.900 | and not perish under God's wrath.

00:01:24.540 | So it is an absolute understatement

00:01:27.860 | when the angel said at Jesus' birth,

00:01:31.740 | "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy."

00:01:36.740 | We wish there were words better, right?

00:01:41.820 | Great joy that will be for all the people.

00:01:46.460 | So we've had two goals at the Piper house over the years

00:01:49.680 | with our five kids and our guests,

00:01:52.660 | pervasively Christ-centered, 'cause that's what it's about,

00:01:56.900 | and great joy because that's the effect

00:01:59.860 | the angel said it ought to have,

00:02:02.020 | and it does have when you really grasp what it is.

00:02:05.100 | And so that meant for us, way back, what, 45 years ago plus,

00:02:10.020 | rethinking everything that people usually do.

00:02:13.700 | And some things stayed in our tradition

00:02:16.660 | that we did growing up and other things went,

00:02:19.600 | and some things were adapted,

00:02:21.540 | and some things were just totally created new.

00:02:24.880 | Santa Claus went.

00:02:27.780 | He is not a helpful participant in this.

00:02:31.380 | He is a distraction from the majesty

00:02:33.900 | and joyfulness of Christ.

00:02:36.980 | Giving gifts stayed.

00:02:39.180 | That seemed to us like a beautiful,

00:02:41.180 | wonderful, happy expression of the heart of God

00:02:44.140 | in generosity to us.

00:02:46.480 | And then we adapted and created things.

00:02:50.180 | - So, Noelle's here with me,

00:02:52.100 | and the Pipers set about transforming their house

00:02:57.100 | for the kids and for guests so that everywhere they look,

00:03:01.020 | they see Christmas, Christmas, and its real meaning.

00:03:05.200 | So, Noelle, what has guided you in particular,

00:03:09.220 | 'cause you really came up with a lot of these,

00:03:12.100 | what's guided your thinking as you've put things

00:03:15.500 | in place for the holidays?

00:03:17.260 | - One of the things that I learned

00:03:19.060 | when our kids were really young

00:03:20.380 | is that very young kids aren't understanding symbols,

00:03:24.460 | so it's the things that are tangible.

00:03:26.180 | And so right away, when I'm thinking about Christmas,

00:03:28.220 | what am I thinking about?

00:03:29.260 | Bethlehem and the stable,

00:03:31.380 | and looking and thinking and talking

00:03:34.220 | about what God was doing there.

00:03:36.420 | So manger scenes, creches, are a main part

00:03:40.960 | of what's in our house or in our windows

00:03:43.380 | for people outside to see during the Christmas season.

00:03:46.940 | There's one main manger scene

00:03:48.780 | that we've had almost our whole marriage

00:03:51.020 | that's on a special table in the living room.

00:03:54.140 | That's the first thing you see when you walk into our house,

00:03:56.360 | when you walk into the living room.

00:03:58.280 | Under that table is where we gather our gifts to each other.

00:04:01.220 | And then there are manger scenes

00:04:02.740 | and things that represent Bethlehem all over the place

00:04:06.540 | whenever anybody's traveling somewhere,

00:04:09.820 | and they ask me if they could bring me a gift,

00:04:12.160 | I always say, "I'd love to have a manger scene from there."

00:04:15.100 | (laughs)

00:04:16.060 | - So we got elephants at our manger scene.

00:04:18.900 | (laughs)

00:04:19.740 | - Because the wise men came from the East

00:04:22.580 | and we don't know they came on camels.

00:04:24.460 | - Right, of course.

00:04:25.540 | - So over in the dining room, Noel, on the buffet,

00:04:29.260 | there's another thing that's a little unusual.

00:04:32.160 | What do you call it?

00:04:33.000 | What is it?

00:04:33.820 | Why do we do it?

00:04:34.740 | - We call it the Jesus tree.

00:04:36.700 | It's a combination of what some people might have

00:04:40.000 | and call a Jesse tree,

00:04:41.440 | or some people might call a Bethlehem tree.

00:04:44.380 | But I call it a Jesus tree

00:04:45.820 | because that's the one time in the year

00:04:47.380 | when we can put in front of us

00:04:49.820 | all the kinds of symbols, word pictures,

00:04:52.260 | representing word pictures from the Bible of who Jesus is.

00:04:55.780 | So on this tree will be--

00:04:58.220 | - When you say tree, you mean--

00:04:59.380 | - I mean a bare branch, yes,

00:05:01.240 | that we cut off of a,

00:05:02.340 | broke off of a bush in the backyard.

00:05:04.300 | And so some of the things that are hanging on it

00:05:06.260 | might actually be Christmas ornaments,

00:05:08.380 | but other things would be maybe a saw

00:05:11.320 | that would represent a part of Jesus' life.

00:05:13.740 | He was a carpenter with his father.

00:05:16.020 | Or there might be a sheaf of wheat,

00:05:18.060 | and that might represent Ruth in his family tree,

00:05:22.620 | or it might represent him being the bread of life.

00:05:25.780 | There would be nails because it is carpenter,

00:05:30.820 | part of his life,

00:05:31.980 | or because he died on the cross for us.

00:05:35.620 | So things that represent the prophecies

00:05:38.580 | leading up to Jesus,

00:05:39.900 | things that represent events in his life,

00:05:42.500 | things that particularly revolve around the Bethlehem event.

00:05:46.780 | - Yeah, so this is a gnarly, you know, broken off branch

00:05:51.420 | from what's that plant on the corner of the garage

00:05:53.380 | that we get it from usually?

00:05:54.220 | - It's an old lilac bush that we use.

00:05:55.220 | - Yeah, lilac bush.

