Putting the “X”
Back in Christmas
A sermon by Brent J.
Eelman
Abington Presbyterian
Church
December 18, 2005
Luke
1: 47-55
“My soul magnifies the
Lord,
47
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all
generations will call me blessed;
49
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts.
52
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his
descendants forever.”
56
And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her
home.*
There
are some strange things about Christmas this year. For example: my
brother-in-law recently sent me a “must read” book
entitled: The War on Christmas. The book puts forth the
thesis that there is a plot to get rid of Christmas in America. I
must confess that I was oblivious to this plot until I read in the
newspaper that some ministers have criticized our president, (who
makes no attempt to hide his Christianity) for sending out a
Christmas card that says: “Happy holidays!” instead of
Merry Christmas. Stores and other businesses have been targeted for
boycotts if they do not acknowledge the Christian roots to the
celebration of Christmas. While this story has been captured the
imagination of newscasters and pundits, another story has appeared in
the newspapers and on the news. At least a dozen “mega
churches” are canceling worship next Sunday, because it falls
on Christmas day. They will literally be “closed for
Christmas!” They anticipate that attendance will be lower and
that it will be too costly to hold services on the day that
Christians have called the “Lord’s Day” from the
time of the Apostles. It is not “cost effective” to
worship on Christmas, because it is a Sunday.
Quite
frankly, I just don’t get it! It seems that one group of
Christians is complaining that Christmas is not commercial enough and
want secular places of business to play Christmas carols and greet
potential purchasers with merry Christmas, while another group of
Christians believe that Christmas is not a time for the community of
faith to gather in worship at church because they are canceling
worship next Sunday. I don’t get it! We should say “Merry
Christmas” at the mall, but the churches don’t need to be
open. We have hit the bulls-eye of absurdity this year. A person
can actually be condemned for wishing another “Happy Holidays”.
This is what happens when we politicize Christmas. Without
impugning motivations, my concern is that there is a great deal of
historical revisionism that has occurred in the popular media and
even the pulpits.
A
number of years ago, I caused a bit of a furor at my church in Texas
when I was putting together the message for the sign in front of the
church. The sign was announcing our Christmas eve services and
because there was “no room on the sign,” I used the
abbreviation “Xmas”. The calls started coming inform
concerned citizens accusing me of being part of the plot to take
Christ out of Christmas and substituting an “X” for
Christ. I had joined the ranks of those who advocate a crass,
commercial Christmas. I was floored. Why? Because since the early
days of Christianity, the X was a symbol for Christ. It came from
the Greek letter Chi which was the first letter of the word Christ.
The use of the X was proper, but somehow the mythmakers had launched
another “urban legend” that condemned it as ungodly.
A
little bit of Christmas history: The celebration of the birth of
Jesus was not begun by Christians until the 3rd century. The emphasis
for 300 years was on the resurrection of Jesus and Easter. Christians gathered
to celebrate the Lord’s Day: the day when Christ rose from the dead. The
celebration of the birth of Jesus became part of Christian tradition as the
church attempted to deal with the many pagan customs that occurred at the end of
December. The Pagan festivals began on the 25th of
December which was seen as the “Birth of the Sun” and the
feast of the pagan goddess Mithra. The Germanc and Nordic people
included things like burning Yule logs and decorating trees inside of
houses. It was a very popular celebration and the church could not
suppress it, so in 354, by papal decree, it was decided that Jesus
was born on December 25.
Our
Puritan ancestors did not celebrate Christmas. In fact in 1658, they
outlawed it. In parts of New England, as late as the mid 19th
century, it was illegal to close a business on December 25, unless it
was the Lord’s Day. The founder of Presbyterianism, John Knox,
put an end to Christmas as a religious holiday in 1562. Why did
these very religious people ban Christmas? Because they could find
no Biblical foundation for the date of December 25, and they were
well aware of the pagan origins of most of the Christmas customs. I
am struck with the irony of devout Christians in the 21st
century, lobbying for just the opposite.
I have
no intention of being the “Scrooge of Abington” or the
“Grinch of Willow Grove” this year. Rather I want to
set straight the history and also the emphasis of Christmas. When I
entitled this message, “Putting the X back in Christmas”
I was referring to Christ and my belief that somewhere in all the
tinsel and bows, garland and holly, we have lost our vision of the
miracle that stands at the beginning of this era: the birth of
Christ.
John,
in the prologue to his gospel, states that “the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us”. In the Hebrew Bible we read about
the call of prophets, Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. In the call of
those prophets, God speaks about putting “His Word” in
their mouths. In Luke’s gospel we read about the call of Mary.
Luke placed Mary, the mother of Jesus, within the prophetic
tradition., but she is no ordinary prophet. God’s word is not
placed within her mouth.. The Living Word of God is placed within her
womb! That is the miracle of Christmas!
A
conclusion: There is one other reason that we should put the X
back into Christmas. The X is a cross. It is believed that St.
Andrew was crucified on such a cross. It reminds us, during the
celebrations of this season that at the heart of our celebration was
a sacrifice of love that was made for us and for our salvation. All
the carols, all the stories of mangers and shepherds, angels and
magi, Mary and Joseph depend upon that sacrifice. It begins and end
with the cross.
I love
this time of year: the smells of food and pine, the music and the
festivities. I love to see the faces and I look forward to Christmas
Eve with a great deal of joy because I have discovered the X in
Christmas: the Christ of the cross. My prayer is that in the midst
of all the celebrations of this season we will be able to put the X
back in Christmas and whether we greet each other with “Merry
Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” the X, the Christ,
is in our hearts and the heart of this holiday. Amen.
*The
New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
1989.
Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania, www.apcusa.org