Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

It’s that time of year again. Jesus is everywhere! Sure, so are decorated trees, reindeer, colored lights, materialism, Santa Clause, presents and a bunch of other… ‘stuff’. But, if you look and listen carefully you’ll find Jesus Christ everywhere too! You may accept Jesus. You may reject Him. You may affirm Him, or deny Him… but this is the time of year that you certainly cannot ignore Him. For approximately one month, His presence is inescapable. He is proclaimed in sermons absolutely, but He is also being sung about in millions of stores, restaurants, elevators, gas stations and street corners. It’s actually… pretty awesome!

For those who go so far as to call themselves, “Christians” and claim His name for themselves, Christmas is a time where an amazing truth is being trumpeted loudly for all to hear: We have HOPE, because God, Jesus Christ, has come! Because of what God did in a little town called, Bethlehem, we now know that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. We have Light, life, and love on our side!

But, as happens every year, I’m amazed at how there are always some who choose to condemn this time of year… to only see materialism, the greed, the secularization of it all. I’m annually sent emails and letters informing me of the evilness of this time of year, because of it’s pagan roots and its insistency that CHRIST has been x’ed out of XMAS!

The truth is, ‘X’ looks a lot like the symbol for ‘CHRIST’ and in the early part of the 1400's, the printing press with movable type was invented. In those early days this was all done by hand and was very tedious and very, very expensive. As a result, abbreviations were common. 

The church began to use the abbreviation X for the word "Christ" to cut down on the cost of the production of books and pamphlets. From there, it moved into general use in newspapers and other publications. "Xmas" became an accepted way of printing "Christmas" (along with the abbreviations Xian and Xianity). Even Webster’s dictionary acknowledges that the abbreviation Xmas was in common use by the middle of the sixteenth century.

My point is… there is not necessarily an evil plan of Satan to ‘CROSS OUT CHRIST’… by the way, the ‘n’ at the end of Satan can be moved to the center of the word… and spell ‘Santa’! I believe that God is way more concerned with how we’re treating people, than how we’re greeting people.

 Another common discussion that comes up this time of year is how we could possibly allow there to be a CHRISTMAS TREE in our church? And then this scripture is always cited:

Jeremiah 10:2-4 - HCSB

“This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them, for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.”

Besides that verse being taken way out of context, let me explain this another way:

At Gezer there is a group of ancient standing stones (matzebot in Hebrew) that date from 1500 BC, when the Canaanites were in the land of Israel. In theory, they shouldn't still be standing, because Israelites were given instructions to destroy all of the pagan standing stones in Israel (Deut. 12:3). But Gezer was a very strategic city and only rarely were Israelite kings in control of it (Judges 1:29, 1 Kings 9:16), so during very little of Israel's ancient history could they have knocked down the stones of Gezer.

The standing stones there were part of the ancient practice of setting up stone pillars at pagan worship sites. The practice dates from at least 5000 BC, and many sacred stone sites from 3000 BC and older can still be found in the Negev and Sinai desert, as well as around Europe and elsewhere. They often seemed to be involved in worship of heavenly bodies.

God’s Law actually forbid His people to take part of this practice…

Deuteronomy 16:22 - HCSB

“and do not set up a sacred pillar; the Lord your God hates them.”

Interestingly, Jacob (one of the famous ‘fathers’ of God’s people – of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob fame) uses this practice when he erects a stone, anoints it, dedicates it to God and calls it Bethel, where he had the vision of the heavenly staircase. (Genesis 28:18-28).

Later, when the Israelites cross the Jordan, God commands them to set up twelve stones to be a memorial to the great miracle God did there. The text says, 

Joshua 4:21-24 – HCSB

"and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.”

It is ironic that God could use the same practice usually meant for idolatry to show His glory to the world, so that through the generations people would stop and remember what God did there. Otherwise, God forbade standing stones when, as He did in Deuteronomy 16:22.

The difference was the motivation - whether the stones were set up to point people toward God, or away from Him and towards worshipping idols.

A related example is the bronze serpent that God commanded to be made in the wilderness. The people who had been bitten by the snakes who looked at it in faith would live (Numbers 21:9). But later in their history, the same symbol that had helped people have faith in God had become an idol, so it had to be destroyed (2 Kings 18:4). The fact that God created it didn't sanctify it when it was being misused.

Once again, the motivation of the people, not the origins, determined whether a thing was idolatrous or God-honoring.

I believe we can find wisdom in these stories. Christmas, as well as Easter, began as Christians decided to worship the true God on days when pagan gods used to be worshipped. Some of the traditions (like the Christmas tree and the Easter egg) once had pagan meanings that are now all but lost, as they have become opportunities for Christians to celebrate Christ.

There are some people who have rejected celebrating Christmas, with all of its gift-giving and tree-decorating… entirely because of its pagan origins. But it seems that the critical thing is not what the origins are, but whether or not we are worshiping the one true God.

To most of us Christians, this holiday glorifies God like the standing stones by the Jordan did -- they are a continual reminder of the wonderful thing God has done by sending the promised Messiah, who saved us by suffering and dying for our sins.

I believe, the story of Christmas is truly wrapped up in the following verse:

Matthew 1:23 – HCSB

“See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

If ‘God’ is really ‘with us’, then that changes everything! And even if God did, in fact, visit this planet in the form of a cute and cuddly, little baby – the fact that He grew up, was murdered, and then rose to life to NEVER DIE AGAIN, and to actually come and live inside of us, His followers – well, that really DOES change everything! It’s not like it is saying, “God used to be with us”… it’s saying, “Right now, this second, the God of all the Universe is right here with us!”

What if, this year, we decided to make "CHRISTMAS" a verb? What I mean by that is, what if we could CHRISTMAS to others? Christmas, as a noun, is a chronos time, a specific moment in time each year. But it is also a KAIROS time, when we Christians celebrate a 'God-Moment', when God interrupted people's lives and was 'birthed'. A time we celebrate how God surprised the richest and the wisest, and the lowliest of shepherds.

Gang, what if we could approach this season as though God was truly WITH us... in a way that surprises the rich and the poor? What if we could be like the stack of stones in the Jordan that reminds people of God? What if this season could be about Jesus 'CHRISTMASING' in each of us and through each of us. What if we could be a people so full of hope, joy, and strength... that others could find in us a source of strength, hope, and joy.

Have you ever missed an event at work, or maybe even a family get-together, and had someone say to you, “We really missed you! We had a great time, but to be honest, it just is not the same when you aren’t here!”

I love when that happens! I want people to miss me! I want people to have more fun when I’m at the party. I want people to feel more comfortable when I’m in the room. I want people to feel safe to be themselves when I’m present. I want GOD WITH ME wherever I go... so that HE can reflect how awesome HE is to others. 

I want to 'birth' Jesus to this world. 

I want Him to 'Christmas' in me... and through me.

Author, Brennan Manning, states:

“Jesus Christmases in us whenever people come home to themselves in our presence, and when they feel a little less hopeful and joyful because we are absent.”

May we understand this season, and forevermore, that God is truly WITH us... and may we live like it. 

Merry Christmas!