00:05:56.260 | There's this other tradition that gets going

00:06:00.120 | about the beginning of Advent

00:06:02.460 | that we call the shepherd's pouch.

00:06:04.460 | What's that about?

00:06:05.460 | - I was trying to think of ways

00:06:06.880 | that children could give a gift to Jesus

00:06:10.360 | since it is his birthday,

00:06:11.540 | and that's how children understand birthdays.

00:06:13.660 | You give a gift to the birthday person.

00:06:15.740 | So we have little burlap bags that I made,

00:06:19.060 | but you could use any kind of little pouch

00:06:21.340 | that at the beginning of December,

00:06:22.980 | the kids start putting money into

00:06:25.980 | that either they've earned by doing tasks ordinarily

00:06:29.300 | that they might do just without pay,

00:06:31.140 | but during this season, I give them some money.

00:06:34.080 | So it also gets me eager helpers when I need extra help.

00:06:39.380 | But then sometime early in the month,

00:06:41.600 | we're thinking about where this gift will go,

00:06:44.020 | like maybe to Johnny and Friends or to Samaritan's Purse,

00:06:47.980 | some organization that we'd like to give to,

00:06:50.220 | and we talk about what it means to give a gift to Jesus

00:06:52.800 | 'cause you can't just put it in his hand.

00:06:54.700 | And then on Christmas Eve,

00:06:57.780 | the children put the money from their pouch

00:07:01.060 | by the manger at our special manger scene,

00:07:03.620 | and we talk about we're giving a gift to Jesus.

00:07:06.820 | Ours is money, but that's just a symbol

00:07:09.340 | of the way the shepherds, for instance,

00:07:11.780 | came worshiping Jesus, their gift of worship to Jesus.

00:07:16.020 | And then on Christmas morning,

00:07:18.100 | we have put into those little pouches gifts for them.

00:07:21.760 | One of the things will be a Christ-centered

00:07:24.400 | Christmas ornament for them to save up

00:07:26.260 | for when they have their own home someday.

00:07:28.060 | And then there are other just little doodad things

00:07:30.100 | that we've collected over time for them.

00:07:31.860 | And we talk about these represent the way God blesses people

00:07:36.540 | who come to him with their gifts of praise.

00:07:38.780 | - Amen.

00:07:39.620 | We love that.

00:07:40.440 | I just love this little pouch thing.

00:07:41.820 | I love so much the kids filling it with money

00:07:44.140 | and then getting these gifts.

00:07:45.580 | One more thing.

00:07:46.780 | Christmas morning, we get up,

00:07:49.300 | and before any gifts are open, we're reading a story,

00:07:54.300 | but then we add to the reading something else, Noel,

00:07:56.900 | that turns out to be a really happy thing,

00:07:59.340 | especially for little kids.

00:08:00.740 | - And I know there are other families that do this too.

00:08:03.380 | We act out the Christmas story.

00:08:04.860 | Everybody who's there, adults and children,

00:08:07.460 | when the children were very little,

00:08:08.780 | they liked to pull out everything they could find

00:08:11.500 | that could be costumes from anywhere.

00:08:13.100 | Now it's a lot more simple,

00:08:15.100 | but we use the narrative from Luke

00:08:17.780 | as the guide for how the story plays out.

00:08:22.180 | And that's another part of being tangible

00:08:25.620 | and actually getting into it physically,

00:08:27.700 | thinking about Jesus being born in the manger

00:08:31.620 | and the glory that was announced when that happened.

00:08:34.940 | - I think we even did this.

00:08:36.580 | When our first child was Jesus,

00:08:39.700 | that is the little baby in Mary's lap,

00:08:42.340 | and she's Noel and I and the baby

00:08:43.900 | and any guests that were around.

00:08:45.260 | And so every time we had a new child,

00:08:47.140 | we had a new Jesus to put in the play.

00:08:50.820 | It was just great.

00:08:51.980 | But it's Christmas Eve or it's Christmas Day,

00:08:54.980 | and people have lots of things to do.

00:08:56.300 | So we just want to say to everybody,

00:08:58.580 | thanks for listening to Ask Pastor John.

00:09:01.580 | We both wish you a very, very joyful, Christ-filled,

00:09:06.580 | Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas.

00:09:08.260 | - Wonderful, thank you, Pastor John.

00:09:09.820 | And thank you, Noel, for making the cameo appearance

00:09:12.460 | in today's Ask Pastor John episode.

00:09:14.420 | Of course, Noel Piper is the author

00:09:16.700 | of the very helpful book,

00:09:17.860 | "Treasuring God in Our Traditions,"

00:09:20.580 | an excellent book for anyone thinking through

00:09:22.380 | and establishing traditions in their homes,

00:09:24.580 | not only on major holidays, but year round.

00:09:28.020 | Be sure to check out that book.

00:09:29.260 | And if you want more on Christmas,

00:09:30.620 | see episode number 243 in this podcast series titled,

00:09:34.420 | What Christmas is All About?

00:09:36.300 | An answer to Charlie Brown's million dollar question.

00:09:39.260 | That's episode number 243.

00:09:41.620 | Well, we break for the holiday,

00:09:42.940 | but we return on Monday to hear Pastor John

00:09:45.300 | on God's gracious provisions in 2014

00:09:48.500 | and look forward to what we have planned for 2015

00:09:51.900 | at DesiringGod.org.

00:09:54.140 | It's humbling and exciting.

00:09:55.660 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.

00:09:56.780 | We'll see you on Monday.

00:09:58.300 | (upbeat music)

00:10:00.900 | (upbeat music)

00:10:03.500 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Christmas at the Piper Home

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