Luke Parrott

The Point of Christmas for Christ Followers, (Luke's 100th Post)

If you've been hanging with me for the last several posts, I've been hashing through the history of Christmas.  One thing is certain.  Christmas is a collision of both secular and Christian traditions.  And it has been this way since it's inception. 

Christians ought not to feel infringed upon by the lack of emphasis that others give to the birth of Jesus in light of other competing traditions.  In fact, in a nation that continually marches towards further secularism and pluralism, we should not be surprised even now as well as in the future as to how much more of a minority our faith is quickly becoming.  (We've already seen it's effect take place in the elections as Barna reports that almost 90% of evangelicals voted Republican and still it was not a large enough population to swing the votes in favor of McCain.)

And we must recall that early Christian fathers (440 A.D.) chose to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th as they hoped it would eventually override the popular celebrations devoted to pagan gods.  That same competition exists even today only in the form of a red suit mythology as opposed to one of Greek origin. 

To argue further, we must recall that early Christians never thought to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  The disciples did not recognize their friend and Savior's birth as cause for celebration.  Only 2 of the 4 Gospels even address the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  Why is this?  Because the point of Jesus was not necessarily his birth, but his life, his death, his resurrection.  To this end, all 4 Gospels devote a majority of their content (especially his death and resurrection).

What, then, is the point of Christmas for the Christ Follower?  The point of Christmas is in many ways to point us to the upcoming celebration of Easter.  Christmas is more so the "planting of a seed" than it is the celebration of what Jesus would come to accomplish.  Yet, we have chosen to celebrate his birth along with everything else he would soon come to achieve.  While there is nothing wrong with such a focus (the angels did the same), we should realize that for Christians it is Easter, as opposed to Christmas, that should be our grandest of celebrations (An observation made by N.T. Wright in his book, "Surprised by Hope", pg. 23).

What is even more remarkable is how obscure and insignificant the story of Jesus' birth appears.  His birth was shared by husband, wife, and some lowly shepherds.  A man named Simeon recognized the significance of this child as did Mary's cousin, Elizabeth.  Then a few years later some Wise Men journeyed from afar to worship the coming of a King.  But that is it. 

Why so few?  Why in such a lowly, humble manger?  All this for the coming of a King?  The Savior of all mankind?

The birth of Jesus of Nazareth was the planting of a seed.  It would be 30 years before this man would come to all humanity in the manner he was promised.  For now he would largely go unnoticed.

On Christmas, millions of believers world wide will recognize this day as cause for rejoicing.  But 2,000 year ago, it was a much smaller occasion.  It was Jesus, his mother Mary, his father Joseph, and some strangers who were employed as shepherds.

It was the night a seed was planted.  Rejoicing from the multitudes would only come after Jesus lived his life, tasted death, and resurrected.  This Christmas allow your celebrations to move in this direction.  Let Christmas be the planting of a seed.  And begin to build towards April when we celebrate what really would change everything.

Perhaps we need an advent calendar that BEGINS December 25th and ENDS on Easter Morning.  Then our Easter baskets would have to be stuffed larger than our stockings and higher than our Christmas trees.  I'm not sure we could afford two Christmases.

Let the celebrating begin!  For a seed was planted that would grow to save us all!

How did Jesus get mixed up with Santa?

How do you find meaning in a holiday that celebrates Santa Clause climbing down chimneys while Jesus lays in a manger?  If our focus is to be on Christ this Christmas, then how did he get mixed up with a jolly old man in red suit?

It actually only takes 3 pictures to tell you the whole story.

#1:  Saint Nicholas of Myra.  Born around 280 A.D., Nicholas would travel around the countryside (modern day Turkey) dropping off gifts for the poor and needy.  His parents died at an early age and he chose to follow the command of Jesus to "sell all possessions and give to the poor" by doing so with his inheritance.  He became an inspiration that would carry into the 19th century.

#2  Clement Clark Moore.  In 1822, this minister became so enthralled with the story of St. Nicholas that he wrote a poem for his children titled, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas".  It began like this.  "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."  The story immediately captured the imagination of children all over America.  In fact, Moore was even embarrassed that he had written a poem with such a trivial message being the minister that he was.

#3  Thomas Nast.  In 1881 the final touch was made to this mysterious St. Nick that was rapidly becoming an American icon.  This political cartoonist drew a picture of St. Nick, or SinterKlaas as the Dutch called him, that would prevail over time as the Santa Clause we see today in our malls.

 

The rest, as they say, is history.  Charles Dickens had already written "A Christmas Carol" in 1843.  In the same year, the very first christmas card had already been printed. The United States had declared Christmas a federal holiday on June 26, 1870.  In 1939, Robert May wrote a poem about "Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer" to get shoppers into his department store.  Christmas, as we know it today, was in full swing.

And the little baby Jesus was still "away in a manger". 

So here we sit today trying to make CHRIST the most important part of Christmas.  Let's talk tomorrow about the point of Christmas for Christ Followers.  In the meantime, make sure you get all your shopping done cause Santa Clause is coming to town!  Haha.

Was Jesus Born on December 25th?

The answer is NO.  In fact, most scholars conclude that he was born in the spring or early fall.  Shepherds would not be out in fields watching sheep in the winter.  It would have also been too cold for a large population to travel during these cold months to register in their hometowns.

So why do we celebrate his birth on the 25th of December every year?

The date actually aligns itself more so with the pagan celebration of the god Saturnalia.  Remember him?   The Romans actually celebrated with a feast over the course of a week, December 17-23. 

