The Season The Reason The Gift

The Season, The Reason, The Gift

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - This is truly a wonderful time of the year. One of my favorite Christmas songs is “At Christmas Time” by Luther Vandross, I love this song because it is true in so many ways, some of the words are “Ooh, every year at Christmas time I hear the people laughin' Smilin', bein' happy again. Ooh, at Christmas time. Merry Christmas to the world I wish happiness and love for every boy and every girl 'Cause the holiday Makes me feel this way. What a joy it is to find Happy people joined together for the love of Christmas time Ooh, and they feel that way Every Christmas day.

It’s the time of year that we are surrounded by beauty, bright lights, colorful ornaments, decorated Christmas trees, presents, gentle snowflakes, and warm fireplaces. People seem to be full of good cheer and well wishes. We listen to our favorite Christmas songs and reminisce of loved ones that are no longer here. Kids are making angels in the snow Magic tricks by Uncle Joe You can feel the loving in the air Family coming in from everywhere, like India Arie said this is my favorite time of year.

However, to truly appreciate Christmas we must go beyond the joy of presents and the excitement of the different festivities, farther than the decorated trees, cards, wreaths, and Christmas feast. We must surpass the dreamy snow-covered scenes of a white Christmas where everything is sunny and bright and truly understand the reason for the season. Now let me say the reason for the season is beyond the cliché Jesus is the reason for the season. So, let’s look at the Season, the Reason, and the Gift.

PRAYER: -

SCRIPTURE: - Romans 3:23, 5:12, Genesis 3:6, Psalms 51:5, 58:3, Job 14:4 Luke 2, Matthew 2.

Now this is not going to be the traditional Christmas message with wise men following a star and Jesus lying in a manger. My desire is to look at the origins of the season, the real reason for the ultimate gift.

THE SEASON: - I started by saying that this is truly a wonderful time of year – Christmas time. Now before I go on let me establish the fact that I understand the holiday celebrated as Christmas is truly nothing more than a whitewashing of Paganism. For those that believed it was the celebration of the birth of Jesus I am sorry to burst your bubble but it’s not and, in all actuality, has nothing to do with Jesus, His birth, or anything Biblical at all. Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus at this time of year it is not the time of His birth. It is pretty much confirmed among Bible scholars that the actual birth of Jesus occurred in September not December.

Now some may say why is that important because we have been doing it like this all my life and as long as we are celebrating Jesus then what is the problem. Well, the problem is stated in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” Acts 17:30 says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commendeth all men everywhere to repent”. So no one has the privilege to live in ignorance anymore.

We celebrate Christmas on December 25th, and it is considered both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For over two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with all kinds of traditions and practices, like exchanging gifts, having huge feast and celebrations, going to church, and spending time with family.

Let’s get a little history of its origins. Many years ago, in Germany people honored the pagan god Oden. Germans were terrified of Oden believing that he made nocturnal flights in the winter through the skies to observe the people in a sleigh pulled by reindeer and he would decide who would prosper and who would perish. This is partly where we get the idea of Santa Claus and his reindeer sleigh from. In Rome Saturnalia a holiday honoring Saturn the sun god, the god of agriculture was celebrated. Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful, and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down with a anything goes lifestyle during the celebration. Also, in Rome people celebrated Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun on December 25th. Mithra is an ancient Iranian deity a cult that rivaled early Christianity. Also, many other Pagan cultures celebrate the winter solstice and the worship of pagan deities like Horus and Ra in Egypt, Ball in Syria, Sol Invictus and Helios in Greece on December 25th.

Understand that in the early years of Christianity, nearly the first 400 years, the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the 4th century, around 325 - 350 A.D. Constatine made Christianity the official religion of Rome then there is the Nicaean council which took place giving us the Apostle’s Creed, and then Pope Julius I chose December 25th as the birthday of Jesus Christ to absorb the pagan celebration of Saturnalia which is the worship of the sun god or the rising sun to the worship of the risen Son of God. He believed by holding Christmas at the same time as the winter solstice festival that church leaders would increase the chances that Christmas would be embraced, but they gave up ability to dictate how it was celebrated.