'An Independent Baptist Church'

I love the Christmas season. I find great joy in seeing the excitement in the faces of little boys and girls when they look at beautiful Christmas trees and decorations. The thrill of seeing a child open a Christmas present is precious. Giving gifts to friends and relatives as a token of your appreciation is special. It is a special time that family and friends can take time out from hectic schedules and gather together and spend time together and celebrate the birth of our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It makes me sad that many people do not enjoy Christmas. Some devoted Christians feel sour, cantankerous, and full of objections about Christmas. To them I would say in the words of Scripture, that if you regard the day, regard it unto the Lord. And if you do regard the day, Christmas, then be sure that you are Christian about it and do it as unto the Lord. But let nobody be judging and criticizing others for honest, worshipful, spiritual, and loving attitudes about Christmas.

1. They say Christmas is Not Christ's Birthday

Actually, no one knows exactly when Christ was born. The Bible does not say. There are no other trustworthy sources from which we can learn when Christ was born. So, some people think it is therefore wrong to observe Christmas. But that does not necessarily follow. Until the fourth century, it simply was not customary to recognize or celebrate as we do the birth date of a notable or common person. Instead, if any date was remembered at all, the person's death date was usually observed and commemorated. Christians began to celebrate birthdays, and were thankful that the good Lord had given them and their children another year to live and grow older. Certainly every parent ought to want to do that...and who would not want to celebrate the birth of Jesus? So what if we do not know the exact date He was born? Isn't celebrating on December 25 better than not celebrating His birthday at all?
We love the dear Lord Jesus, we want everybody to remember His birth, we want to teach our children about the Baby in the manger, about the wise men who came from the East to worship Him, about the angel's announcement to Mary and the angel chorus who told the shepherds. And why is not December 25 as good a day for that as any other? Do you think it is wrong to remember the birth of Christ on that day?

But if it were, that would not change the fact that heathen people did something of every day, and we cannot do away with all the days that heathen people used, whether for worship, or for ceremonies about sowing, or about reaping, or about the solstices, or the new moons. We use the same sun that heathen people worhshiped, and we love the sun rising and sun setting, though we do not have the heathen ceremonies about that. This argument would not seem important. So if heathen people used the twenty-fifth of December for idolatry, why should Christians not use it now to honor Jesus Christ and His birth? If we have any day to represent Christ, it will be a day somebody else has used for bad purposes; but, thank God, all the days belong to Christ now, and none of them belong to heathen gods. Why should any Christian be grieved if I especially think about the birth of Christ on December 25? Is that worse sin than working to make money on that day? Why should anybody grieve if I sing Christmas carols, if I have a happy celebration with a feast, and if I go over the Bible story of the birth of Christ and teach it to my children, on Christmas day? Does that dishonor God? Do you think you would honor God more by not celebrating Jesus' birth at Christmas?
Some people make much of the fact that the name of our day, Sunday, comes from the worship of the sun. I reply that Saturday is named for the god Saturn. But nobody has any reference to the sun when they use the word Sunday or when they worship on Sunday, and no one has any reference to the god Saturn when they work or serve on Saturday. It is foolish to make an artificial distinction when non exists in the mind and heart of people who observe Christmas. January was named for the Roman god Janus. Are Christians therefore sinning when they call the month by that name? To every sensible person, Christmas simply means Christmas. It is a wonderful time to let the world know that Jesus the Saviour was born into the world!

Some would object and say that Christmas trees and Decorations are an abomination of pagan origin, and that no Christian should have them in their home. I would disagree. Of all Christmas symbols none is more familiar than the Christmas tree. The decorating of the tree is one of the most beloved of Christmas customs and prevails wherever trees are available in either living or artificial form. Some have even said that the Bible forbids the use of Christmas trees. A woman called to my attention Jeremiah 10:3,4, thinking it referred to Christmas trees. That scripture sayd: "For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with an axe. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." But does that Scripture talk about the Christmas tree? Not al all. It speaks of an idol made out of wood, covered with silver and gold. Then next verse says; "They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." The problem here in the Lord's eyes is not the tree with decorations on it, but the fact that these people were worshipping the tree and an IDOL, as a god! These people spoken of in Jeremiah worshipped TREES as their gods! Heathen people also worshipped animals, fish, the ocean, the wind and they also worshipped the sun! There is nothing wrong with having an animal as a pet, or enjoying nature. The problem comes when we worship any of these as idols, as gods! The Bible here is not forbidding the use of Christmas trees in our homes or churches to celebrate joy and gladness during the Christmas season to celebrate Jesus' birth and the "NEW LIFE" He has brought to us!
