It’s December 24th. I’ve done my last minute frantic Christmas shopping, but I know there are still a ton of people, mostly guys, who will be out shopping for their last minute Christmas gifts. On the radio and on Facebook Christmas music will be played and greetings will be shared. You probably have noticed and will also continue to read or hear, thankfully only until tomorrow at midnight, tales of what Christmas is NOT about. We are all very well versed, having heard or read a jillion of these things, on all the things Christmas isn’t. So I thought I would write this little post to take the major ones and give some background to them. Then I will take the time to give what I feel is the major point about Christmas and why it can affect how we see the day going forward.
What Christmas isn’t #1: A God-commanded holiday.
This is true. You can comb the Bible from Genesis to maps and you won’t find any command to celebrate it. This is true. This is also true of birthdays and anniversaries. Guys, how long do you think you could get away with not remembering or celebrating those days? The point is that we celebrate a great many things like weddings (uh, the wedding at Cana was 3 days long), retirement, and the expectation and/or arrival of a baby, that are not “commanded by God.” Yet few have a problem with any of these celebrations. And regarding things commanded by God, wait until later in this post. Which brings us to…
What Christmas isn’t #2: Christmas is a pagan holiday.
True, at least in the sense that the roots of the day are found in pagan celebration. Some of the earliest accounts of Christian missionaries in northern Europe give accounts of pagan celebrations with decorated trees (no that’s not what is talked about in Jeremiah, for those who are thinking that), burning yule logs, etc. The missionaries asked for and received permission to adapt these pagan symbols for the season and point them to Jesus. Pagan symbolism has often been adopted by the Church and even by God himself to try to express things for us humans to understand. For example, we use wedding rings and neckties, to name a few. With regard to some of the things mentioned and used by God himself in dealing with Israel we have priests, altars, and animal sacrifices. When we consider the life of Abram/Abraham and look at some of the things he did, who told him to do it? When he leaves Ur and then Haran and comes to Canaan he builds an alter and makes a sacrifice to God. Who told him to? God didn’t. Was that sacrifice not accepted by God because it wasn’t commanded? When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, why did he not hesitate? Perhaps it was because some of the pagan gods were already asking for human sacrifice, so why not God? All of this gets around the point that we aren’t celebrating a pagan god on Christmas but the coming of the Son of God.
What Christmas isn’t #3: It is not Jesus’ birthday.
True. We don’t know when Jesus was born. But what real harm is there in telling a 3-year-old Christmas is like a birthday for Jesus? We are celebrating a birthday, of sorts. It is simplistic to say that is what the day is about, but the fact is Jesus was born and whether we celebrate it December 25 or September 14 or any other day doesn’t matter. For Christians it is a time of remembrance, not cake and candles.
There are other complaints on why Christmas isn’t what it once was or ever should have been. It is commercial. It is overextended. It is about measuring who gets what from whom and all that. But is all that reason to just give up on what Christmas is?
So then what IS Christmas? The miracle of Christmas is that God, in an expression of his boundless love for us, came to be exactly like us. Now I want all you Greek and pagan mythologists to stop drooling about similarities. They are not the same. In the mythological accounts the gods they put on humanity, or a human-like appearance in order to fulfill some whim. When the Word of God became flesh, he became exactly like us without losing his divinity. God who is outside creation and history became creation and entered history inside Jesus Christ. It is that Incarnation that we celebrate on Christmas. In this one act of divine grace God gathered all of creation to himself to save it by his love. I won’t take the time here to go further into Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension and all that it means, for my focus is solely on Christmas. Christmas is the first place we get to celebrate God’s love for us.
Jesus told us, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” In all things, on all days we are to express that love to all humanity. Christmas is but one day of expressing that love. Whether it is in sharing gifts with each other, gathering in church or around a table, serving turkey to someone less fortunate, or with quiet heart in prayer for someone dying of starvation thousands of miles from where we find ourselves, each of these is an expression of Christ’s love living in us and through us. For those of you who want commandments, there you have it. But what good is love if it is only expressed as a result of command. Unless you live in a box on a deserted island and practice your self loathing in a mirror in a cave, you will be celebrating Christmas tomorrow whether you know it or not. His love will come out in some way. Even if it is just love for yourself. Christmas lives in us whether we like it or not for Christ lives in us whether we like it or not. You might as well enjoy it, Scrooge.
So there you have it: Christmas IS about love entering into the world to conquer us. May it conquer us all on this Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all!!
Love,
Frank
