CHRISTMAS, AIN'T IT GREAT? ALL THE TRADITION AND HYPE, ALL OF THE SACRED AND SECULAR, ALL OF THE GIVING AND ALL OF THE GETTING. BUT HAVE YOU EVER STOPPED TO ASK YOUR SELF "WHY CHRISTMAS?" WHY DOES THE ENTIRE WORLD SEEM TO QUEUE UP TO AT LEAST ACKNOWLEDGE THE 25TH OF DECEMBER. WHERE DID CHRISTMAS COME FROM? FOR JUST A MOMENT LET'S IGNORE THE OBVIOUS THAT IT IS THE CELEBRATION OF CHRIST'S BIRTH BECAUSE IF WE WERE TOTALLY HONEST TODAY THAT ISN'T WHAT IT MEANS TO THE VAST MAJORITY OF FOLKS WHO CELEBRATE IT. WHERE DID IT COME FROM AND WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE TRADITIONS THAT SURROUND IT.
AS MANY PEOPLE REALISE THE DATE OF CHRISTMAS WAS ORIGINALLY USED IN PAGAN CELEBRATIONS IN ROME TO CELEBRATE THE PASSING OF THE WINTER SOLACE. THE ANCIENTS KNEW THAT BY THIS TIME IN DECEMBER THAT THE SHORTEST DAY AND LONGEST NIGHT HAD PASSED, AND WITH THAT CAME THE PROMISE OF LONGER DAYS, SHORTER NIGHTS AND EVENTUALLY SPRING. AROUND 270 A.D. EMPEROR AURELIAN CAPITALISED UPON THE HEATHEN WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND DECLARED DECEMBER 25TH AS THE BIRTHDAY OF THE UNCONQUERED SUN.
THE DATE OF DECEMBER 25TH AS THE CELEBRATION OF CHRIST BIRTH WAS FIRST SEEN IN A ROMAN CALENDAR DATING FROM APPROXIMATELY 336 A.D. IN A.D. 354 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF LIBERIUS AS THE BISHOP OF ROME THE 25TH OF DECEMBER HAD BECOME THE OFFICIAL DATE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN THE CHURCH.
BUT REALLY. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THAT CHRIST WAS BORN DURING THE WINTER MONTHS OF ISRAEL. THOSE COLD AND WET WINTER'S NIGHTS. WHY NOT? GOOD QUESTION IN Luke 2:8 (NIV) And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. THE USUALLY TIME FOR THE SHEEP TO BE KEEP IN THE FIELDS SURROUNDING BETHLEHEM IS AFTER THE LAST OF THE WINTER RAINS IN APRIL AND BEFORE THEY START UP AGAIN IN NOVEMBER.
BUT DECEMBER WASN'T ALWAYS THE CHOICE FOR CELEBRATING CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY, IN THE TWO HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST CHRISTIANS CELEBRATED HIS BIRTH ON JANUARY 6, APRIL 19, MAY 20 AND SEVERAL OTHER DATES. A FEW YEARS AGO A BRITISH PHYSICIST AND ASTRONOMER, DAVID HUGHES, CALCULATED THAT THE DATE OF CHRIST'S BIRTH WAS SEPTEMBER 17TH 7 B.C. HE BASED THIS ON VARIOUS SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, INCLUDING THAT OF A CONJUNCTION OF TWO PLANETS, JUPITER AND SATURN, IN THE CONSTELLATION OF PISCES ON THAT DATE. HE CONCLUDES THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY CELESTIAL DISPLAY WAS THE "STAR" SEEN BY THE DISTANT WISE MEN. BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN. HISTORICALLY IT WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN BEFORE 4 B.C. WHICH WAS THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT, AND BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER PATTERNS IT IS DOUBTFUL IF IT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED OUTSIDE OF THAT SEVEN MONTH SPREAD BETWEEN APRIL AND NOVEMBER. BUT IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER DOES IT?