It is true the Romans, during the Saturnalia, would trim trees with trinkets in worship of the god, Bacchus. As time progressed, Christians began to use Christmas trees to celebrate the Joy of Jesus' birth during Christmas season.
The Druids, too, put lighted candles on boughs as a tribute to their sun god, Balder. When these pegans accepted Christianity, they continued their winter rites, but changed them to honor Christ. And the evergreen tree came to denote His bringing new life to the world after the long dark days of winter.
In his story The First Christmas Tree, Henry Van Dyke tells of its reputed origin. In heathen times, the Druids offered sacrifices at the sacred oak to their god. Winifred, a missionary, went from England to the continent to preach Christianity to these people. At the Thunder Oak, he and his companions arrived just in time to save a young prince from death. Then Winifred told the assembled crowd the story of Christ's coming to earth at Bethlehem. He begged them not to worship their heathen gods any longer, with bloody sacrifices, out in the dark forest. He pointed to a tiny fir tree, and asked them to take it into their homes, and with singing and rejoicing, celebrate the birthday of the Christ Child. The custom spread to Germany during the medieval ages as "paradise trees", usually firs decorated with apples.
The Reformer, Martin Luther, is given credit for helping spread the practice of the Christians having Christmas trees to celebrate the joy of the Christmas season in honor of Jesus' birth. He based this practice on Isaiah 60:13, "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary." The story is related as follows.
As a young man in Eisenach, he went out with his frineds to sing carols. The story goes that, after he had married and had a family, one Christmas Eve he was walking home through the forest. Luther was deeply impressed that night by the myriads of stars in the winter sky, and by the beauty of the stately evergreens. When Luther reached home, he tried to explain the glory of the scene to his wife and children; but words failed him. So he went out, cut down a small fir, and placed lighted candles on it, to represent the starry sky above the stable the night that Christ was born. One of Luther's chief desires was to make ordinary people understand and appreciate Yuletide joys. Although he is said to have started the custom of lighted Christmas trees, the idea spread slowly.
German families in the sixteenth century began bringing evergreens into their homes during the holiday season. By the seventeenth century, these were known as Christbaume ("Christ trees") and were being decorated with fruit, candies, and cookies. The Christmas tree began to be a symbol of Christ, THE GREAT "LIFE-GIVER", the Light of the World, with the star on top the tree representing the Star of Bethlehem. What is wrong with the Christian family choosing to have a Christmas tree decorated beautifully and then explaining the symbolic meaning to little boys and girls, thus an opportunity to tell them about Jesus?
Still some would say, Well, I don't care. I am still not going to have a Christmas tree in my home! I still believe it is wrong! To such a person, I would as them to turn in their Bibles to Romans 14:5-6 and read the passage. If anyone would take his opinion about the matter, that is fine. To them I would say in the words of the Scripture, that if you regard the day, regard it unto the Lord. And if you do not regard the day, Christmas, then be sure that you are Christian about it and do it as unto the Lord. But let nobody be judging and criticizing others for honest, worshipful, and loving attitudes about Christmas. I know a man who would not go to his relatives' Christmas holiday celebration and get-to-gether because they had an abominable, evil "Christmas tree" in their home. Brethern, I'm afraid sometimes we shoot ourselves in our spiritual "foot" by drawing a line and being downright cantankerous about it when the Bible simply does not draw that line!
The legend of Santa Claus is another topic that would cause some beloved brethern to rip their clothes and throw dust and ashes into the air. Is Santa Claus evil? Should he have no part in our homes and in our Christmas celebrations? Someone has said there are 3 stages in a man's life regarding his views on Santa Claus: First, He believes in Santa Claus, Later on, He does not believe in Santa Claus, Then finally, he is Santa Claus!
