Tonight Andrew, Béibhinn and I went to the opening ceremony of the Christkindl Market and the turning on of the lights in Victoria Park in Kitchener. I was expecting a fun festive night in our city. Maybe a bit of Santa here with maybe a nod in the direction of a Christmas Carol or two. I love Christmas and was looking forward to a bit of snow and lights and Christmas spirit. Living in Canada, a country which prides itself in "inclusiveness" (which in my experience usually means excluding God) I was not expecting the night that we had. Yes there was Christmas lights, crafts for children, yummy food and a "toy soldier" on stilts, but the main focus of the night was on the true meaning of Christmas. There were carols, and only carols, sung by the Philharmonic Choir. There were donkeys, Mary and Joseph and Shepherds. There was no Santa, just St. Nicholas soberly dressed in brown and there were prayers! Prayers! In public! It was a celebration of Christmas!
Now I learned that it was done this way because it is a German tradition and apparently it is done the exact same way every year in Munich as well. I know that most of the people there are not being impacted by the Gospel and are there really to celebrate German culture rather than our precious Saviour who was sent to earth to die to pay the price for our sins. What struck me, however, was that if we had gone there tonight to celebrate Irish culture there would have been a very different scene. Celebrating German culture means celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. And why is it this way? Because German culture is rooted in a spectacular movement of the Holy Spirit that took place there many years ago. This revival is commonly known as "The Reformation". The Holy Spirit opened the eyes of many German people during this time and revealed to them the precious understanding of Salvation through faith alone. Germany has gone through a lot since The Reformation and today it seems that it's a country that's more about money and economics than about the Gospel. But you know what I learned tonight, what excited me more than anything else? The marks of revival are not easily lost. When the Holy Spirit does a work in a country like He did in Germany during the Reformation, it is EXTREMELY difficult to shake off those marks. They are etched into the culture of that country. My prayer for Germany and for this city of Kitchener is that God would do a great work there once again, that the truth of Salvation by Grace alone would ring out once more and that Christ would truly be glorified. Now that will be a day to celebrate!
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| Andrew and Béibhinn with their Christkindl candles |
Waterloo Philharmonic Choir singing by the clock tower in Victoria Park