OTHER CHRISTMAS TRADITION COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. WELL THE EARLY PAGAN CULTURES FROM THE ROMANS TO THE EGYPTIANS TO THE CELTS USED EVERGREENS IN THEIR CELEBRATIONS TO SIGNIFY ETERNAL LIFE. THE CHRISTMAS TREE DIDN'T ACTUALLY COME INTO USAGE UNTIL APPROXIMATELY THE 16TH CENTURY, AND THE HOME OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE IS GERMANY. WHY WAS IT USED? HISTORY TELLS US THAT IT BECAME POPULAR BECAUSE OF A MIDEVIL PLAY ABOUT ADAM AND EVE THAT WAS PUT ON EACH YEAR IN DECEMBER. PART OF THE PRODUCTION WAS THE PARADISE TREE, A FIR TREE HUNG WITH APPLES SIGNIFYING THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT IN THE GARDEN. SO HAVING A "PARADISE TREE" IN YOUR HOUSE WAS IN THE BEGINNING A FAD. AT THE SAME TIME THOUGH WAS ANOTHER TRADITION IN GERMANY WAS THE CHRISTMAS PYRAMID, WHICH WAS A TRIANGULAR SHELVING UNIT THAT CHRISTMAS FIGURINES, AND FRUIT AND GIFTS WERE PUT ON. THE PYRAMID WAS DECORATED WITH A STAR, SIGNIFYING THE STAR OF THE EAST. EVENTUALLY THE PARADISE TREE AND CHRISTMAS PYRAMID MERGED AND WE HAVE THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
NOW A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO I HAD HEARD THAT IT WAS MARTIN LUTHER WHO STARTED THIS TRADITION. SO I HUNTED AND HUNTED, I READ A PILE OF BOOKS, CHURCH HISTORY, CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, AND FINALLY I FOUND IT, AND I QUOTE, "ONE LEGEND SAYS THAT MARTIN LUTHER STARTED THE PRACTICE, ACCORDING TO THE STORY, HE NOTICED THE STARLIT SKY AS HE WAKED HOME ONE CHRISTMAS EVE ABOUT THE YEAR 1513. HE THOUGHT THE STARS LOOKED AS IF THEY WERE SHINING ON THE BRANCHES. WHEN HE ARRIVED HOME, MARTIN LUTHER PLACED A SMALL FIR TREE INSIDE HIS HOUSE. HE DECORATED IT WITH LIGHTED CANDLES."
I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT THAT EXCITING DISCOVERY CAME FROM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA, OR WORLD BOOK, CHURCH HISTORY THROUGH THE AGES BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT I CAME UPON IT IN A DEFINITIVE YET OBSCURE REFERENCE VOLUME THAT MANY OF YOU PROBABLY AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH BUT THAT SHOULDN'T NEGATE THE VALUE OF THE MATERIAL. YOU SEE I FOUND MY FACTS ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER IN CHARLIE BROWN'S FOURTH SUPER BOOK OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
WE KNOW THAT SANTA CLAUS STARTED OUT AS SAINT NICHOLAS, THE BISHOP OF MYRA IN THE FOURTH CENTURY WHO GAVE PRESENTS TO NEEDY CHILDREN. OUR MODERN TERM COMES FROM "SINTER CLAES" WHICH WAS THE DUTCH NAME FOR SAINT NICHOLAS
IT WAS MUSEUM DIRECTOR HENRY COLE WHO INVENTED THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD IN 1843, AND IT WAS WHO GAVE SAINT NICHOLAS HIS RED SUIT, WHITE BEARD AND REINDEER IN HIS 18 BOOK A VISIT FROM SAINT NICK, BETTER KNOWN NOW AS THE "NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS"
CHRISTMAS IS MADE UP OF ALL KINDS OF TRADITIONS, MYTHS AND STORIES, MOST OF THEM EXTRA BIBLICAL BUT THAT DOESN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION WHY CHRISTMAS.
AS I MULLED THAT QUESTION OVER AND OVER, I THOUGHT OF A QUOTE BY THE ATHEIST VOLTAIRE FROM THE LAST CENTURY AND VOLTAIRE SAID, "IF GOD DID NOT EXIST IT WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR MAN TO INVENT HIM". WELL IF CHRISTMAS DIDN'T EXIST IT WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR CHRISTIANS TO INVENT IT. I HAD SAID BEFORE THAT CHRISTMAS WASN'T CELEBRATED ON DECEMBER 25TH UNTIL ALMOST THREE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST. BUT THAT DOESN'T;T MEAN THAT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST WASN'T CELEBRATED. AS A MATTER OF FACT EARLY CHURCH WRITINGS INDICATE THAT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST WAS BEING CELEBRATED IN THE CHURCH AS EARLY AS A.D. 95.
