THE CHRISTMAS FACT

The Christmas season is in the air again.

In his sermon during the first Sunday of advent, Pastor Doug Beyer of the Union Church of Manila in Makati mentioned this very interesting facts:

The first Christmas never happened on December 25, 1 A.D. As a matter of fact for the first 200 years A.D., Christians never celebrated Christmas. Even today, some scholars still argue if Jesus was really born on December 25, 1 A.D. Basing on the account in the Bible, no shepherds would be stupid enough to stay in the field on a very cold winter evening. Thus, base on the accounts from the Bible where the angels announced the birth of Christ to the lowly shepherds who were tending their sheeps in the field, the first Christmas should never occur on December.

Here's some interesting facts. The early Romans celebrated the Festival of Saturnalia on December 17 and this celebration would last for seven days (that's Decemebr 24!). On the 25th, they would celebrate the mirth of Mirtha with a big merry making where they will be exchanging gifts, dancing and eating.

Now on the 4th Century A.D., the Christians were now in power in the Emperial Rome. Recognizing this very important pagan holiday in the Roman Calendar, the Pope Liberius converted it from a pagan holiday to a Christain holiday. They called it "Christ's Mass". So we see, our Christmas celebration has a pagan origin.

Now, now, now, I hope you won't get me wrong. I am not saying that we should no longer celebrate Christmas now and forget the centuries of meaningful Christmas celebrations and traditions. What really matters is that we shouldn't forget the real meaning of Christmas. That is, Christ was born, Christ the God became flesh who would later on die for our sins. That should be our reason to celebrate Christmas. Because if we bother too much on the gift giving and all the other expenses we incur during Christmas, then we are no different from the early Romans who celebrated the pagan Feast of Saturnalia.

How I wish I could tell this to my mother and sisters who are expecting expensive gifts from me this Christmas (hehehehehe).

All this aside, I wish you all a meaningful celebration of Chrirstmas this year!




MERRY CHRISTMAS!





DO YOUR CHRISTMAS THINKING EARLY
(Full text sermon of Pastor Doug Beyer)
Matthew 3:1-3

Are you ready for Christmas? Each year preparations for Christmas starts a little earlier—Especially here in the Philippines . Someday I expect to see Santa riding in on a turkey in time for thanksgiving. With zealous enthusiasm approaching religious fanaticism....

BUSINESS PREPARES FOR CHRISTMAS

There's no denying its quasi-religious overtones. Throughout the land Santa sits on his throne in his commercial temple where children offer prayers for his presents. Merchants who show little religious interest during the year display nativity scenes in their store windows. Even Jewish businessmen can sing sincerely, "What a friend we have in Jesus."

There is a new Christmas story--this one written in four chapters: anticipation, acceleration, intoxication and prostration. A greeting card asks the question: "Ever wonder why Rudolph's nose is so red? Santa's sleigh isn't the only thing that's loaded." In the minds of many Christmas is associated with drinking and debauchery as well as a great spending spree and business boom. The most enchanting bells of Christmas have become the tinkling of cash registers. We must be careful lest we be swept away by the "Yule tide." A child spoke unintentional wisdom who prayed, "Forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us."

A little green man from Mars could walk the malls of Makati and never guess that Christmas had anything to do with the birth of God's Son. He would see dazzling lights and beautiful bells and candles and trees but have no clue they have any religious meaning. The decorations down Ayala avenue and in the surrounding neighborhoods are spectacular, but I ask, what on earth does all this have to do with Christmas? The innocuous, "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays," tell us nothing of the significance of this celebration. I'd like to see us have a real "old fashioned Christmas" celebration instead of the new-fangled "Christmas sellabration" designed by commercial and secular interests.

We pause in the midst of this “blight before Christmas” and wonder where it all began. That's a surprising story. The first surprise is that it did not begin on December 25 in the Year 1 A. D. Biblical scholars are not agreed on the exact date of Jesus' birthday, but one thing is sure. No shepherd in his right mind would be out in the fields watching his flocks by night in the middle of the winter. In December both shepherds and sheep would be trying to stay warm waiting for spring before they ventured too far from the fold.

