Ah, it’s that season again – Christmas! Children’s eyes light up, sparkles and tinsel are seen everywhere, red and green decorate everything, and there’s that unmistakable feeling in the air again – it’s Christmastime!
It’s also time to rehash the same old debate about whether we should celebrate Christmas or not. The argument goes (I’m sure you’ve heard it by now) that Dec. 25th was set up by Constantine on the winter solstice and is therefore a pagan holiday. (Actually, the solstice is on the 21st, but why let that get in the way of a good argument?)
While that makes for a good debate, I wonder if it misses the entire point? True, Jesus was not born on Dec 25th, so why celebrate it? Actually, the Bible indicates that he was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, but we don’t celebrate that, do we? And after all, He told us to celebrate his death, not his birth. And of course, there’s the argument about the Christmas tree being pagan idolatry, etc., etc.
All valid points to make an argument to shut off the season and turn to a more ascetic life. At least we would be technically correct and stripped of anything that smacks of pagan idol worship, amen? (Does that mean we have to tell the kids there’s no Santa Claus?)
Sigh. Does it really have to be that way? Is this really such a big deal with God?
My first pastor gave me what I have always thought was the best answer. She acknowledged that although Jesus wasn’t born in December, nevertheless, there was a spirit of peace that seemed to blanket the entire world during that season. It was as if God Himself honored Christmas by giving us a taste of His Spirit and suppressing, if only for a short time, much of the ugliness and hate that we had to wade through the rest of the year. It was special, even supernatural. It was Christmas! And just for a season, everything became special, almost magical, and the human psyche with all its arrogance and self-centeredness was pushed into the background. That is, of course, except for the self-righteous Grinches out there.
Perhaps there are bigger issues to be concerned with. It seems to me that the ones who make the biggest noise about this issue are the least likely to show mercy on the lost but instead are so wrapped up in their own self-righteousness that they have lost sight of the whole purpose of Christmas.
I wonder. Perhaps God allows us to make a mistake on the date so that He can show us in sparkling terms the love that He has for all humanity – the real meaning of Christmas.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: … Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23)
