What does Jesus have to do with Christmas?

Most Christians say that they celebrate Christmas to honour the birth of Christ.  But I relate here how that nothing about the Christmas season vaguely represents the biblical account of His birth, except for the reading of the birth of our Saviour, Luke 2: 8-14.

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The early colonists forbade the celebration of the Christ-Mass, knowing full well that it was a pagan and ungodly practice.  Let us hear from the great Puritan thinker, A.W. Pink on this subject, here is an excerpt from his thoughtful article on this subject:

“Christmas is coming! Quite so; but what is "Christmas?"  Does not the very term itself denote its source - "Christ-mass."  Thus it is of Romish origin, brought over from Paganism.  But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Saviour's birth.  It is?  And who authorized such commemoration? Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples "remember" Him in His death, but there is not a word in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth.  Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born?  The Bible is silent thereon.  Is it without reason that the only "birthday" commemorations mentioned in God's Word are Pharaoh's (Gen. 40:20) and Herod's (Matt. 14:6)?  Is this recorded "for our learning?"  If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart?

And who is it that celebrates "Christmas?"  The whole "civilized world."  Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who "despise and reject Him," and millions more who while claiming to be His followers yet in works deny Him, join in merrymaking under the pretence of honouring the birth of the Lord Jesus.  Putting it on its lowest ground, we would ask, Is it fitting that His friends should unite with His enemies in a worldly round of fleshly gratification?  Does any truly born-again soul really think that He whom the world cast out is either pleased or glorified by such participation in the world's joys?  Verily, the customs of the people are vain; and it is written, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Ex. 23:2).

Some will argue for the "keeping, of Christmas" on the ground of "giving the kiddies a good time." But why do this under cloak of honouring the Saviour's birth?  Why is it necessary to drag in His holy name in connection with what takes place at that season of carnal jollification?  Is this taking the little ones with you out of Egypt (Ex. 10:9,10) a type of the world, or is it not plainly a mingling with the present-day Egyptians in their "pleasures of sin for a season?" (Heb. 11:25).  Scripture says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Pro.. 22:6).  Scripture does command God's people to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eh. 6:4), but where does it stipulate that it is our duty to give the little ones a "good time?"  Do we ever give the children "a good time" when we engage in anything upon which we cannot fittingly ask the Lord's blessing?”

The Presbyterian minister Abraham Anderson, in his work Lectures on Theology, said:

“Christmas, or the Nativity, is unauthorized.  The time is utterly unknown, being left in impenetrable darkness by the Holy Spirit in the divine records; and no doubt this was done because the knowledge of it was unnecessary, and in order to repress will-worship.  In a word, while fast-days are appointed on account of the duty to be performed, in set days, or periodical days, the duty is observed on account of the day; and therefore the day must be of divine appointment, or it is sinful.”

Robert Nevin, a reformed minister said this in 1893:

“If the Apostle Paul were permitted to revisit earth, we might imagine him addressing them somewhat after the following manner:  'Ye men of a half-reformed Church, ye observe days and times.  Ye have a whole calendar of so-called saints' days.  Ye observe a Holy Thursday and a Good Friday.  Ye have a time called Easter, and a season called Lent, about which some of you make no small stir.  Ye have a day regarded especially holy, named Christmas, observed at a manifestly wrong season of the year, and notoriously grafted on an old Pagan festival. And all this while many of you refuse to acknowledge the continued obligation of the Fourth Commandment. I am afraid of you, lest the instruction contained in my epistle, as well as in other parts of Scripture, has been bestowed upon you in vain.’”

The traditional Christmas season officially began again this year the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year. Shoppers flooded parking lots and waited for hours in long lines outside the doors of Wal-Mart, K-Mart and other discount chain stores around the country. When the doors opened at 6:00 A. M, television cameras captured the mighty stampede that followed. Grown men and women ran into the store like a bunch of wild animals to the shelves of merchandise, where discounted signs of 50-75% off were posted.  Cameras followed two women and a man fighting over one item. One of the women finally was able to snatch it out of the others' hands and run with it, as the others began running in hot pursuit after her. According to news reports, a lady was killed this year in this very kind of stampede at one of the discount stores in the Mid-West. She was knocked down to the floor by the rushing crowds and trampled to death. And no one knew, or seemed to care, that anything had happened for more than an hour.

No doubt, some of these shoppers were professing Christians and members of Christian churches. And they really thought that this manner of shopping for Christmas was part of their honouring and celebrating the birth of our Saviour, since Christmas shopping is such a big part of the Christmas celebration. But what part of this story relates to the biblical account of the birth of Christ? And please show me "that special Christmas spirit of love, joy and peace", which any of these shoppers displayed here, that is suppose to fill all who celebrates Christmas.  What pressure religious tradition puts on  us every Christmas to buy more and more Christmas presents and the most popular Christmas toys for the kiddies.  Somehow, we have been made to believe that the more we shop, the more we buy, and the more money we spend, the more of the Christmas spirit we can have.  And the more of the Christmas spirit we have, the more we can fully celebrate the birth of Christ, thus, being able to show Him more of our love for Him.   In the end though, only those who own the stores, really benefit at all from the Christmas shopping madness.  "Let's cut back on our Christmas shopping this year," I heard a preacher say recently, "and put Christ back into Christmas."

How can you put Christ back into Christmas, when He never was in Christmas in the first place, I wondered. (More about that later)  Because of my fifty-two years' experience of "putting Christ back into Christmas",   I knew  exactly what he meant; taking an active role in the production of the annual Christmas program at church and buy as much or more but pay less, so you will be able to give the church a larger Christmas offering.

As we compare the usual Church Christmas Program to the biblical account of the birth of Christ, we will find that it has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I will use for an example the Christmas program of a First Baptist Church, one of the last churches I attended before I stopped going to church, altogether.

The Christmas program was held on the Sunday before Christmas in the Church Sanctuary, during the Sunday Morning Church Worship Service.  The Sanctuary was decorated with a Christmas Tree, full of red velvet bows, which stood on the left hand side at the front of the Sanctuary. The nativity resting  under a make-shift open shelter on a straw-strown floor held a bald-headed baby doll, covered in a gold-coloured blanket, sleeping in a beautiful wood-coloured baby carriage-on the right side.  A glowing halo encircled "Baby Jesus" head.  "Mary and Joseph" knelt beside the sleeping "Baby Jesus", as they worshiped Him.  A bright shining star hung over the open shelter; its light so bright until the entire space under the open shelter lit up.  Red poinsettias filled the altar area. Green fern surrounded the large lighted candles which sat on top of the organ and piano. Choir members, dressed in satin green choir robes trimmed in red, stood in front of the pulpit area and sang all, except a couple, of the traditional Christmas Carols.

"Angels" donning wings, "shepherds" with their staff and "three wise men" bearing gifts made their way down the centre aisle to where "the Christ Child" lay. One of the "shepherds" sang "What Child Is This" to "the baby Jesus" "Joseph" stood up and read the traditional story, Luke 2:8-14, from the Bible. "We Three Kings" followed as one of the " wise men" sang. The "angels" bowed before the manger as they sang "Hark The Herald Angels Sing." The choir sang in between these songs and closed the program with "Silent Night" as the congregation joined in. The pastor hurried up to the front to give some closing remarks and to take an offering. "Give your biggest and best sacrificial offering to Jesus for His birthday," he said. "After all, He gave to us His best and biggest sacrifice: His life.

Xmas Part Two

 
 

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