Celebrating Christmas

Here is my annual take on the Celebration of Christmas.

Some Christians believe that any association with Christmas is wrong.
I want to share some thoughts this morning about Christians and Christmas that I’ve wanted to share all my life.
Why do people, especially Christians, oppose Christmas when you would think we are the ones who would celebrate it most of all?Usually the objections sound like this:

1. THE WHOLE CHRISTMAS SEASON SMACKS WITH PAGANISM- we do not know the date or year Jesus was born. Most Christians celebrate December 25 but the Eastern Orthodox celebrates Christmas January 6 and the Armenian Church celebrates Christmas January 19th. Even in Christendom there is not agreement of the day Jesus was born. How did December 25th get chosen? Well in the early days of the church the pagans had winter solstice. It was a season of partying, drunkenness, and orgies. The Bishops in the 4th century wanted to change that so December 25th was the height of the solstice so they bishops converted it and made it a Christ Mass. That is why the church began in celebrate December 25th as the Birth of Christ.It is a fact that many of the trappings of Christmas like Trees, wreaths, and gifts actually have their origin in pagan customs. That is why some people say we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas because it smacks of paganism. The reality is those things have long been forgotten and they carry no significance for people today. Now if you are going to be consistent about that logic I should preach “Ladies, don’t wear earrings.” Because pagans wore them on their ears to ward off false Gods and if you wear them you believe in idols too. Meat sacrificed to idols- some still believed in idols and wouldn’t eat the meat. Paul said if you don’t believe in idols and don’t think about it go ahead and eat the meat there is nothing wrong with it. I don’t think about false gods when I put up a tree or wrap gifts and if you don’t go ahead and celebrate.It is true much of the origin of Christmas came out of Paganism. Let me remind you, when God looked down to choose a day for his son to be born there were not any clean days to choose. Their whole world was pagan that is why we needed Jesus. They were all dirty days.
2. NO COMMAND IN THE BIBLE TO CELEBRATE JESUS BIRTH- True. Just because something is not expressly commanded in the bible doesn’t mean it is forbidden. Why is this argument never made about thanksgiving or Mother’s Day? There is no command in the bible to take a day out of the year and honor our mothers. Did you know that God never commanded the feast of Purim that is celebrated in Esther 9 when the people defeated the evil Mordecai? But the Jews still celebrated it and so did Jesus. God never commanded the feast of dedications in John 10. Started during the Maccabes. Jesus in John 10 is in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Dedication. The idea that you can’t have a celebration because God didn’t command it doesn’t carry weight in the bible.
3. THINK ABOUT JESUS’ BIRTH MORE THAN JUST ONCE A DAY- DUH!!! When God commanded Passover he didn’t say think about it once a year and the rest of the year forget about it. God wants us to think about what he has done all year long, but he realizes there is value in taking a specific time of year and rekindle in your heart the joy of what God has done for you in a specific deed and that is why God gave us the specific feast and that is why we celebrate holidays.
4. CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN DISTORTED BY MATERIALISM AND SECULARISM- Of course it has. Why should we be surprised that Satan would try to pervert a celebration as significant as Christmas?  Realize that only valuable things ever get counterfeited. Has anyone ever come up to you and said; “You want to see my stash of brown paper bags?” We don’t counterfeit paper bags. But, have you ever seen a counterfeit diamond? Have you ever seen a counterfeit Christian? We only counterfeit the things that are valuable. So why should we be surprised that something as powerful and wonderful as the birth of Christ would get counterfeited by the devil?

It seems that the churches responsibility is to keep Christmas a converted holiday. Refuse all efforts to squeeze Christ out of Christmas. Bottom line is Romans 14:5-6a; “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers everyday alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.”  So my word to you is, if you are going to celebrate Christmas keep Christ in it.

No Other gods

When one wants to build a life of Character where do you start? God says it starts with putting him first. When building a house the foundation is more important than the roof, on a tree the roots are more important than the leaves. When you are building a life of character you must make God first in your life.

I notice in the Ten Commandments one of them is not, "You must believe in God." Every man has and believes in a god. A god is anything that has first place in your life. In my heart and in yours there is a throne and something is on that throne. The question Rick Atchley asks is the god on  your throne the real God or an impostor?

The God of the Bible says he will only accept first place in your life. As we look at the Ten Commandments understand that 2-9 are built on the fact that the first one is true. If God is not sovereign there is no basis for the commandments at all.

I believe the Ten Commandments are absolutes that we can hang our hat on. God does not change, he will always be faithful to his word and we can trust Him. Adultery, stealing, lying, murder, etc. will always be wrong because God does not change.

God is God, he is involved in our lives, he has led us out of bondage and he demands total allegiance to Him. He does not demand this because he is insecure but because he understands that if we put our allegiance in anything else we will be disappointed. No other god can deliver us like the Lord can.

God knows that if we do not put Him on the throne of our heart we will put something. It was true when the Children of Israel left Egypt and it is true now. The only difference is the names change. We don't worship Diana but we worship sex for example.

We struggle with the same things that caused the Israelites to be unfaithful. I think one way we can read the Ten Commandments is as an application of the first one. We are not to have any other gods before us so when God say honor the Sabbath God is saying don't let work be our god. When he says don't kill he is saying don't let your enemy be your god. Many of us struggle with people and they can control us. When he says don't commit adultery he is saying don't let sex be your god. Don't build your life on the foundation that if I could get more sex I'll be happy. That is building on sand. Don't covet or steal. Don't let things be your god.

Until you get the first there is not point in going  to the other nine. So how can I put God first?

We need to change our focus- Rick Atchley "Most of the atheist are not atheist because they deny God but because they have lost interest in him." We all have "gone through the motions" before. We go to church but are not really there.

When you have spare time where do your thoughts go? Do you think about God? Thoughts are the indicator of the purpose of our life.

Income- another way to see if God is first is what we do with our money. If you were going to do a biography of my life your research would not be complete until you saw how I handled my money. Show me what you did with  your money and I will show you what you did with your life.

"For where your treasure is there your heart will be...“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:21, 24).

It is a great test. What do you do with your money?

Relationships- 1 John 4:20-21 "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

Relationships tell a lot about where you have put God. If you violate a human being you violate the first commandment. Invest in two kinds of relationships. Pick people who will bring you closer to God and those you can help get closer to God.

Time- when you write my biography you will want to see my check stubs but also my day planner. What did I clear time for? Can you tell you put God first by the way you spent your time.

Some say I do that on Sunday. How would your spouse react if you told her you would be faithful to them one day a week. The marriage would not last. Your spouse would not accept it and neither will God.
We all know how hectic our life is so we have to make time for God. I make time for the people I believe are important. We have to make times to be with God and be protective of them. It has to be reaffirmed every day. Every night when we go to sleep we have to ask did I make Jesus the Lord of my life today?

If we are going to build a life of Character we have to start with who is on the Throne of our heart. Who will we put first? Is God, God and is Christ Lord?