You may also be surprised to know that Christians did not celebrate Christmas for the first 200 years after Christ. Of course, they celebrated his death and resurrection—they celebrated it once a week—but nobody gave much attention to his birth until the fourth century A. D. That was about the time Christians had very recently acquired political power in Rome . They faced a problem. The most popular holiday on the Roman calendar was an ancient pagan festival called Saturnalia. Beginning December 17 and lasting 7 days they worshiped the god Saturn by lighting candles, exchanging gifts and eating great banquet meals--often with drunkenness and debauchery. Then on December 25 they celebrated the birth of their god Mithra. To counteract the immorality of these ancient festivals, Pope Liberius converted it from a pagan holiday into a Christian holy day. They called it "Christ's Mass," Christmas. This conversion, obviously, was never really completed. Even today, there is a strange mixture of the sacred and the profane in our preparations for Christmas.

GOD PREPARED FOR CHRISTMAS

The Christmas for which commercial business prepares resembles the ancient Roman Saturnalia more than the advent of Jesus Christ. But God's preparation for Christmas began long before the Saturnalia. He began preparing when he announced to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden that one of their descendants would bruise the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15 ). That is, he will deal a mortal wound to Satan, the tempter. God continued his preparation for Christmas by revealing the Messiah's nation to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-2), his tribe to Jacob (Genesis 49:10), his family to David (2 Samuel 7:16), his place of birth to Micah (Micah 5:2), his time of birth to Daniel (Daniel 9:25-26), his forerunner to Malachi (Malachi 4:5-6), and his name to Mary (Matthew 3:1-3). The Old Testament is a record of God's preparation for Christmas--the advent of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The New Testament opens with the birth announcement of John the Baptist by an angel who declared that he was "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17 ). His Christmas message sounds strange to our Saturnalia tuned ears. He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand....Make ready the way of the Lord." He gave them fair warning, but people still weren't ready. King Herod imprisoned and beheaded the preparer, John the Baptist. God's preparation was rejected by unprepared people. Are you prepared?

WE PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS

There are two Christmases for which we prepare. On the one hand, we prepare for the festival of Christmas. At worst, the festival of Christmas is no better than the pagan Saturnalia. At best, it cheers in northern climates a dreary winter season. Festivals are fun, as long as we don't get confused and think we are doing something religious. Maybe what we ought to do is take Christ out of Christmas, that is, out of the festival, the modern Saturnalia. Perhaps the best way to enjoy it is to quit kidding ourselves that Christ has anything at all to do with it. Quit trying to sing the Messiah to the tune of Jingle Bells.

I dare say that a lot of what you have been doing and will be doing this month is preparing for the festival of Christmas. But remember, there are two Christmases: the festival and the fact. You may or may not be ready for the festival of Christmas, but the crucial question is, "Are you ready for the fact of Christmas?" Apart from all the noise and nonsense, the superficial tinsel of the festival, is the wonder-filled fact that the eternal Son of God came to sinful earth to take on our human nature, with all its limitations and frailties. He came to live our life and die our death, to suffer all the horrible humiliation, the hatred, pain and sorrow. He came all the way from a crude manger in a smelly barn to a cruel cross on a hill of shame. He came all the way from the glory of heaven to the gates of hell. The fact of Christmas is that in Christ God has landed on planet earth. He has invaded our world (Matthew 10:34 ). There will be a victory, but no armistice until he reigns as the King of kings.

Do you really think he come to earth just to give us a bit of gaiety and gladness, a season of cheer, a break in the tensions of our times, a sentimental note of good will? Is that what he came to do? NO! Christ paid too dear a price for such a cheap Christmas.

The text for John the Baptist's Christmas sermon was taken from Isaiah 40:3-5. "A voice cries, 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'"

Isaiah the prophet and John the Baptist tell us how to prepare for the fact of Christmas. First of all we need to deal with traffic congestion. The great intersections of our lives where freedom and responsibility meet are as choked as Edsa and Ayala on a Friday night. The wilderness areas of our lives, the great undeveloped wastelands, need a highway! The Lord of hosts needs an uncrowded freeway upon which to establish his supply and maintenance route. The rough and rugged places within us need leveling. "Let every heart prepare him room."

Are you prepared for Christmas? Not just the festival, but the fact? Listen to him whom God sent to prepare the way: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Christmas, the real Christmas, the fact of Christmas is only for those who repent, who have changed their minds. That’s what repent means literally: think it through again.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn around. You're going the wrong way. Prepare to meet the great Fact of Christmas. Come to Him who came to earth to reveal God and redeem you. You will never be the same. Christ who was born in Bethlehem will be born again in you.