Many people do not know that the legend of Santa Claus originated in St. Nicholas, a person who actually lived. Nicholas, the only child of wealthy Christian parents, was born at the close of the third century, perhaps about 280, at Patara, a port in the province of Lycia in Asia Minor. Early in his childhoold, his devout mother taught him the scriptures. When both parents died during an epidemic, they left the young boy in possession of all their wealth. One of Nicholas's chief characteristics was his unsurpassed generosity. In his youth he had learned, by going around among the people, how many were oppressed by poverty. As a result, he often went out in disguise and distributed presents, especially to children. The most popular story of the saint's good deeds concerned the three daughters of a nobleman who had lost his fortune in unsuccessfully business ventures. As a result, there was no mony for dowries; and those days, a daughter without a dowry had little chance of marriage. The bishop decided to remedy this; and when the oldest girl was of marriageable age, he went to their home one night and secretly dropped a bag of gold through the window (some say, down the chimney) of their house so that each maiden might have a dowry. The father eventually discovered who the benefactor was, but Nicholas swore him to secrecy. (One version of the account is that one of the bags of gold rolled into a stocking, and from this comes the belief that Santa Claus descends the chimney and fills stockings or shoes with gifts.)
the Dutch brought the legends of St. Nicholas to the New World. According to these early settlers, he wore a red cape and used reindeer. He became associated with Christmas Day itself.
Writing in 1809, Washington Irving pictured Santa Claus as a jolly, tubby little fellow who rode through the air in a sleigh drawn by reindeer. In 1822 Clement More, taking Washington Irving as an authority for his discription of the famous Mr. Claus, developed our modern ideas in his famous and beloved poem, "The visit of St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas') and it was published in the Troy New York Sentinel. It was immediately popular and has endured ever since.
The cartoonist, Thomas Nast, drew a cartoon in Harpers Illustrated Weekly depicting Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer. His illustrations of Santa for that paper, done in the two decades after the Civil War, established the image of the robust character we know today. (Nast, incidentally, also gave us the Democrats' donkey and the Republicans' elephant.)
Reindeer may look like a deer and even have a deerlike name, but they are not true deer. Instead, they are actually caribou. The "lesson" of the Rudolph tale is a necessary and comforting one: Whoever you are, you are special.
Since it had become the custom to give gifts on St. Nicholas Day, because of this generous, jolly fellow's practice, Christians began holiday season as well. Afterall, was not Christ God's gift to man? Did not the Wise men bring gifts to the Christ Child? So what if pagans, such as the Romans, gave gifts to one another to wish them good luck during their corresponding winter holiday of Saturnalia? Why can't Christians give gifts to those that love to celebrate Jesus's birth?
Originally, people made their gifts that they gave to others, which gave a very personal touch to gift giving. As time progressed, hand-made gifts were giving way to machine-made, store-bought ones. Obviously, this would give gifts a less-personal touch than hand-made gifts. To disguuise this loss of symbolic value, gifts soon began to be wrapped in beautiful, decorative gift-wrapping paper. Some object that our gift-giving today has given way to raw commercialism and we've lost the true meaning of giving. Gifts do not have to be expensive to be special, nor do we have to bankrupt ourselves to assure our children get "as many" presents as the children down the street! Let's have out gift giving, if we choose to give gifts to someone, be special, it doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. To illustrate this, one husband said his wife was so hard to buy for..he had already bought her all of the power tools he needed.... Do other people make giving of gifts a mere form? Well, it does not need to be so for Christians. Christians can give gifts that really express love. They can make gifts the response of an honest heart. We can send greetings with Scripture verses and with holy admonitions on them.
What should be the Christian's view about Santa Claus? I see nothing wrong with Santa Claus at all! Of course, as long as we don't let Santa Claus take preeminence and shove Jesus aside, keep Santa in his proper perspective, and don't deceive your children and lie to them about Santa Claus! Some folks, I believe, carry the Santa Claus thing too far, and actually LIE to their innocent, trusting little children about it. Telling lies is never right. When they grow older, if you have down-right LIED to them about Santa Claus, how would they know if you're telling the truth about Jesus? Something to think about.
Two little boys were walking home from Sunday School and one asked the other if he believed there was really a deveil. As they were walking along, the other little fellow never ever raised his head, replied, Nah, it'll probably turn out to be like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and end up being DAD after all!
