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the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may
become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!
"CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY"
DECEMBER 18, 2005
Good Morning!
Christmas is the season where the stated goal is goodwill and peace on
earth. It is also the season of giving. But most of all Christmas is God
reaching to earth and offering every one throughout the world, the sacrificial
gift of his son.
The aspect of the sacrificial gift of God’s son is how the word
Christmas came into being. Literally from the Greek “Christos” and Latin
“mass,” Christmas means “Christ’s sacrifice” or God’s sacrifice of
Christ for the world.
The very word Christmas should remind us that in and of itself, the birth
of Jesus without the cross means very little, and for the 300 years following
Jesus’ death and resurrection, there was no celebration of his birth.
The emphasis was always on “the sacrifice” which ultimately meant the cross
and the life-giving resurrection.
This year in our country there is a media controversy over which greeting
is appropriate, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” We have already
spoken about the meaning of the word Christmas, so now we look at the word,
“holiday.”
The word “holiday” comes from combining the word “holy” and the
word “day” into one new word, Holiday. The early church had a regularly
growing number of Holy Days to help their people cope with life in difficult
days and ages. These Holy Days usually evolved around the life and spiritual
experiences of the best known saints and martyrs.
The holy day or holiday of Christmas is at least fourth in the order of
importance of holy days—trumped by Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and
Resurrection Sunday. Jesus asks us to remember his death and resurrection. He
has nothing to say about remembering his birth.
[And] So which is more appropriate— Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Literally,
neither is very appropriate. How dare we wish a “merry” sacrifice of Christ,
or even a “happy” holy day? The
words “merry” and “happy” used during the holiday time imply giddiness,
excesses, and sometimes even drunkenness in the context of worldly celebrating.
Perhaps we need a new tradition to reflect more of the true meaning of
Christmas. How much more appropriate it would be to wish a Meaningful
Christmas or an Inspiring Holiday.
I say all this not to come across as a literalist in my own right, but
rather to point out the ludicrousness of the argument in the first place. In
order to exercise “good will among men,” we should receive whatever
sincere greeting is offered to us (and from whomever) and assume it to be a
greeting of “good will.”
Each year I usually notice at least one letter to the editor in the daily
paper complaining about the removing of Christ from Christmas with the use of
the word, “Xmas.” How untrue this is. “Xmas” is the combining of the
Greek letter “chi” (which looks like an ‘X’ to us) with the Latin word
“sacrifice.” In the early years when Christians were distrusted and
despised, the Greek letter Chi was used as a undercover indicator for Christ
because the Chi was the first two letters of the word Christ (even though to us
it may look like an X). By combining the Greek ‘Chi’ with the Latin
‘sacrifice,’ it served to communicate the saving grace of Christ without the
general populace taking dangerous notice. Far from taking Christ out of
Christmas, it points us to the times of the martyrs when open and public
greetings using the name of Christ meant certain death. That is so much more
potent than our free use of the word Christmas today.
Peace on earth and good will toward men has taken a beating this year
both at home and abroad. Let us work for peace and good will at
home and abroad, and not become a part of the bickering community which
occasionally does not even understand the meanings or origins of the words over
which they are bickering.
Rather, let us stick with these words from Saint John:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus
came into the world not to condemn or judge the world, but that the world
through him might be saved.
In conclusion, here is my Christmas greeting for you:
’ Twas
the week before Christmas and all through the congregation, is a spirit of hope
and excited anticipation.
Our history is rich and filled with deep nurture, our future is bright
and much proclaimed about our future.
Our hearts and minds are open, we are a people of great passion, and our
love and generosity are always fully in fashion.
God has gifted us with spirit-filled abilities, and we seek to welcome all
into our facilities.
We have differing opinions at Methodist First, but seek daily that our
unity in Christ is in earnest.
What shall we say of this holiday season? Are gifts and parties, or is
Christ the reason?
And so we pray you good fortune on your spiritual journey and wish you
each a Blessed Christmas in the peace of Christ easy.*
Amen.
*
Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest …
for my yolk is easy and my burden is light.
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