Yes, I Celebrate Christmas

Objections to celebrating Christmas come from multiple directions. I think some responses and perspective might be helpful.

The Bible does not command Christians to celebrate Christmas. This is entirely true. Christians are not obligated by the scriptures to celebrate Christmas (or any other holidays, for that matter). On the other hand, Christians are not forbidden to celebrate key events in the life of Jesus and the beginnings of the church. Thus, Christian believers are free to celebrate or to not celebrate, provided they do not try to impose their choices on other believers. The value of either is not in the choice made, but in the heart of the one choosing. I'll return to that shortly.

Christmas is a Pagan Holiday! Christmas is a Romish Holiday! Christmas trees are really idols! Puh-lease! Taking the second objection first (and speaking as a Protestant), this isn't the 16 or 17 century! However awful the Catholic Church may have been then – and many Protestants' hands back then were far from squeaky clean! - that is not the Catholic Church of today. Those battles of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries have been extinguished by time and learning born out of suffering. More importantly, there are many true believers in Jesus among Catholics.

Regarding the claim concerning Christmas trees, Jeremiah 10:2-5 is commonly cited:

Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."

While the Hebrew text does not use the word “idol,” it is clear that this text mockingly describes the making and worshiping of an idol: “worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman;” “decorate it with silver and gold;” “they have to be carried .” Christmas trees are, of course, usually cut down from a forest, but are not worked by a craftsman, as idols were. Christmas trees are commonly colorfully decorated, but usually not with real silver or real gold, as idols were. Christmas trees are not carried around, as idols were. More to the point, while decorating a Christmas tree is often a time of family enjoyment and togetherness, it isn't worshiped, and some time after Christmas, when it has served its seasonal (a month or two at most!) decorative purpose, it is stripped of its decorations and thrown out.

The genesis of celebrating Jesus' birth and the choosing of December 25th for that celebration were very long ago, and the reasons for the latter are obscure. It is entirely possible that Jesus was not born in December, let alone exactly on the 25th of December. But, for the sake of argument, let me stipulate that the date was chosen because it was the date of a Pagan holiday, that Jesus was born in any month but December, and that many customs – e.g. Christmas trees – have Pagan origins. So what! I can guarantee that no Christian celebrating Christmas is covertly worshiping Saturn or Odin or Thor! But here again, the value is not in the date or the trappings of the celebration.

The core of Christian life and practice is not in a list of do's and don't's. That core is in the believer's heart. When one's heart is right, i.e. there is true faith and belief, one's actions follow that heart. In the case of celebrating Christmas, it comes down to a question of what (Whom!) the person is celebrating. If Christian believers celebrating Christmas are celebrating the birth of Jesus – thanking Him, honoring God for such a priceless Gift, reflecting on what that Gift means in one's life, thinking about how that Gift affects and is shown in one's daily life – then what people 2000 years ago may or may not have done on the 25th of December, how that date came to be chosen for celebrating Christmas, or how things such as decorated trees were used 15 or 20 centuries ago really do not matter. What matters is the celebrant's (or non-celebrant's) heart.

Rome & Judea; Augustus & Herod

Rome was, relatively speaking, at peace. As simple as that sounds, it was more than a bit of a relief … for the people of Rome, at least! The Punic Wars – a century of warfare with Carthage that for a time threatened the existence of Rome – had been followed by an expansion (i.e. conquest) into Greece, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Gaul (France) and Britain. And then by a time of civil war and civil strife, as the republic broke down, splintering into factions competing for power. A degree of unity came, briefly, with Julius Caesar, but then he was assassinated, and civil war again ensued. The civil war ended with Rome being united by Julius Caesar's nephew, Octavian, who overcame the other factions (at first, the assassins, and afterward, his partners in punishing the assassins) – taking over Palestine and conquering Egypt in the process – and became emperor, with the title Augustus. Rome was yet ambitious, definitely a brutal exploitative conqueror, but the reign of Augustus brought respite from two and a half centuries of Rome being attacked and being ripped apart by civil war and strife.

Judea had likewise had a very stormy history. Starting with the conquest by Babylon in the early 6th Century BC: the Jewish people had been slaughtered and driven into exile in Babylon; reconquered by Persia; allowed by Persian emperor Cyrus to return to Judea; became a pawn in Persian imperial politics and semi-internecine strife' faced the prospect of a proto-Holocaust in the intrigues of a certain Haman; reconquered by Alexander the Great; became an area contested between Antiochan Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt; oppressed by and revolted against (successfully) the megalomaniac Antiochus Epiphanes; somewhat independent for a time, albeit riven with factions and subject to foreign influence and interference (Syria, Egypt and Rome); became a vassal state of Rome; conquered by the Parthian Empire; reconquered by Rome; made a vassal kingdom under Herod the Great; reduced to a very restive province at the death of Herod. How's that for a summary of 6 very eventful centuries?! Several aspects from that history contributed to happenings at Jesus birth and in His life.

