Good Morning!! God Bless and Merry Christmas!!
Actually that's what I wanted to talk about this morning-Christmas. I have been praying and seeking God's will about a few things lately, mostly at the suggestion of some questions from another homeschooling friend that I simply did not have the answer to. Of course, if there is something you don't know, what else should you do but read the word of God, and pray? That's it! Sometimes the answers don't seem to come, but usually God will either send an answer or peace in NOT knowing. We aren't meant to know everything, and the Bible clearly does leave some big questions unanswered. I believe though, that that is where our faith comes in. We can step out in faith and choose to believe even though we don't fully understand. Also in faith, is the fact that I believe for a good chunk of things that the Bible doesn't expressly forbid, nor endorse specifically, that the Bible gives us Christian liberty to act in the way that we feel God specifically does convict us as individuals.
Let me clarify. One of the things that I have been seeking answers about is Christmas. Why do we use pagan symbols in our tradition of Christmas? It is widely know that some of the traditional symbols are also pagan symbols of long ago. I was told there is a Bible verse about Christmas trees specifically that forbids them! Of course, I just basically said I don't have an answer to that! I certainly agree that if the Bible says not to do something then we shouldn't make excuses or try to justify it--gay marriage and live in boyfriends come to mind. Let me mention now that I am NOT casting stones here. I just want to, in the spirit of transparency, admit that I have not lived a sinless life, and believe that my sins are no bigger or smaller/better or worse than anyone else's. So in this time of seeking, I was not simply looking for a way to justify my keeping of Christmas nor point out someone else's error in not keeping it. I was just looking for a clear answer from God's word, as to what was the truth here.I feel no need either, to justify my convictions at this point. I only share them now because I know that there may be others out there who are praying and seeking and could use some encouragement. So, now that I have expressed that, I can move on with the rest of this post!!
I did some research on my own in the past few weeks and here is what I have found to be true.
#1) Symbols are just that. Symbols. Because our world has been around for thousands of years, and there have been many nations and cultures to come about, each having their own symbols. I think for the most part, a symbol can be what you mean it to be. Christians all over the world that choose to keep Christmas today, clearly do not have Christmas trees and candles because some pagans used those symbols in their idol worship thousands of years ago. I think the heart of the people is what matters. If I was kneeling at my tree in worship of the tree itself, then that would of course be wrong, but we do not do that. But to my family, candles and lights are a symbol that Jesus is the light of the world.
2) We don't know what day Christ was born. But that shouldn't keep us from celebrating. Unless you are going to outlaw every. single. holiday. EVER. or festival or feast-even those in the Bible, how can you argue that it would be wrong to celebrate Christ's birth? I understand that we don't know his birthday, and they likely didn't even celebrate birthdays back then. However, anything that promotes worship and love of my Lord is a good thing in my book. If the worshipers are sincere, then they have a connection with God and I believe he will honor that. As Christians we celebrate holidays that were not in the Bible, and some that are. Thanksgiving and Easter are also not expressly mentioned in the Bible, but in my book they are both important! No one could argue (I don't think) that the puritans who came here seeking religious freedoms to go to church and to read their Bibles and pray openly in public, would have created a holiday to be idolatrous or frivolous. They were giving thanks to God for the bounty and the survival of those who had made it through the journey and providing provisions for them through those hard months. The wanted to celebrate and give thanks to their God and their new found friends. The Bible may not mention of our specific holidays, but it does say that some things are worth celebrating (ie Weddings) and they certainly had their own traditions in Bible times every year-all which were intended to honor God.
In my opinion, December 25th is probably not the day he was born-like a 1/365 likelyhood pretty much.... but since we don't know, it's as good of a day to celebrate as any. And we have so much to be thankful for too: God sent his son to save us! That is huge! I think it is important to remember this, and celebrating Christmas every year is one way that I honor that.
3) Christmas has gotten too commercial. One of my favorite Christmas movies- A Charlie Brown Christmas, is especially good at pointing this out. This time of year, many people have scrapped Christ completely from the holiday, and kids are asking for more and more things. It is clearly a highly marketable holiday, and there's plenty of money to be made. Most people are too busy to be bothered even with giving at this time of year anymore and are only concerned with what they can get instead. In fact, in the movie, there is an especially poignant line from Sally, Charlie's younger sister: "All I want is what I... I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share." Obamaphone anyone? In a world that is more greedy than ever before, I see even more reason to keep Christmas! Especially in America, we feel entitled to take whatever we want, earned or not. We deserve it, right? That's such a great line for where we are today that it's hard to believe the movie was made nearly 50 years ago (yeh, I know, right!).
To me, it is a reminder though, that God's free gift to us is the best gift of all. While God doesn't say we should give gifts specifically to others, since it is his birthday we celebrate, I believe when done with a sincere heart --and that is the key--it honors him. In a world that seems to be seeking evil more and more each day, it can sometimes seem a fine line to live in this world instead of it. When I give gifts to others, it isn't to promote some materialistic thing. It is to show them LOVE above all, and in loving them, I am honoring Christ. A dear friend of mine is heading up the annual toy drive this year and it has just been amazing to see God work through this. Every time she hears about a need, God provides the perfect thing! It's a simple way to share love of Christ with those who need it most! She told a story yesterday about how her husband had given his coat away to a man he saw without one yesterday, and she had, without him knowing, just bought him a new one! Her family works so hard every year to help organize collecting and distributing toys to and from people in our local area. And without fail every year, her family gets sick. We both feel it is the evil one attacking her family for serving God. Because serving IS something Christ called us to do, and to me, giving IS serving. It's not about how much money I can spend or even save, Christ cares very little about that. But bringing joy to my kids and others I can share gifts with, lets them know I love them, as Christ loved me. I expect nothing in return, and in fact, prefer it that way. So it doesn't matter that some people spend thousands of dollars on top of the line toys for their crew or focus on getting the latest Ipad. To me, they can choose to serve the world if they want-we may not ever have an influence on some of them. I'm just gonna continue to keep Christmas and giving to others in whatever way God permits me to, because I believe nothing warms his heart more than his children loving on others so much so their his love spills out of them and they have a chance to share WHY they give! I give because it's a reminder of God's gift of Love to us, and, as my pastor so beautifully said last Sunday- Sincere giving is an act of worship to our Heavenly Father.
So, it is, without a doubt in my mind, a beautiful thing to celebrate Christmas. However, if you feel in your heart, that God for whatever reason, is calling you to do otherwise, you would be wise to listen! The Bible tells us in Colossians 2, that keeping Sabbath on a certain day or keeping certain festivals are a matter of personal conviction after Christ came. We are no longer under the old law, but rather, Grace. So it is with joy, I will celebrate this year and every year we have left on earth. And I will say that my dear friend is also right, as she feels convicted to do otherwise. If you would like to do some reading on this, I found a great article this morning here: Answers in Genesis that you might find interesting as well. Regardless of how you celebrate, Peace, and God bless you!
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