YOU SEE CHRISTMAS IS SIMPLY THE DAY THAT GOD WALKED DOWN THE STAIRS OF HEAVEN WITH A BABY IN HIS ARMS. WHY CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE OF THE VERY WONDER OF THE EVENT. WE AREN'T CELEBRATING SOME PAGAN ROMAN CELEBRATION COMMEMORATING THE "BIRTHDAY OF THE UNCONQUERED SUN. S.U.N." NO WE ARE CELEBRATING THE "BIRTHDAY OF THE UNCONQUERED SON, S.O.N."
1) WE CELEBRATE BECAUSE OF THE WONDER OF HIS CONCEPTION
EVERY PERSON HERE TODAY IS A MIRACLE. IN AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE TWO SEPARATE CELLS CAME TOGETHER, AND AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME A NEW LIFE HAD BEGUN. EACH OF THOSE TWO ESSENTIAL CELLS BROUGHT TWENTY-THREE CHROMOSOMES INTO THE PARTNERSHIP TO MYSTICALLY FORM ONE CELL WITH FORTY SIX CHROMOSOMES. EACH OF THOSE CHROMOSOMES BROUGHT THOUSANDS OF GENES INTO THE UNION TO PRODUCE AN ENTIRELY NEW AND UNIQUE CELL. THAT CELL, EITHER MALE OR FEMALE WAS A COMPLETE BIOLOGICAL BLUEPRINT OF A BRAND NEW HUMAN BEING WHICH WAS TO BE YOU. NEVER BEFORE HAD THERE EVER BEEN A CELL LIKE THAT AND NEVER AGAIN WOULD THERE BE A CELL LIKE THAT. YOU ARE SPECIAL, YOU ARE A WALKING, TALKING MIRACLE.
BUT AS SPECIAL AS YOU ARE LISTEN TO A CONVERSATION THAT PRECEDED THE CONCEPTION OF JESUS. Luke 1:26-35 (NIV) "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."
YOU ARE A MIRACLE BECAUSE IN GOD'S CREATIVE GENIUS TWO CELLS COME TOGETHER TO FORM ONE CELL AND THEN DOUBLE FORTY FIVE TIMES TO BECOME A COMPLETE HUMAN BEING ADULT WITH OVER 30,000,000 CELLS.
BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR THE CREATIVE GENIUS HIMSELF TO TAKE HUMAN FORM IT WASN'T TWO CELLS IT WAS ONLY ONE, BECAUSE IN THE WOMB OF THIS YOUNG VIRGIN THE HOLY SPIRIT TOUCHED AN OVUM AND THE MOST MIRACULOUS OF ALL LIVES BEGAN.
CHARLES DICKENS SAID, "IT IS GOOD TO BE CHILDREN SOMETIMES AND NEVER BETTER THEN AT CHRISTMAS WHEN THE WORLDS MIGHTY FOUNDER WAS A CHILD HIMSELF."
AND SO AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, GOD STEPPED OUTSIDE OF THE NATURAL LAWS HE HIMSELF HAD LAID DOWN SO THAT THE BIRTH OF HIS SON WOULD BE A TIME OF WONDER AND AMAZEMENT.
2) WE CELEBRATE BECAUSE OF THE WONDER OF HIS BIRTH.
HOW MANY FATHERS DO WE HAVE HERE THIS MORNING? DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOUR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN. YOU WANTED TO HOLLER FROM THE ROOF OF THE HOSPITAL, "I HAVE A SON". YOU WERE SO PROUD, YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD DONE IT ALL BY YOURSELF.
GOD FELT LIKE THAT WITH HIS SON. NOTHING WAS TOO GOOD FOR JESUS. IN JEWISH TRADITION WHEN A CHILD WAS BORN THE FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS OF THE COUPLE WOULD COME AROUND AND SERENADE THE NEW CHILD, OF COURSE THE MORE IMPORTANT THE FAMILY THE BIGGER THE CHOIR RIGHT. NOW MARY AND JOSEPH WERE FAR FROM HOME AND RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT, BUT GOD WASN'T GOING TO MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE FOR HIS ONE AND ONLY SON. IN Luke 2:13-14 (NIV) "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.""