The hatred and strife between the Jews and the Samaritans – mentioned at times in the Gospels – came from the time after the return from exile under the Persians. The Samaritans were, then, a “mixed race” people – part Israeli, part Medo-Persian – who had then been in Samaria for 2 or 3 centuries. Depending on one's point of view, the Samaritans wanted to rejoin their fellow Israelis (Jews) or wanted to muscle in, co-opt the Jews' return, take over their land (Judea), and hybridize their religion. By Jesus' time, this hatred had festered for 4 or 5 centuries – unlike wine, hatreds get worse with age.

The rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanes and tempestuous time of independence were the genesis of the various religio-socio-political factions of Jesus' time, and helped make post-Herodian Judea and Galilee very restless provinces. On the other hand, Roman arrogance and brutality made matters worse, inevitably leading to further – and in the event, disastrous – rebellion. This social turbidity was the context of Pontius Pilate's cowardly surrender to the mob's demands to crucify Jesus.

More relevant to the theme of this series of meditations is Herod, his becoming king, and aspects of his reign and character. Herod was of Idumaean (Edomite) ancestry and at least nominally of the Jewish religion. His family had come into power during the turbulent independence of Judea. Herod himself had given valuable service to Octavian (Augustus) in the civil war following the assassination of Julius Caesar, and again in the reconquest of Judea from the Parthians. For these services, Herod was given the rule of Judea, Idumea, Samaria and Galilee with the title of king.

Herod is called “the Great” for several reasons. His reign was long – more than 30 years – and he was, in that context, a capable and effective ruler. Because of his family's long involvement in Jewish politics, he was able to maintain some semblance of peace. Herod constructed an artificial harbor at Caesaria and began a massive and magnificent reconstruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem as well as other large-scale building projects.

Herod was also a great paranoid monster. The works of Josephus, specifically The Jewish War, give considerable detail regarding Herod killing several of his relatives (including a wife and a son) whom he suspected of plotting against him. Josephus does not mention the Slaughter of the Innocents at Bethlehem (Matthew Chapter 1) but it is entirely consistent with Herod's paranoid, ruthless, character. That the slaughter at Bethlehem wasn't mentioned is not unusual, in my opinion. Bethlehem was a small town, and probably “only” a couple dozen children, if that many, were killed. This killing was “just” one “small” act of brutality in Herod's reign of brutality.

It's easy to think of Christmas as a just-so story, set in an imaginary land with plastic puppet people acting out the too familiar events. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph and Herod were real people, living in a real Galilee and Judea, with real feelings that grew out of real experiences and motivated real deeds. It is valuable to pause in our storytelling, slow down a little, and think about the people in our Christmas story – the good people and the monsters.

Announcements, Announcements, Announcements

In the first chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, we see four people receiving surprising news. For two, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, the news was very joyful, if a bit disturbing. For Joseph, betrothed to Mary, the news was definitely disturbing. For Mary, well, it's complicated, so we'll get to that in a bit. First up, Zechariah and Elizabeth:

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." Luke 1:5-20

Before looking at Zechariah and Elizabeth's likely feelings, there are some things in this passage that deserve some explanation. That Elizabeth had no children was a source of great sadness and pain for her and Zechariah. On top of the natural desire of most married couples to become parents, children, in Jewish culture, were seen as signs of God's blessing. Thus, their being childless would raise the question of why God did not so bless them. And the nickname “Barren” - as in “Elizabeth the Barren” - was catty and particularly cruel.

The statement, “when his division was on duty,” is a reference to a reorganization of the priests done by King David in 1 Chronicles 24. In the time of Moses, Aaron and his sons had been appointed priests, not just for their lifetimes, but his descendants in perpetuity. By David's time, as many as 4 or 5 centuries later, the number of descendants of Aaron were so numerous that David organized them into 24 divisions, so that each would have a chance to serve as priest. With each division being on duty just 2 weeks or so a year and the likely recovery and growth in the numbers of priests in the 5 centuries or so after the Exile to Babylon, Zechariah may only actually have served in the temple just a few times during his life. On top of that, Zechariah had been chosen to burn incense on the day of the announcement, so all in all, this day was special for him … and God made it all the more so with this announcement!

