What of Christmas?
As someone who has lived through numerous Christmases, I ponder every year two different things. One is how to make the celebration appropriately meaningful, and the other is to wonder at how the increasingly hostile world will try to steal and secularize our holy day. I don’t know which side of the issue concerns me more
One the Christian side, we have an opportunity to reverently reflect on the miracle of the invisible God becoming a flesh and blood man, not just in appearance, but in his very essence. We call this miracle incarnation, yet this amazing occurrence defied expectations. The most remarkable birth occurred in a barn, a cave used for the sheltering of animals. Coming from a farm family, I have seen smelly, messy barns and clean, rather pleasant ones. We don’t know which kind this may have been, but it certainly wasn’t a sterile hospital atmosphere. God had planned and predicted this incredible event, starting with the distressing failure of the first humans in Eden, and even before, and its theological meaning has been the subject of many profound discussions.
On the other side, we see a progressive—and not in a good way—effort to turn Christmas into a empty, largely meaningless party, bereft of any holiness whatever. Oh, many attempt to find new meanings—generosity, family, kindness—but none possess the life-changing quality of the true, original purpose. Not just the word “Christmas” but even “Santa Claus” (a distortion, over the years, of Saint Nicholas) are too “religious” to be spoken, though schools freely teach about witches and Ramadan. School’s have “holiday parties” and communities erect “holiday trees.” Stores have taken to avoiding the words “Merry Christmas,” because they supposedly offend a few hostile unbelievers. Admittedly, other religions have their own holy days, but none of them have been appropriated and emptied of meaning like Christmas, nor do most of their adherents object to Christmas. My own sense is that the enemy seeks to prevent people from hearing the awesome, true story of Jesus’ birth and its ultimate purpose, the salvation of sinners, because they are true.
This latter assault understandably upsets many of us Christians. In recent years, however, I have begun to realize that the strategy is destined for failure. Perhaps the greatest party seen on the planet is one associated inseparably, despite every effort, with Jesus Christ. The word “Christmas”, regardless of its origins, will not go away. I noted, just a few days ago, that some stores like Walmart are going back to saying “Merry Christmas,” because the alternative offended far more people. Can Jesus mind that this day commemorating his birth, even though no one actually knows his birth date, has become a day for giving gifts, being generous, helping the needy, and generating positive feelings? Somehow, I doubt it. Let the schools stop singing sacred carols, some of the most beautiful music ever written; others will sing them, play them, and enjoy them, thanks to all the recordings, broadcasts, church programs, and Internet sources where they can be heard.
What about us? What should we believers do? In the end, I think our positive Christmas spirit of love and worship are far more important and influential than negative protests, and I have written a few of them myself. If, as I believe, we worship the true and the living God come to earth as a man and whose final purpose was to die for sinners, then our sincere adherence to these truths will have more impact than any protest. As citizens, we have every right to work to achieve what we believe is right under our U.S. Constitution, to support candidates who agree with us, and vote with our dollars both in politics and commerce, as long as we always do them in a Christ-like manner. We are also free to worship and serve our God as we choose, as guaranteed by that same Constitution. Should the interpretation or neglect of that ultimate law be ignored, we also have the obligation never to cease to do what our first allegiance demands, even to our death as martyrs, should such an occasion require. Even then, our manner should bring honor to the Savior who birth we celebrate, every year at this season.
Above all, do not be discouraged. In this, as in all things in God’s economy, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”