I’ve had a bit of a unique relationship with Christmas over the span of my somewhat short life thus far. I’d maybe compare it to those long term relationships where two individuals who originally hadn’t known each other at all, then became friends, followed by years of on and off dating leading to a major break up, but eventually to fall madly in love with the one who had been there all along. Let me explain.
I was raised in a home where Christmas was viewed as a pagan holiday. For that reason, from an early age I approached the topic of Christmas in a highly skeptical way. An example of how this is done, when “Christmas Celebrators” gave a reason for why they did celebrate the holiday, my first intellectual response would be to find out how to debunk their argument rather than to take them at their word. This approach obviously put me in a position where gaining understanding in this area was difficult.
My siblings and I did, however, get to experience another side of Christmas for many of those years. During the winter break from school, we spent a few weeks in Texas with the other side of our family. There, we enjoyed great generosity poured upon us by our aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. They would buy us gifts, hang us stockings along with their children’s stockings, and take us to church Christmas specials during our stay. Unlike the general disdain for Christmas that we were accustomed to, there we saw a totally different attitude. The smiles and waves and cheerful “Merry Christmas”’s filled our time there. It was quite beautiful in many ways, yet we were somewhat conflicted; on the one hand, these people were committing idolatry (in our opinion), on the other hand, this didn’t look anything like what I had imagined idolatry would look like. I mean, how many idolatrous practices are consumed with the recognition and worship of Jesus as our incarnate Savior? Perhaps we were wrong for doing so, but we accepted both worlds: in Texas, we celebrated Christmas — in Arkansas, we did not.
My wife and I celebrated Christmas for the first several years of our marriage, but not necessarily for Christian reasons. Rather, we celebrated the traditional aspects of the holiday and enjoyed time away from work. There was no contemplation of Christ in our celebrations. We just did the typical Christmas stuff: put up a tree, wrapped presents, threatened our kids with coal for misbehavior… If ever an argument could be made for idolatrous worship during Christmas, we would have fit the mold. The whole holiday for us was only about us. Our gifts, our decorations, our family, our budget, our recognition, etc. Unbeknownst to us, we were actually taking what was meant to be a celebration of God’s love for sinners demonstrated in the sending His Son into the world to be Savior and had made it a celebration of self— ourselves. But thanks be to God, He had mercy on us for this, for we were doing it in ignorance.
Years later, upon being saved by the grace of God, all Christmas celebrations ceased. After all, in my mind Christmas was a pagan holiday. We threw away the tree and all our decorations in an attempt to please God in rejecting idolatrous practices. I took a hard stance against it in our home despite the love my wife had for the holiday, but over time, even this tension dissolved. After a couple of years, my wife also had begun to pull away from all the festivities. Though we had felt sincerely at the time that we were seeking to do God’s will, admittedly looking back, I can see now that even during that time ignorance reigned supreme in the throne of my mind concerning this issue.
In 2020, we started celebrating Christmas again. (Yes, I’m leaving a huge gap here, but c’mon, this is a blog post, not an autobiography. Have a little mercy on me!) Unfortunately, the advent celebrations that year with the church were to some extent hindered due to Covid related issues. So this year was really our first year to witness and enjoy the true magnitude of what Christmas is. I’d like to lay out a few of the experiences we’ve had this holiday season before bringing this post to a close. This is not an exhaustive list, but a good sample of the many advent activities we’ve had the great pleasure of being a part of.
Christmas Sermons— Every Lord’s Day, the Church gathered to hear sermons on the true meaning of Christmas; the “Why” for our celebrations. Our pastor drew our attention to God’s great Rescue plan formed in His Son, the Joy brought to the world in Him, and the Inexplicable Love poured out on God’s people in the person of Jesus our Lord.
Prison Letters— Church members were given the opportunity to write Christmas cards to prisoners. What an awesome chance this was to preach the gospel in these cards, sharing Scripture with those in bonds with the hope that God can save to the uttermost.
Candles and Carols— This was a service set aside for the public reading of key passages in the Old Testament pointing to the coming Savior King, New Testament passages showing that Immanuel has come, and singing praises to the Triune God in between each.
Family Gatherings— What a joy it has been to see faces we often miss the rest of the year! To hear the stories from the past year with the sweet voices of the children playing in the background… To be reminded of those who have had an enormous impact on your life up until now, and to see that time is slowly taking them away from us… I treasure seeing my loved ones more and more every year.
Gift Exchanges— What a concept: to work hard all year to provide for our own, and then take a portion of that money to spend on others who may have done absolutely nothing to earn a gift from you, all because you love them and want them to know that you care. Of course, this sounds very familiar to any earnest Christian…
Communion Service— We, as a Church, partook in the Lord’s Supper together during this advent season, in order to remember once again (according to Christ’s command) that though the incarnation of the Son of God was a great event in human history, His life was not one of complete glory and honor which was due to the King of kings. His body was broken for us and His blood spilled for the sins of His people.
With these and many more activities, we reflect upon God’s gift to man and His salvation of the world through His Son during the advent season. We read of the promises made, then fulfilled, and anxiously await our Savior’s return. Claims of idolatry must be taken seriously and examined closely, but many of these miss the whole point up for debate. At times we find ourselves quarreling about the specific date with which we celebrate His birth (as if that’s the important aspect of Christmas), and if we are not careful, miss the real point of the holiday. The accusation of Christmas being a pagan holiday filled with idolatry (in many cases) not only misses the mark completely, but usually shows a misunderstanding of the true nature of idolatry itself as well. In a future blog post, I’d like to explore what real idolatry is, give a biblical definition of it, and see how it relates to our life today, but that’s far more than I have time for tonight.
So what is Christmas then? Is it abused? Certainly. Do unbelievers ignorantly celebrate it, stripping the true meaning of the holiday for themselves and their families? Sure. But to the sincere Christian, what does Christmas mean? Isaiah gives us as good of a definition as any:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
— Isaiah 9:6-7
When the fullness of the times had come, the angel of the Lord tells Joseph regarding Mary’s unexpected pregnancy:
She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
— Matthew 1:21-23
Here, in these verses, the essence of Christmas is made known. THIS is the reason for the season: Christ has come.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
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