“And he must not drink wine or strong drink,” means that John would take the Nazirite vow (Numbers, chapter 6). The Nazirite vow to abstain from grape products, not cut one's hair, etc., denoted a special dedication to serving God. It could be for one's lifetime or it could be for a designated time period.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:26-38

In this, Mary was put in a difficult position from the very outset. The norm in Israel was for a newly (both first-time, of course) married couple to be virgins. Extra-marital sex was against the Law of Moses. Mary was a virgin – probably in her teens – and betrothed. In her culture, that meant she was married, except for the ceremony and the living together as husband and wife. Now here she was, about to have a baby, normally prima facie evidence of not being a virgin. The legal complications, to the extent the Romans allowed any, could be deadly. And even if navigated such that Mary escaped punishment, her social status (Nazareth was a really small village), and her status as Joseph's wife-to-be, were in jeopardy. Yet, Mary knew she was still a virgin! And her baby was God's Son and the promised Messiah! Putting it mildly, that was a lot for a teeny-something to handle!

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel"(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph is shown but little in Scripture. This passage gives considerable insight into his character. While it is true that Joseph was prepared, given the news of Mary's pregnancy (and he knew he wasn't be the father of her baby!), to call off the marriage, his reaction was actually atypically mild. The more natural reaction – outrage – would not have been to quietly and privately call off the marriage. Outrage, anger, and bruised pride are much noisier, public, vindictive. He could have put Mary's life in jeopardy, or at least made her life very miserable. But that wasn't the kind of man Joseph was! He was going to call off the marriage quietly and let Mary and her family to figure out what Mary should do.

We don't know how much Mary told Joseph about how she came to be pregnant. She may have told him the full story of Gabriel's announcement. Or she may have given no explanation at all. Given his inclination to call off the marriage, he did not believe her. At any rate, when in a dream Joseph was informed of the source of Mary's pregnancy, rather than blaming something spicy in his previous night's dinner, Joseph fully accepted that Mary was indeed a virgin, pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and, obedient to God, proceeded with their marriage. That was quite a reversal and life-changing decision to be made based on a dream! Joseph accepted Who the baby's Parent was. Joseph set aside and quashed the anger he had had toward Mary. Joseph set aside his pride in accepting both social disgrace – marrying Mary would be interpreted as an acknowledgment that they had had sex before being married – and the fact that he would be raising a son that was not “his”. Joseph certainly trusted God and loved Mary!

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever." And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Luke 1:39-56

This incident is sort of an appendix to the announcement to Mary (and possibly to Joseph's dream), but there are some interesting things here. First, there's the apparent familial relationship between Mary and Elizabeth (verse 36, not quoted). Verse 5, quoted above, states that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi. Mary was a descendant of David, of the tribe of Judah. How were they relatives? By the marriage of other, unmentioned, family members? Or by being descendants of two sons of Jacob (Israel), who lived some 18 centuries earlier? The New Testament doesn't explain.

More interesting – to me anyway – is what happened at their initial meeting. John, not yet born, reacted to the presence of Jesus, Who was also in utero. Babies do all kinds of things in utero – get the hiccups, do jumping jacks (maybe it just seems that way) – and sometimes in response to things happening in the outside world. But babies don't react vigorously every time the mother stands up or a person enters the room. Hence Elizabeth's realization that John was responding to the unseen presence of Jesus. This says much about the nature of unborn babies: aware, with consciousness, not just responding reflexively; having character and personality (John's desire to recognize and honor God; Jesus being the Son of God) far beyond “just” being a generic fetus.

In sum, this announcement was a huge blessing to Zechariah and Elizabeth! Zechariah's response to Gabriel shows that he was resigned to being childless, and was making the most otherwise of his marriage with Elizabeth. More than that, Zechariah, who of all Israelites was in a class who should have understood God's power, expressed doubt. And now Zechariah and Elizabeth were told that they would be blessed, beyond their expectation, by having a child! And their son was named by God and was to have a special dedication and service to God in life was all the more exciting!

For Joseph, this was a roller coaster experience! He was to be married soon. Then he learned his betrothed was pregnant, and not by him. So he decided to divorce Mary. Then he is told in a dream that Mary's child is by God, not some other man … marriage back on again! Hypothetically, Joseph was expendable. He wasn't “needed” for Mary to have her baby or to raise Jesus. Yet God offered Joseph the chance to serve Him by being Mary's husband and Jesus' Dad. And Joseph embraced that service!

Mary was at the center of all this. She was carrying Jesus, the One Who brought salvation to the world! And still, she was a teeny-something from a tiny Galilean village! She had the most to digest, and it's pretty evident, from her hymn of praise in Luke 1:46-55, she had done a lot of thinking. And Luke 2:19 and 51 and John 2:3-5 make it very clear that Mary did much more thinking through the years about Who Jesus was, and about how she should respond. I guess your Son being the Son of God and your Savior is a lot to contemplate!

I'd like to append a special and particular, "Thank you!" to Pastor Steve Clifford, whose sermon for this weekend's services helped me bring clearer focus to parts of this post! He didn't/doesn't know that I was preparing this post, but God did.

