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Written by David Gaddy
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Friday, 18 December 2009 16:04 |
Part 5: A Celebration of Christ or Commercialism?
A large part of what keeps Christmas alive year after year is, let's face it, the gift giving. For many non-Christians, Christmas is still practiced mainly because of this. This aspect creates a chain of events. As long as people are buying presents, stores will cater to them. The more stores promote the Holidays, the more people want to buy stuff. The more people buy, the more they want to receive. With all of this greed in the air, does the commercialism of the Season totally nullify the good parts of Christmas? It shouldn't. Sure, the spirit of greed can taint the spirit of Christmas, but the truth is, people are sinners. That's why we needed a savior to begin with. Hence, amid all of the greed is the true nature of the gift-giving practice… love. A light appears brightest when surrounded by darkness.
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16
The abundance of sin means abundant opportunities to teach. How did the gift-giving practice get started anyway? It was patterned after the Magi (wise men) who brought gifts to Jesus after his birth. Look to that example. Was greed a part of that process? No. It was done through love, honor, and respect. That pattern should remain for us. There are many lessons to be learned at Christmas time from all of the commercialism. What is given is not as important as the spirit in which it was given and the spirit in which it was received. As Christians we should personify this in our actions and teach it openly to those who need to learn. Look at what Paul taught the Ephesians as he left them for the last time:
"I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." - Acts 20:33-35
Paul did not teach, "You can't stop greed, so stop giving." Which is the message conveyed when we suggest we stop practicing Christmas because of commercialism. Instead we should use the opportunity to exercise the teachings of Paul and Jesus. If the Christians give up on Christmas, then the commercialism and greed wins because the greedy will not stop simply because you did. God blesses us with opportunities to teach his will and Christmas provides us with many opportunities to do so.
Think about this. Christmas time is a rare time of the year where people are less intimidated by the story of Christ. They are caught up in the emotions of the season which opens the door to their hearts. Through the season they can be taught about who Jesus really was and why His birth was so significant, and more importantly, what His death, burial, and resurrection accomplished. We have more opportunities to teach love, joy, peace, and the true spirit of giving. If a lost sinner comes to me and wants to know if I would like to be part of a Christmas gift-exchange and I respond with, "Sorry, I don't do Christmas", what message am I sending to him? A confusing one. For once, he was open to the idea of Jesus through this practice and I just shot it down. He does not understand my complex logic behind the decision, he is only wondering why a Christian would not want to be part of the joys of Christmas, a Christian holiday. An opportunity to teach is lost. This is also very difficult for our children in school who have an even harder time explaining to their friends and teachers why they do not "do Christmas". And although we may think that by not "doing Christmas" we have removed an element of greed from our family's lives, we may have introduced elements of envy and covetousness to them without realizing it because they feel left out.
Removing greed from our holiday experience should not be quite so difficult. We can impose spending limits on each other. We can resolve to only give each other home-made gifts. These types of limitations force us to think harder about the gifts (more blessed to give), therefore making them more meaningful, and it keeps the greed and commercial aspects to a minimum. Yet we can still enjoy the meaning of the holiday, celebrate our love for God and His gift of His son, and be a strong witness to teach others. The world is trying it's best to take Christ out of Christmas through political correctness and social awareness. The socialists and the atheists are doing their best to shoot Christianity down from all sides. As Christians, are we going to help them or hinder them?
My hope is to celebrate Christ every day of my life, not just on Christmas. But if the world is actually willing to acknowledge Him on December 25th, I will celebrate then as well, making use of any opportunities it affords by promoting the love of Jesus Christ and salvation through Him.
May the love of Christ be with you and in you all… and Merry Christmas.
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Written by David Gaddy
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Thursday, 17 December 2009 16:11 |
Part 4: Jesus never instituted Christmas Celebration
It is true. Jesus never specifically asked us to remember His birth. However, Matthew and Luke both imply through their writings that the event of Jesus' birth was majestic and worthy of some celebration. But first let's look at some issues, then at the examples of celebrating Christ's birth to see if scripture can, in fact, support it.
