
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. - 1 Timothy 3:16
Christmas time. It is considered by many to be “the most wonderful time of the year.” And it is hard to argue with that. What season, what month, what day, is so filled with expectation and joy? What time of year is so universally nostalgic? What holiday is filled with as much travel? And at what other time do people put this much energy into decorations and gifting and singing? What has captured our imaginations and tapped into both religious history and human longings more than Christmas?
It is one of the great holidays (holy days) on the American calendar. Some holidays are purely secular (President’s Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, MLK, Father’s and Mother’s Day). And by secular I mean that there is no religious basis for the holiday. Then you have St. Patricks, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukah, and Christmas). I know I left some out, but the list would be too long for this post. As you can see, we love our holidays. Mainly because we sometimes get a day off, rarely because we have any deep investment in the celebration. And while I think we should have some emotional and communal interest in some of our cultural observances, there just doesn’t seem to be time and energy enough to honor all of them in the same way. Usually the ones that get the most commercialization get the most play. Halloween is full of fluff, candy, and gore. But it makes big money. The military holidays are far more significant, but it seems disingenuous and inopportune to make them profit-oriented.
Let me get to the real reason I’m writing about this topic. A few nights ago, probably at around 3am or 4am, I was doing some thinking. For the record, I believe that no one should be up at that time. But I’ve had great philosophical epiphanies and even some new songs come to me at that ungodly hour. Anyway, the thought hit me that most of our religious holidays were popularized by the Catholic church. Thanksgiving as we know it being the only exception. It appears to emerge from Protestant origins, although days of thanksgiving have been celebrated for centuries prior in other countries. And while I’m not necessarily saying that having Catholic inspired holidays is a bad thing, I do recognize that these feasts are oftentimes mergers of Christianity with Paganism. Jesus’ death is mixed with fertility gods. Ash Wednesday with the vulgarity of Mardi Gras. All Souls Day with Halloween (All Hallows Eve) and the feast of Samhain. The birth of Jesus with the birth of Sol the sun god and Saturnalia. Then I thought, how come there aren’t more uniquely Biblical and Protestant annual holy days? The Jews had and have many feasts throughout the year. And some Christians have taken these up, sometimes going to unnecessary extremes in believing there is salvation in these feasts. My next musing was, if it weren’t for these merged holidays, what other special religious observances would there be for the Christian? And I guess that’s where my reflections ended. Because I either went back to sleep or I realized I don’t have an answer.
And I don’t feel like I need an answer. Can I change it? No. Could I invent some new Protestant feast or holiday that would take the world by storm? Maybe, but that’s not something I am compelled to do. Rather, I choose to ignore or shed as much as possible the not so Christian bits and pieces and focus on the wonder of the Lord Jesus. I find no harm in worshipping Him who came to earth as a baby. I find great satisfaction and spiritual joy in honoring Him who died and resurrected for me. Even if the dates are off and the mixture with ancient lore is unsavory, I am grateful that someone thought to memorialize Christ in some way before the world to the extent that even the pagans and unbelievers of our modern time still must somehow encounter the reality of Jesus on a global scale. And you may not agree with me, which is fine. Personally, I just marvel at the mystery of God who made Himself into a man. It is more than I can comprehend. And that is where my focus will be this Christmas.
This coming Sabbath pastor Jered Servin will be sharing his powerful testimony in both the Unplugged and Connected worship services. He is a volunteer Lay pastor for the Oklahoma Seventh day Adventist conference and serves at the Claremore Adventist church. He is also a relative of the Cantu Crew and and a native of Fresno :-) I pray that the Lord blesses you all immensely as you experience this final Sabbath of 2024. Merry Christmas!
Pastor Dean