Can you believe that the so-called festive season is upon us once again? Apart from the usual over- indulgence that marks this season, the church community manages to get itself in a knot over something that has important connotations, in terms of associations, but in the greater scheme of things is quite insignificant.
Is December 25th the birthday of Jesus? To be honest, I am sure it is not – after all, who would leave their sheep out in the open in mid-winter? However, whether it is or not is an argument that rather detracts from more meaningful truths associated with the Incarnation.
Let us take stock: The God of all, the ultimate Master of the Universe, the Planet-Breather, comes into our world in the most vulnerable way. He makes use of the womb of a teenager as a foyer through which He may enter the main house, which is life upon the planet of man.
This God of gods becomes so many cells multiplying on the wall of a uterus and then develops into a crying baby yearning for sustenance and security in the midst of a squawking and mooing stable: God in a donkey’s food trough.
He grows through toddler stage, still so vulnerable to all that the evil of this world can summon against Him: Jesus, the teenager, suffering all of the temptations so that one day He might walk through the same with others. God, the Creator of trees, learns to work wood as a craftsman; on through His twenties, watching His friends wed, produce children and build homes.
Then, one day, on the banks of the River Jordan, God the Father announces that the time of God the Son had come.
The wonder of God becoming flesh must never be sacrificed upon the altar of doctrinal dogmatism. God as a helpless baby in the arms of a frightened teenager in a world of uncertainty is not to be brushed aside so that one group may argue with another over the significance of so-called ‘special days’.
It is a wonder that He came at all to this rebellious, uncouth and evil humanity. The presumed importance of the date of His arrival fades into nothing in comparison with the fact that He did come, stayed and fulfilled the task for which He came.
25th of December most definitely has its roots in Babylonian activity and associated pagan feasts and celebrations and, on closer inspection, it becomes even clearer that Christmas Day has nothing at all to do with the birth of the Saviour. Having said all that, does it really matter? Jesus, the Son of God, came. That is certain. That is beyond dispute. I am living testimony to the fact that He came and redeemed me.
To all those who so strongly protect the presumed sanctity of Christmas Day, 25th December, why not make a change this year that would have a profound impact upon this world?
Instead of wasting money on gifts that no one actually wants, or would not have wanted if they had not received them; instead of maxing out the cards and buying gifts because someone might just buy you one and you do not want to be embarrassed; instead of spoiling the kids with things they hardly need - take all the money that would be spent on gifts, dinners, alcohol and the rest and give it to the work of God on this earth. Imagine what mission and evangelistic societies/ministries could do with the money that will leave Christian accounts to further bloat the coffers of ungodly commerce.
God gave us the ultimate gift of His Son. What about us giving the gift that really matters, the financing of the propagation of the Gospel upon this earth? What a gift to our Father - the multiple hundreds of thousands of penitent sinners who otherwise would not be won because of a lack of funds.
Just a thought ...
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CHRISTMAS PART 1: The answer to the first question above must be, ‘Yes, at all times of the year Christ is the centre of those who recognize His life in them’. The Bible reports that Jesus celebrated festive seasons, specifically the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (John 7:2,10) and the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Luke 22:7,8). Paul wrote that no one is to act as judge in respect to keeping a festival (Colossians 2:16) and this is one his many exhortations regarding the vast difference between grace and legalism which applies as much to the insistence on observing Old Covenant laws as it does to inventing new ones, of which ‘Thou Shalt Not Celebrate Christmas’ may be an example! Incidentally, the Bible makes no reference to Jesus being born in a stable (cf. Matthew 2:11) or to (geese) squawking, (cows) mooing or donkeys (braying) which are entirely the substance and influence (ironically in the present context) of Christmas cards! The Bible includes many examples of Hebrew hospitality and if the manger was in use, it is likely that the inn-keeper, on noticing that Mary was pregnant, would have herded any livestock outside, particularly if it was a warm summer or autumn day, as those opposed to a December Incarnation believe.
ReplyDeleteThe more than ten references in the blog to Christmas, special days, festive season, 25th December, pagan feasts, Babylon and doctrinal dogmatism may indicate, despite protestations to the contrary, that these are its emphasis. If so, should we not be equally concerned about other seemingly ‘copied’ pagan beliefs, such as virgin births, the promise of immortality, a sacrificial victim for world peace, death and resurrection? We don’t worry about these pre-Christian beliefs because they make no difference whatsoever to the New Testament’s unique revelation that Christ lives in us; that Jesus may share a ‘birthday’ with a Babylonian god is purely coincidental and has no relevance at all to our life in Him. However, to say that “Christmas Day has nothing at all to do with the birth of the Saviour” is an oxymoron on a level with ‘Youth Day has nothing to do with young people’. As we do not know the date of Jesus’ birth, Christians under grace have the liberty to particularly remember the birth of their Saviour on 25th December or on any other day, which thus becomes Christmas Day to them – the day on which they celebrate the birth of the Saviour. [To be continued].
CHRISTMAS PART 2: One of the many good reasons for setting apart a day on which to remember Christ’s Incarnation is evangelistic - the possibility of the unsaved hearing the Gospel on their ‘one day a year in church’. Another is in the giving of gifts as a practical demonstration of Christian benevolence and if such gifts (especially to those who don’t know Christ) are Bibles and Christian literature, so much the better. Christmas cards with Biblical messages may serve a similar purpose in kindling or rekindling the Gospel’s power and hope. It is commendable to divert funds from unnecessary, wasteful spending to evangelistic ministries and because the majority of missionary societies operate in economically-depressed Third World countries, large proportions of money given at this time of the year will go towards...the purchase of Christmas presents! Will this lead to the proposition that our giving should be restricted to those ministries which do not commemorate Christmas?
ReplyDeleteHowever, perhaps the most devastating and damaging issue at stake is that the abolition of Christmas would be another step towards paganising the world, on a par with, or even worse than, the USA’s ban on prayer in its public schools. If only one child a day throughout the world asks a parent to explain what Christmas means and is told nothing more than that it’s Jesus’ birthday, a seed will have been sown. Despite the suggestion that money spent on gifts “bloats the coffers of ungodly commerce”, the secular marketing of Christmas can be turned around to serve the higher purpose of bringing Christ to the fore so that “as a result, people are without excuse”. It is not difficult to speculate that if Christmas were no longer remembered or included in our vocabulary, even the Name of Christ would be unknown to multitudes within a generation. Are those who advocate that Christians should have nothing to do with Christmas prepared to take that risk simply because of its vague association with a mythical figure from 2500 years ago?
Naturally, the rights or wrongs of celebrating Christmas on 25th December or on any other day fade into insignificance compared with the wonder of Christ’s coming, our redemption and His living His life through us but just as Paul was willing to “become all things to all men” in order to win some to Christ, we too should use every means at our disposal (including Christmas) for the sake of the Gospel. Let us thank God that we are living in a society in which we still have the liberty to publicly proclaim and celebrate Christ’s amazing nativity.
We can argue till the cows come home on this issue! but for me, apart from rejoicing every other day that Jesus Christ came to earth to save me, I will continue to make the traditional Christmas day a time where He is celebrated in freedom and opportunities abound to tell the world about Jesus. On a practical level, one family I know donated all their money allocated for presents to our school and we now have a well-needed reading scheme.Not everyone has made Christmas secular!
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