Another example, one dad was upset one night before Christmas, annoyed by his children's preoccupation with Christmas, took his shotgun outside shot up into the air, and came back inside and said he'd just shot Santa Claus! Don't carry it that far. Yes, enjoy Santa Claus tell your children the real story behind him, and relate that to Jesus, and how His birth was God's gift to the world. Jesus, after all, was and is the greatest gift-giver the world has ever known!
In our country we have a town that glorifies St. Nicholas, the small community of Santa Claus, not far from Evansville, Indiana. In 1882, at their general store on Christmas Eve, it is said that some residents were discussing what to name their town, when Santa Claus walked in. At once someone called out, "Let's call it Santa Claus!" and so it got its unusual name.
Is there any harm in decorating the house with holly, or mistletoe, or other evergreen? No more than decorating the house with pumpkins, and oak leaves, and cornstalks at Thanksgiving time! No more than decorating graves with flowers on Memorial Day!
Who thinks that electric lights on tree, for the joy of little children and to brighten the home while people sing Christmas carols, are sinful? I love Christmas and Christmas decorations, and I do not think they are wrong. They are but an expression of that joy that is in the heart as I think how God became man, how the Creator became a baby, how "though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (IICor. 8:9).
Let RED symbolize Jesus' blood shed for us, GREEN symbolize the new life he gives, WHITE the purity He gives when He cleanses us wither than snow! Let Candy canes represent HIS care as a GOOD SHEPHERD for us, His sheep. Let HOLLY and IVY be an emblem of peace and joy. Christians placed it in their windows to indicate Christ has entered that home. Let Christmas wreaths symbolize the crown of thorns Jesus wore when He was crucified, and help us to remember His great love for us! What about the ancient use of MISTLE TOE? It may go back to a Scandinavian truce custom. If people were prohibited from fighting when they met near mistletoe in the forest, it may be been but a short step to custom of hanging a sprig on a doorway "to imply a pledge of peace and friendship" that would be sealed with friendly greeting" like a kiss. This would make the Christmas connection logical, since it is the season of peace.
What about BELLS? For centuries bells of churches of every land have pealed forth the glad tidings of the birth of Jesus. In medievil times the bells tolled for an hour before midnight on Christmas Eve, and then on the hour their voices changed to joyous ringing. The tolling was to warn the powers of Darkness of the approaching birth of the Savior. The lightin of candles always has been considered a symbol of enlightenment Jesus brought to earth.
I believe we Christians need to be careful of incorrectly judging others and drawing lines where the BIBLE draws no lines. We have plenty of things we will have to take a stand against just because we are Christians and we take a stand for the Bible. We need to be careful of making claims "the Bible is against this" when it is not clear that the Bible is INDEED against a certain thing. We end up in the eyes of the world looking like we're "AGAINST" everything! If we're not careful we end up looking ridiculous.
Christmas was once illegal in England. In 1643 the Puritans outlawed all Christmas celebrations, banned the keeping of Christmas trees, and make the singing of Christmas carols a crime. These laws were maintained until the Restoration. Many Puritans in New England also adhered to these regulations, curtailing Christmas festivities to such a degree that even the making of mince pie was forbidden. In 1659, because of their continued enmity toward holiday joys, the Pilgrims passed this law; Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas and the like, either by forbearing labor, feasting, or any other way upon such account as aforesaid, every such person offending shall pay for each offense five shillings as a fine to the country.
Now, if you still decide that YOU don't want to celebrate Christmas, or have anything to do with Christmas trees, Santa Claus, etc. That is fine. But according to Romans 14:5,6 let's be sure we're not unfairly judging other good people who do choose to honor the day for Christ! If you do castigate and criticize other folks for enjoying Christmas and all that goes with it, in the eyes of the Lord, according to the Bible, you might just be shining more than the people you're criticizing...
Christmas is not a myth, not a tradition, not a dream. It is a glorious reality. It is a time of joy. Bethlehem's manger crib became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God. From that manger came a Man who not only taught us a new way of life, but brought us into a new relationship with our Creator. Christmas means that God is interested in the affairs of people; that God loves us so much that He was willing to give His Son.