NEAT HUH, GOD PROVIDED A HEAVENLY CHOIR TO SERENADE HIS SON. WOULDN'T YOU THINK THAT A FATHER THAT WAS THAT PROUD OF THE BIRTH OF HIS SON WOULD WANT THAT BIRTH TO BE CELEBRATED? GOD WAS SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS, LOOK AT MY SON, MY BEAUTIFUL PRECIOUS BOY. HE'S GOT HIS MOTHERS EYES, AND LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE FINGERS AND TOES.
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN BETHLEHEM COULD HAVE BEEN AN OBSCURE EVENT, NOTICED BY VERY FEW PEOPLE. BUT THAT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN FITTING THE BIRTH OF A KING, EVEN IF THE KING WAS BORN TO A CARPENTER AND HIS BRIDE.
I MARVEL AT THE FACT THAT GOD WAS WILLING TO SEND HIS SON, BUT I MARVEL MORE AT THE FACT THAT HE WAS WILLING TO SEND HIS SON AS A BABY. TO BE BORN IN A HOSTILE LAND, TO GROW UP AND EXPERIENCE PAIN, FRUSTRATION AND ILLNESS. I WONDER WHAT JESUS WAS LIKE AS A TEENAGER, SCARY THOUGHT ISN'T IT? I WONDER IF IT'S SIGNIFICANT THAT NOTHING IS MENTIONED ABOUT JESUS AFTER HE WAS TWELVE. I WONDER IF HE HAD A BLACK EYE, OR A BLOODY NOSE, AND IF SO I WONDER WHO GAVE IT TO HIM. I WONDER IF THERE WAS A GIRL THAT HE LIKED, AND TEASED. PREACHER YOU ARE WAY OUT OF LINE. IF I AM THEN JESUS DIDN'T HAVE TO COME AS A BABY HE COULD HAVE COME AS AN ADULT. THE REASON HE HAD TO COME AS A CHILD WAS SO HE COULD EXPERIENCE LIFE AS WE EXPERIENCE LIFE. AND THAT MEANS WITH ALL THE BUMPS AND KNOCKS, AND TEMPTATIONS THAT WE GO THROUGH.
WE NEED TO CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT CHRIST WAS BORN, BECAUSE IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT DAY IN BETHLEHEM SO MANY YEARS AGO, OUR FUTURE WOULDN'T LOOK SO BRIGHT. IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE CHRIST WAS BORN, THAT HE WAS ABLE TO DIE FOR OUR SINS.
3) WE NEED TO CELEBRATE BECAUSE OF THE WONDER OF HIS LOVE
John 3:16 (NIV) ""For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Eph 2:4-5 (NIV) "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved."
1 John 3:1 (NIV) "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
1 John 4:9 (NIV) "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."
ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS TODAY IS THAT IT IS TOO COMMERCIALISED, PRESENTS SEEM TO BE THE NAME OF THE GAME. ELEANOR ROSEVEVELT SAID, "PEOPLE SAY THAT CHRISTMAS IS TOO COMMERCIALISED. BUT I HAVE NEVER FOUND IT THAT WAY. IF YOU SPEND MONEY TO GIVE PEOPLE JOY, YOU ARE NOT BEING COMMERCIAL. IT IS ONLY WHEN YOU FEEL OBLIGED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS THAT THE SPIRIT IS RUINED."
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST WAS THE GREATEST GIFT THAT COULD EVER BE GIVEN, AND IT WASN'T GIVEN OUT OF OBLIGATION, IT WAS GIVEN OUT OF LOVE. GOD LOVE YOU, YES YOU SO MUCH THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN, TO LIVE 33 YEARS, TO DIE ON A CROSS AND TO RISE ON THE THIRD DAY, SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
IF YOU DON'T CELEBRATE ANYTHING ELSE THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON THEN LET'S CELEBRATE THE LOVE OF GOD. THERE IS EVERY REASON IN THE WORLD TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR, AFTER ALL HIS FATHER CELEBRATED IT. IF THERE IS A FAULT WITH CHRISTMAS IT IS WHAT WE DO WITH IT. THE STORY IS TOLD OF THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS PRAYING ONE CHRISTMAS EVE AND IN THE EXCITEMENT GOT MIXED UP AND PRAYED, "AND FORGIVE US OUR CHRISTMASES" MAYBE THAT NEEDS TO BE OUR PRAYer.