Before Christianity became recognized as a state religion, there was no desire among Christians to celebrate the birth of the Christ.  In fact, many Christians condemned even the idea of celebrating birthdays as something only pagans recognized.  Furthermore, it was Jesus' life, death, and resurrection that was most important.  His birth only set the stages for what would come to pass. 

As it turns out, in 440 A.D. the church officially recognized December 25th as the chosen day to celebrate his birth.  Tradition has it that this date was chosen to coincide with the pagan holidays so as to make it easier for the people to adopt Christian beliefs.  It should also be noted that December 25th was recognized as the birthday of the god, Mithra.  Rather than compete with the traditional celebrations, the Church chose to join in the celebrating with a different message.

It makes you second guess the phrase, "Let's put CHRIST back in Christmas" doesn't it?

Tomorrow I want to say something about Santa Clause and then move into some deeper thoughts on Christmas for Christians Today.  Stay tuned.  I am going somewhere with this.

The Tradition of the Christmas Tree

---30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States every year.
--There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States

--Trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

So why do we put a tree in our house?  The tradition actually goes way back.  Evergreens were brought into homes during the winter months to remind people that spring would soon come.  The Romans associated the occasion with winter solstice (shortest day and longest night of the year) in anticipation that the god of agriculture, Saturnalia, would return and bring fruitfulness to their fields come spring.

Or try this one on for size.  Many ancients believed in a sun god who would become weak and sick resulting in the settling in of the winter season.  People would bring evergreens into their homes to remind them that the sun god would soon come to health and return strong to bring spring weather.

Germany gets credit for the first Christmas tree to be placed in a home by devout Christians in the 16th century.  However, it wasn't until the mid 1800's that trees became commonplace in American homes.
In fact, it wasn't until 1870 that Christmas became recognized as a national holiday in the United States.  It was even outlawed for a time as being too much of a British celebration.

There are many traditions we celebrate this season that have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.  Tomorrow we will talk about why December 25th was chosen as the day of celebration.  And it's not because Jesus was born on this day.

What is the Meaning of Christmas?

Imagine you know nothing of this holiday.  You arrive in the United States and begin wandering the streets.  You see people putting trees inside their homes.  You see people going to malls to let their kids see a stranger in a red suit.  You see sceneries outside of homes with a bunch of people and animals gathered around a baby. 

What is going on?  Who knows what conclusions you may arrive at!  Perhaps the red suit man is the grandpa of that little baby. 

It's interesting how we have arrived at all these traditions .  Followers of Jesus scream for us to put CHRIST back in Christmas.  Well, then it begs the question to ask, "How in the world did Santa Claus, Rudolph, and a real live tree sitting in my living room sneak into the picture if it was all about baby Jesus in the first place?"

Have you ever considered that Christmas may not have began with the birth of Jesus?  Over the next several days, I want to reintroduce you to Christmas.  And I want to tell you about the traditions we have and why they exist.  You might be shocked at how they have come to be.

I'll do the research.  You just click on the site!  Easy enough?

I'll start tomorrow with the first topic...

Christmas Origins...You might be surprised!

I've been doing some reading on the origins of Christmas.  The traditions.  The chosen date.  The competing stories.  I've also been asking a lot of questions.  Why do we put trees in our homes?  Why do we give gifts?  Where did the story of Santa originate?  Did the disciples even think to celebrate the birth of their friend and Messiah, Jesus Christ?  Would they find it silly that we do so today?

 It's no wonder we find Jesus and Santa Claus at odds with each other.  The holiday actually had it's origins in pagan winter celebrations.  Agricultural based communities did not have as much work to accomplish in the winter so there was time for more celebration.  It was also an opportunity to petition the gods for favorable weather come spring and summer.

In fact, it wasn't till 200 A.D. that records are shown of Christians taking interest in marking the birth of Jesus Christ as cause for celebration.  It was after all, his life, death, and resurrection that made all the difference.  But as Christianity became the adopted religion, the state was eager to overshadow pagan holidays with Christ centered themes.

Check out wikipedia for a more in depth look at the Origins of Christmas.  

Santa Claus did have origins in a man by the name of Nicholas of Myra.  For awhile Americans rejected the notion of celebrating Christmas as they did not want to emulate such an important British holiday. 

While the origins of the Christmas holiday are complicated and intriguing, it is wonderful to be able to enjoy a holiday that beautifully meshes values of family, love, and giving with that of celebrating the birth of a child that would come to restore humanity to a people God desires her to be.

I suppose the surprise is in how rooted both pagan and Christian themes remain in such a remarkable holiday.

Christmas: The Selfless Giving of Life

Selfless giving. 

That's what this Christmas season is all about.  We give our time to those closest to us.  We give our thoughts and energy towards what would bless their hearts the most.  We give our money towards what would meet their desires the best.  We give because our heart is bent towards others.

In our giving we reflect the very nature of our great God.  For he is the ultimate giver.  He saw it good to create life.  He saw it good to create humanity.  And even amidst our betrayal he still continues on giving.

He gave us what would bless our hearts the most.  He gave us what would meet our desires the best.  He gave us his Son.  And his Son gives us life.

Selfless giving is always received as a gift of life.  Because it comes from the heart and speaks to the recipients deepest needs and desires.  That is why selfless giving is met with the most admiration.  It is a gift of life.  It is a gift of love.

May we give life and love to each other this season as God gave life and love to us.

May we give it selflessly.

In so doing, we will be carrying out the true meaning of Christmas...the selfless giving of our lives to the world around us.