In this episode, we will look at “The True Story of Christmas”. I didn’t say “The True Christmas Story”. We know “The True Christmas Story” is the birth of God’s gift to the world, eternal life through Jesus Christ.
As we get started there is one thing to always remember when you look into history; History is written by the winners, meaning history is at best an interpretation of events and at worst a complete fabrication.
Biblically, we have the birth of Jesus in Luke 1:1-20 & Matthew 2:1-23. It’s a simple story. The Mother of Jesus, Mary, bore a child through the Spirit of God. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem where shepherds and wise men visited him after receiving the announcement of his birth from an angel. Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Outside of the Bible, there is no record of the birth of Jesus. But, to be fair, there are very few historical records of the birth of anybody 2,000 years ago.
Now, let’s look at the historical details on the Story of Christmas Timeline below;
No one knows when Jesus was really born. Most scholars’ best guess is 6 BC to 4 BC sometime between July and October. Maybe April or May, but not December. It’s all a guess.
The first recorded Christmas celebration was December 25, 336 AD in Rome. After the emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman empire, the political and religious leaders decided to have Christmas on the pagan holiday of the Winter Solstice which was marked on December 25. This was to get the pagans to become part of the state religion.
There were disputes over the deity of Christ by factions within Christian groups. Christmas actually was declining in participation, so the church decided to breathe some life into Christmas by electing a monk named Nicholas to sainthood, making him St. Nicholas. Nicholas was known for his kindness and generosity to poor children and the sick.
But, Christmas didn’t see much of a pickup until the crowning of Charlemagne as emperor on December 25th, 800 AD. St Nicholas was still a revered saint known as a protector of children and sailors. But in 1,525 the Puritans banned Christmas because they considered it an invention of the Catholic Church. During this same time, Martin Luther didn’t like the idea of people praying to saints so he and his follower devised that someone named “Christkind” (meaning Christ-child) would secretly come on Christmas eve and give presents to “good” children. This name was later modified to “Kris Kringle“. The Dutch called St Nicholas, “Sinter Klaas” which eventually was changed to “Santa Claus” when the Dutch came to America in the 1,700s
Christmas didn’t catch on so in the 1800s the Church of England changed the focus of Christmas to acts of charity toward the poor. Writers like Washington Irving and Charles Dickens picked up on this shift and wrote Christmas stories that lifted the spirits of the poor and the general public. With these stories centered around charity, goodness, gifts, and overall happiness, Christmas was widely embraced by the public and it took off and grew to what we see today. Reindeer, sleds, the North Pole, elves, sliding down chimneys, and so on have been added to the Story of Christmas over the last 200 years.
The chart below how the meaning of Christmas has changed over time;
Going back to the 1st century, the early church didn’t recognize December 25 as the birthday of Jesus. It wasn’t until the Roman church decided to exert its prominence that over pagan religions that we had Christmas. But, over time this didn’t work and the Christmas doctrine fragmented and became infrequent. The original purpose of Christmas was to display the authority of the Roman church.
In the revival of Christmas Dickens and others created a story that was centered on a heartfelt generous family atmosphere. Dickens combined worship, feasting, and social awareness to bring everyone into Christmas. Christmas became a humanitarian holiday complete with carols, gatherings, food, drinking, celebrating, and a generous spirit.
Today Christmas is the same as it was since the 19th-century writers’ created it, except it’s more commercialized. The biggest influence on Christmas today is retailing opportunities. Whether for entertainment, celebration, cultural identity, and of course profits. Today the meaning of Christmas is the enterprise that is created by it.
The chart below shows how we view Christmas today:
- Of the 45% of the world population that does celebrate Christmas, only 31% call themselves Christian. In America 93% celebrate Christmas. Even people who aren’t Christian participate in Christmas.
- It is estimated that there are 4,200 variations of different religions worldwide. The religions that aren’t Christian have their own wintertime celebrations; Newtonmas, Bodhi Day, Eid, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Festivus (for the rest of us from Seinfeld).
