SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 9:6
(TM)
For a child has
been born - for us! the gift of a son - for us! He'll take over the running of
the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
STORY: by Chuck Swindoll
Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous.
Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then
cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant
births.
For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was
destined to become one of England's finest statesman. That same year, Alfred
Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day
greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American
continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not
far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It
was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their
child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant
in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby's name? Abraham
Lincoln.
If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I'm certain
these words would have been heard: "The destiny of the world is being
shaped on an Austrian battlefield today." But history was actually being
shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly, everyone thought
taxation was the big news--when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman
cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Savior.
OBSERVATION:
It might be viewed as
heretical, but I don’t get bent out of shape over the issues of Merry Christmas
vs. Happy Holidays or Jesus is the reason for the season or keeping Christ in
Christmas. I just don’t and let me try to explain why.
First of all, the
celebration of the birth of Jesus just wasn’t important to the early church.
Scripturally it is only mentioned in 2 of the 4 Gospels and not at all in any
of the New Testament letters. The early church observed the weeks before
Christmas as a time of prayer, fasting, alms giving, Bible study and penteance.
Their focus was on Calvary and the death and resurrection of Christ … nothing else mattered. So if we really want
to center our attention on Christ during this season we would follow their
example.
It wasn’t until these
early believers began to incorborate the various pagan elements of the society
in which they lived did the church begin to widen the scope of their observance
to include much of what we presently include in our Advent journey towards
Christmas.
Christmas is only 12-days
(December 25 to January 6). The period that we call Christmas includes four
weeks of Advent, 12-days of Christmas, the New Year celebration and the Day of
Epiphany, January 6th. It includes more than just Christmas so the
Happy Holidays greeting is okay with me.
Keeping Christ in
Christmas to some extent is/was a response to stores that used the Xmas abbrevation. This doesn’t disturb
me either because the Greek X is Chi which means Christ and the X is one of the oldest and lasting
symbols for Christ.
And now for the last
phrase, Jesus is the reason for the season. I would much prefer the simple, Jesus
Is The Reason … period. Jesus is the reason for life, hope, possibility and not
just one season out of 12 months. We parade our Christian pride once a year. We
declare our commitment once a year. We make a big deal once a year. We ignore
our witness to the truth of Christ for the other 11-months.
Heretical? Maybe. A call
to a deeper relationship with Christ? Always. A desire to make our celebration
continuous? By all means, YES! May the spirit of Christ and Christmas live in
us 365 days a year and not just for a few weeks.
PRAYER:
Bring us and our world back into focus. Help us to set
Christ-centered priorities. May the spirit of the season live in us for 365
days. Bring us back into focus.
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