What about Christ in Christmas Anyway?

We are now headed into Advent, waiting the anticipated arrival of a Savior for all of humanity.  Sure, we have a bigger picture than the kings who sought out the baby Jesus and of the shepherds who received the good news from the angels.  We can still experience this excitement if we are willing to place ourselves, in the position, of anticipation.  This is a time that we can use to tell others of the impending good news and the Gospel of what has been set before us in scripture.

Pastor Rick Warren in his book “The Purpose of Christmas”, breaks down the reasons for Christmas as: A Time for Celebration, A Time for Salvation and A Time for Reconciliation.  I want to concentrate today on RECONCILIATION.

Recently my wife Kris, told me of a Facebook post that showed a picture of a Christmas tree that someone had put up in their home on November 11.  Part of the caption read, “I’m not overlooking Thanksgiving, I think these holidays go hand in hand, because Christmas isn’t about the “stuff” anyway! To us its about sharing time with the ones you love and showing them how much you appreciate them….kinda sounds like thankfulness!”  My response to Kris was, “What happened to Christ in Christmas?”  Kris posted to them that “[I] wanted to know if they included Christ for Christmas?”

Now here is where it starts to get interesting.  They responded to my question with; “That question seems a little loaded, so I’m not sure exactly how to answer….  if you are asking if we use Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, no, not really. We realize not everyone shares our view, but we personally choose to focus on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, which we do weekly, rather than once or twice a year.”

I believe it is important to know what and why we do what we do.  For ELCA Lutherans, worship on Sunday is not about the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Instead, “Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection and of the appearances to the disciples by the crucified and risen Christ, is the primary day on which Christians gather to worship. Within this assembly, the Word is read and preached and the sacraments are celebrated.”[1]

We are on a slippery slope to associate a secular holiday with one of our most important Christian holidays, leaving out Christ all together in this holiday.  We cannot mistake Thanksgiving and Christmas, as simply as a time to be about sharing and family.  Doing so completely misses the purpose of Christmas.  Since so many have heard of Christmas, it is an opportunity to spread the Gospel of the Savior in our risen Jesus Christ who in the rising gives us reconciliation. This day is a day to celebrate the birth of the One who is the Savior.  Family is important, use the secular aspect of Christmas (family and friends getting together) to speak of Christ and use this not only as an opportunity for your own reconciliation with God in Christ but use it to reconcile relationships here and now with family, friends and God through Christ.

By removing Christ from Christmas, I believe we take a serious step down a road that as Christians we dare not go and a step that goes contrary to our Christian Mission.  We are called to be a Light to the Nations, as it says in Goheen’s book, “A Light To The Nations”.  The church is made up of you, me and all Christians and it is the believers who make up the church and the community of church that have a mission.  What is it to be missional as church?  Goheen says that “…’missional’ describes not a specific activity of the church but the very essence and identity of the church as it takes up its role in God’s story in the context of its culture and participates in God’s mission to the world.”[2]  When we follow this idea, then the entire Christian community is sent into the world not for the sake of the church but for the sake of bringing the good news to the entire world.  If we remove the essence of the Christmas holiday, we remove the missional intent of God for the church.

Lastly, I would like to acknowledge that it has been said that for Lutherans, it is difficult to speak of our faith, to evangelize.  We are given the words to speak by Jesus and he also tells us that there will be trials, which would mean that we cannot live isolated from the world but we can live insulated from its effects.  It was in our reading of the Gospel on November 17^th that we were told that we will be persecuted (which can only happen if we are living in the world and not isolated from it), we will be given an opportunity to testify and Jesus will give us the words and in the end, “not a hair of your head will perish.” Lk 21:18  Take this time to go back and read Luke 21:8-19.

Peace and blessing from Christ, our Savior who charges us to be a Light to the Nations and carry out the Christian mission to live differently than the world, as a Light, insulated from the worlds effects but not isolated from the world, to bring the message and care for the least, last and lost.