Advent: Came and Coming

I suppose some may be wondering what Advent is and what it has to do with Christianity. On the other hand, I suppose some Christians might wonder at such a question being asked. So I guess answering that question would be a good starting point.

Many more traditional, theologically conservative, Christian churches (e.g. Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopalian) follow a liturgical or church calendar that is organized around certain religious holidays (i.e., Holy Days). For Catholics, there are quite a few such holidays and festivals; among Protestants, the three most commonly celebrated are Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. This calendar goes further than just observing the several holidays, however. It can include a multi-year schedule of readings from the Bible which, if followed through the years in worship services, results in the congregation hearing much of the Bible read aloud. Sermon texts or themes also often come from the readings for a particular Sunday or season.

Also part of the calendar, relevant to the topic at hand, are certain multi-week seasons of preparation for celebrating a coming holiday. The best known, perhaps, such season of preparation would be Lent, which anticipates Good Friday and Easter (the death and resurrection of Jesus). Advent is the season of preparation that anticipates Christmas.

“Advent” means a coming or an arrival. One coming looked forward to in the season of Advent is Christmas, the celebration of the first coming, the birth, of Jesus. Thus, many songs and sermons during Advent speak of prophecies that promised Jesus' coming – Who He was (is) and what He would do. In my experience, this is the theme that is most common and gets the greatest focus. But Advent also looks toward another coming, the second coming of Jesus, which will bring the end of the current world system, the Final Judgment, and one's eternal fate.

If this latter theme seems incongruous, remember that Advent is a season of preparation. Christians are preparing their hearts to celebrate and give thanks for the birth, God's Gift, of Jesus. Christians are also looking forward to, and preparing their hearts for, Jesus' Second Coming, when believers will enter into an eternity with Jesus, seeing Jesus face to face. So for Christians, Advent is a time of serious joy.

Survivor's Guilt?

Last Friday – December 2nd – was one of my less favorite days in a while. Something happened that hasn't happened, for me, since 1992. My employer had a lay-off, and I wasn't among those laid off. Being laid off is not fun – I have more experience with being laid off than I wish I had. Being one of those retained isn't entirely a bed of roses.

The people who were laid off are people, the ones I knew are good at what they do. I think that's true for most people who are part of any lay-off. They usually are people the company would have preferred to keep, but for whatever made the lay-off necessary. Those just laid off include people I know, people who were friends. They have lives, families, which have now become a chaos of stress and uncertainty.

I'm experiencing certain stresses – changes, concern for my longer term job future, maybe doing a little more, sometimes dealing with different people for things I need. These are small compared with having seeking a job being one's job while being concerned with paying bills and making do with less. I can't call into existence jobs for each of them. But I can – and do – pray for them, that God will provide for them, that God will draw them closer to Him through and during this time (whatever becoming closer to God means for each). If you know anyone similarly situated, please be sure to pray for them.

Detour or De Tour?

What looks to us like a detour in our life's plan may be "de tour" God has planned. From Phil Keaggy's song, "Disappointment" (http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858497029/):

"Disappointment - His appointment,
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God's better choice for me.


His appointment must be blessing
Though it may come in disguise
For the end from the beginning,
Open to His wisdom lies."

Brief Thoughts on Predestination

I have not attended a seminary or Bible college. I'm not a theologian, professional or amateur, I'm just putting my thought “out there” on the web.

Teachings about predestination usually come from either a Calvinist or Arminian point of view. I once said that I'm a practicing non-Calvinist (and speculated that some day all that practice might help me get it right). I'm also a practicing non-Arminian.

The predestination issue arises out of the larger concept of God's sovereignty, the teaching that God is in control in His creation, and that His will will be accomplished. I believe that God's sovereignty is much more complex than we can possibly fully understand (would God be God if we could understand Him?!). Part of our problem is that we are in time, while God is not. Time is one of God's creatures and not something to which God is subject. The best way I can express the significance of that is to say that to God, Abraham's lifetime is as real as are mine and that of my unborn grandchildren. God's knowledge is complete, and what is "future" to us is just real to God as what we call “past”. God does not need to micro-manage or micro-manipulate events and people as they happen.

God created the universe, everything that would happen from the Day of Creation through the Day of Judgment. Everything that would happen, including the myriad influences and decisions that would, ultimately, lead to my accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior … or another person's rejection of Jesus. In that sense, God predestined everything by creating the entire timer-space continuum, not by changing and tweaking on the fly everything that happens. Thus, my and every other person's choices are true choices, not something that God pre-programed into me or something into which God manipulated me. God chose to create creatures, humans, who could choose to love and serve Him rather than robots programmed to "love" and "serve". I (and every other person) am truly and fully responsible for my choices and actions.