The overwhelming majority of people in the world, religious or not, have some kind of celebration during the Christmas season.
In the Body of Christ, if you want to celebrate the birth of Christ or a day called Christmas, that decision is between you and Christ. I am no one’s judge, and neither is anyone else. You have to be convinced in your own mind why you do or don’t celebrate Christmas, and what you do or don’t say or do on such a day. The question to ask is if there’s a spiritual benefit in the recognition of Christmas.
This brings us to the Value of Christmas today.
In the world at large, Christmas can be a comforting time for people. Wars have taken a timeout during Christmas. Christmas can also bring sadness and loneliness. But, most importantly, Christmas brings a lot of sales and profits. Annually the world spends 5 trillion dollars. Christmas accounts for 25% of the world economy, and 35% of the US economy.
What is the economic meaning of Christmas to America? If you combined all the spending on all the other holidays in America, Christmas generates 10 times more spending.
Ever wonder why the world is so set on getting everyone to say, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”? Did you think it was because there are more people that celebrate other events during Christmas than Christmas? Research has shown that happy people spend more money. And interestingly, spending money makes people happy. Paying the credit card bill later, not so much. Saying “Happy Holidays” gets everyone thinking “HAPPY” and more people thinking happy spend, spend, spend.
The psychology of Christmas goes beyond the words used to the colors of the season.
Red, White, and Yellow get people into the store and once in the store Blues and Green convince people they making the right decision to spend their money.
What is the value of Christmas to religions? Church attendance doubles at Christmas. Thrity-three percent of all the monies donated to churches during the year are received during the Christmas season. The same is true of other religions.
What is the value of Christmas to Believers in Christ? Below are some guidelines I put together for determining the value of Christmas to believers.
- Does Christmas strengthen the church? By church, I mean the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 14:26
- Is this done in love? 1 Corinthians 16:13-14,
- Is the Holy Spirit in Christmas, John 16:13 and Matthew 7:7. Are we trying to find value in Christmas rather than Christmas bringing spiritual value to us?
- Is God and Christ glorified by it? 1 Corinthians 10:31
So what are we supposed to do with this information? For our organic spiritual growth, how should we handle Christmas? Paul tells us in Romans 14:19-23.
So how does this passage relate to Christmas? What should our Organic Spiritual Response be to Christmas?
1. Our priority in Christ is to get along with each other (James 3:17).
2. Help others with encouragement, guilt only drags them down. Rather than using words to promote the Story of Christ, we should use actions.
3. Don’t wreck God’s work over transitory disagreements. Focus on the truth that one day God’s Son came into the world. If we agree on that point we have something to build on.
4. Good intentions can turn bad if harm is caused. Good intentions don’t always make things right. The Hippocratic oath; To treat patients to the best of my ability and do no harm. We should treat others to the best of our spiritual ability and do no harm.
5. Don’t focus on being right, but on the elevation of Jesus. It’s not about you, it’s about Jesus. Just make Christmas about Jesus. If we lift Jesus up he will do the rest.
6. Be spiritually sensitive to others in all conversations. Do to others as you would want them to do to you. The majority of what we see about Christmas is focused on outward displays like presents, lights, decorations, celebrations, and glitz. But there are a lot of people struggling right now. We should focus on being spiritually sensitive to those who are hurting as Jesus did.
7. Don’t allow unkind words or actions to overcome love ( 1 Corinthians 16:14). Do more not only on December 25th but every day to show love to others. As we say here, make every day Sonday. Help others who need help by whatever means God has given you.
Let your Christmas be more about Jesus than gifts. Focus on unity rather than division. Lift others up in their spirits and their circumstances. Listen to others, and be sensitive to their struggles and their needs. Our best organic spiritual response on the day we recognize the gift of God’s love to the world is to love one another as Jesus loved us.
Thank you. God Bless you and keep you all safe and healthy.
