#MerryChristmas – Treasure In Jars of Clay

Walking through our local big box retail store in late November 2023, I was intrigued by the array of “Christmas” T-shirts on display. Every single one of them was making some sort of fun or folly of Christmas. Now I enjoy having fun just as much as anybody, but there’s a big difference between having fun and making fun of someone or something. I found these shirts in particular poor taste:

I wondered, how did we get here?

A quick search on the internet about “Christmas” returns a lot of interesting information. The word “Christmas” literally means “Christ’s mass,” and it originated from the Old English term, “Cristes Maesse.” It was sometime in the 4th century that the early church decided to celebrate the birth of Christ annually on December 25. Interestingly, it just so happened to coincide with the Roman Saturnalia, a traditional pagan festival. Why the 4th century church chose to combine the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world with a pagan festival is perhaps a discussion for another day, but suffice it to say that this is, in fact, what history has recorded.

Fast forward to today, it seems that while Christmas has long been a beloved holiday to most everyone, it definitely holds different meanings to different people groups.

For the believer in Christ, it’s about Christ.

For the unbeliever, it has nothing to do with Christ.

For the child or the young at heart, it’s a time of wonder, expectation, and excitement. It’s sweet in terms of giving gifts to our young children, and the joy we have in watching their excitement. However, quite honestly their excitement is likely centered around the gifts.

Have we first shared or read the Christmas story from the Bible? Do our children and family know why we exchange gifts at Christmastime? What about those who can’t afford to buy gifts? Do you think it’s possible that too much emphasis is placed on the gifts or on giving expensive gifts?

For the retail business owners, big box stores, and online retail giants, it’s a time of huge sales profits as the public spends billions of dollars buying gifts for their loved ones; many of whom go into debt to buy those gifts.

Somewhere along the line, it does appear that the importance of the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, has been overshadowed by the season of fun and folly, and the buying and the selling. All while the tradition of gift-giving has morphed into a multibillion-dollar secular commercialization of Christmas.

Maybe we could place the blame on an advertising industry that’s continually promoting bigger, better products.

Maybe we could blame our government agencies who removed Nativity scenes from government properties.

Maybe we could blame the school boards and the states who removed Bibles from schools and banned teachers from mentioning the name of Jesus, and from sharing their faith.

Maybe we could blame big corporations who promote the latest woke ideologies, and of course, Santa Claus—but never mention the name of Jesus.

Maybe we could blame the progressive liberal churches, apostate churches, and the prosperity churches who preach a false gospel.

Maybe we could blame the parents who fail to raise their children in a Christian home, who subsequently fail to tell them why Jesus was born or why He died on the cross.

But the truth is:

Satan is the god of this world and is the major influence on the opinions and actions of the unbelievers all around the world today. Satan is hell-bent on keeping people from coming into a saving relationship with Christ.

And,

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12

And because of this,

Until one becomes born again through the gift of faith, repentance of sin, and trust in Jesus Christ alone, Christmas will remain in their eyes, to be all about the fun and the folly, and the buying and the selling.

Meanwhile, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmastime, and nonbelievers celebrate everything but Christ.

All the more reason that as Christians we should pray for those who do not yet know Christ, and speak up, not just at Christmastime but whenever the Spirit leads.

Because,

Christmas is all about Christ. It’s God’s integral part of His perfect plan of salvation through Jesus’ incarnate birth.

Jesus was the greatest gift ever given and His birth is more than worthy of celebration.

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11

Amen and Merry Christmas

EDIT

Since our girls are all grown with families of their own now, we sometimes celebrate Christmas on days other than December 25. It may just be a day before or the day after, but in 2020 we had out of town business plans in late December so we planned our family Christmas for December 13. We decided it would be fine as this would give our girls a little extra time this year to celebrate Christmas in their own homes, visiting in-laws, travel, etc.

So on December 13, we started off with prayer, a BIG country breakfast, and a reading of the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth according to Matthew. We played a couple of games, including Spoons, caught some kisses under the mistletoe, had a gift-exchange between the grandkids, and a white elephant gift exchange for the adults.

We also sang “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with singing 🎶 parts for each of us. It was fun!

We also talked about the folklore of the hidden meaning of the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas. While some may dispute the origin and intent of the song lyrics, the popular folklore is that it’s a song of Christian instruction with hidden references to Christ and the Christian faith. Dating as far back to the 16th century, a time during the religious wars in England, the folklore is that the song was actually a device to secretly teach the basic principles of Christianity to children.

Thus,

1 The partridge in the pear tree represents Jesus Christ.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments.

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity.

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels.

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation.

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes.

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments.

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles.

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed.

It’s my hope and prayer that each of our children and grandchildren always remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas. It’s not about Santa. It’s not about traditions. It’s not about the food and it’s not about the gifts. All these things are fine to enjoy, but Christmas is about Jesus Christ. One of the most important things we will ever do is share our faith with our loved ones. I pray for each one of our family members to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, in God’s perfect timing. The truth is, it doesn’t matter what day you celebrate Christmas, the most important thing is that He is your Lord and Savior.