The Bible teaches us not to esteem one day above another. Does it? I've heard that all my life, but that actual phrase is not in the Bible. The closest scripture to this is found in Romans:
"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." - Romans 14:5
This verse is not telling us "not to esteem one day over another". It tells us we have liberty to esteem one day over another or not to. If we look at the context of this verse, it is specifically referring to Jewish Christians who still felt obligated to worship on the holy days and feast days of the Jewish religion. Paul was telling them not to condemn those who did this. His point was also to let the Christians choose whether to celebrate the days or not, just as long as everything was done to honor God. If we continue into verse 6 we see this:
"He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." - Romans 14:6a
Although the passage is referring to Jewish holy days, the truth of the statement in verse 6 still applies. Regarding the day as a day of celebration is up to the participants, as long as it is done unto the Lord. The bottom line is: what is in your heart when you do the things you do? If you love God with all of your heart, you will be serving Him in one way or another: through song or shouts of praise or lifting your hands or falling to your knees. And this will happen with every opportunity you can find.
Why make a big deal over Jesus' birth when the more important thing is His death? Does celebrating Christmas put the focus on the wrong event in Jesus' life? Let's stop and think about this. We come together every week to remember His death and celebrate it. Christmas only comes once per year. How is this then unbalanced, if the ratio of days to celebrate His death in contrast to His birth are 52:1?
"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." - 1 Corinthians 11:26
Every time we partake of His communion, we commemorate His death. How often does this happen in the course of a year? I think we can all agree that His death was more important than His birth, but let's also not diminish the importance that His birth has. God sent His only son to this earth because He loved us. We received the gift of His life when He was born, miraculously from a virgin. This was a one time event, it never happened before and it would never happen again. That is amazing and worthy of some celebration:
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." - Luke 2:10-14
Tidings of great joy… to all people. That includes us. Then look at how the angels responded to the news of Jesus' birth. A whole host of them gathered to celebrate God's grace being given to mankind. There is cause for celebration. We have let this talk of paganism and the question of the date rob us of our joy and thanksgiving for this event. So much so in fact, that many Christians are uncomfortable even reading the scriptures about Jesus' birth or singing songs about Jesus' birth because of it. Songs like Away in a Manger, O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child is This, and Joy to the World have all been labeled as Christmas Carols and are never sang by many Christians even though they bring glory and honor to our savior by remembering his wonderful and miraculous birth (although Joy to the World is really about His second coming). These songs allow us to do exactly the same thing the angels were doing that day. Let's see how others reacted.
"When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." - Matthew 2:9-11
These wise men (or magi) from Persia were more than likely descendants of the servants of Cyrus who had appointed Daniel over the astronomers there. Hence, they were privy to this prophecy and were led here. When they realized they were about to finally see the son of God, they "rejoiced with exceeding great joy". I think it is safe to say, they felt this was worthy of some celebration. Eight days after Jesus' birth, he was taken to the temple to be circumcised and two people there had recognized the miracle and came to join in this celebration. First was a man named Simeon who, when he saw Jesus reacted in this way:
"Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:" - Luke 2:28-30
He was so overjoyed, he felt his life was complete and that he'd be content for God take him now. The other person was a prophetess named Anna who likewise gave thanks to God for the birth of this child and began to spread the word of his coming. Both of these elderly people's lives were pinnacled by this one moment in time to behold the very son of God given to mankind. I am sure they celebrated this occasion in their hearts until they died, because they understood the loving grace God gave to us. His love abounds to us and He wants our love in return. That love leads to praise and worship in every opportunity afforded us.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." - Matthew 22:37-38
Do we love Him so much that we will take any excuse we can to praise Him? I want to celebrate His birth, His life, His teachings, His love, His death, and His resurrection! He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and one day we will sit before His thrown to celebrate ALL of Him, every minute of His life, and every minute He has spent in our lives.
To be concluded in Part 5: A Celebration of Christ or Commercialism? |
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