Should Christians Celebrate Christmas
Isa. 9:6, Rom. 14:4-6
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Romans 14:4-6 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Introduction
Christmas the most popular holiday has been the subject of ridicule as well as praise. The JW’s and other Christian groups including fellow Baptist preachers have been attacking it, saying that Christmas has its origin as a pagan holiday. Books as well as magazines feature Christmas as if Christians are really celebrating a pagan special day. While it is true that the celebration has become so worldly because of the drinking and partying, and the lies about Santa Claus, I would rather celebrate Christmas. Should we celebrate Christmas? How should we celebrate it? I would take into consideration some the pros and the cons in this short message.
Illustration 1: Christmas Spells Peace
Amid the horrors of World War, I, there occurred a unique truce when for a few hours, enemies behaved like brothers.
Christmas Eve in 1914 was all quiet on France’s Western Front, from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. Trenches came within 50 miles of Paris. The war was only five months old, and approximately 800,000 men had been wounded or killed. Every soldier wondered whether or not Christmas Day would bring another round of fighting and killing. But something happened: British soldiers raised “Merry Christmas” signs above the trenches, and soon carols were heard from German and British trenches alike.
Christmas dawned with unarmed soldiers leaving their trenches, though officers of both sides tried unsuccessfully to stop their troops from meeting the enemy in the middle of no-man’s land for songs and conversation. Exchanging small gifts, they passed Christmas Day peacefully along miles of the front. At one spot, the British played soccer with the Germans, who won 3-2.
In some places, the spontaneous truce continued the next day as neither side was willing to fire the first shot. Finally, the war resumed when fresh troops arrived, and the high command of both armies ordered that further “informal understanding” with the enemy would be punishable as treason.
A Treasury of Bible Illustrations.
Illustration 2: The Unspeakable Gift
Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often, he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, “I am your king!” The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!”
The King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave himself to you and me. The Bible calls Him, “the unspeakable gift!” Source unknown
I. Nobody knows when Christ was born, so Christmas celebration is wrong.
A. When was Jesus born? Not on December 25. Though Christians had adopted that date by A.D. 336, Christ was born “when shepherds watched their flocks by night.” In other words, most likely in the spring not on winter.
B. He wasn’t born in the year A.D. also
C. The Bible tells us that Herod the Great ruled Palestine when Jesus was born, and Herod died in 4 B.C.—so Jesus had to have been born not long before that. (Dionysius Exiguus a sixth century monk made a mistake in splitting history into A.D. and B.C. He chose the wrong date. D. No mention in the Word of God about the exact date when Christ was born. True, but the Bible also doesn’t say anything about not doing something in honor of Christ’s birthday. When the Bible is silent, God’s people have liberty to follow the personal leading of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14). We are not free to make laws for others in such matters, and we are also not free to judge others.
E. The Lord willed that no one will ever know the correct date of His birth but he did not tell us that celebrating his birth is wrong.
F. I have all the list of sins and wrong doings committed by man in the Bible and celebrating Christmas is not one of them
G. The WORD was made flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14). Christ left His glorious place and came here on earth to save us sinners from our sins and for me it’s worth remembering and celebrating.
Illustration 3: Our Greatest Need
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
Source unknown
II. December 25 was a winter festival, a pagan holiday, so when you celebrate on December 25, it’s as if you are celebrating with the pagans.
A. The names of the days of our week had their origin in pagan beliefs. Sunday and Monday were related somehow to the worship of the sun and the moon. Tuesday stood for Tiw, the god of war. And Wednesday is derived from Woden, the chief god in Germanic mythology. Thursday originally stood for the Germanic god of the sky or of thunder. Friday comes from Fria, the goddess of love. Saturday is from Saturnus, or Saturn.
B. All of these ancient meanings with their beliefs and associations were lost long ago. When Friday comes, we don’t think about Fria, the goddess of love. On Saturday we don’t think about it as Saturn’s day, but our long-awaited day off where we can relax from our routine and demanding jobs.
C. While it is true that in the olden times December 25 was a pagan holiday, when we celebrate Christmas on the same date, we have in mind the birth of Jesus, the star Bethlehem, the baby in the manger, the shepherds, the angels singing, the wise men
D. The SDA accuse us of worshipping on Sundays, because it’s connected with the worship of the sun, they worship on Saturdays, but it has connection with the pagan worship of Saturn.
E. To make a connection with pagan deities is ridiculous because we never have them on mind now, and we have nothing to do with whatsoever pagan worship or celebration.
III. Celebrating Christmas is not commanded in the Bible.
A. The Bible tells us to remember Christ’s death and resurrection, but there is no command for remembering or celebrating His birth.
B. If we apply this logic, we would need to discontinue the use of Sunday School, DBVS, Men’s/Ladies Fellowship, hymnals, Christian schools, Bible Colleges, Tracting ministry, Church camp, overhead projector, PowerPoint presentations, and many other things. Why? because they are not commanded or even mentioned in the Bible.
C. I would like to add there that two very important Bible Doctrine which we uphold is not even mentioned in the Bible. The word “Trinity” is not mentioned and so is the word “Rapture” yet we believe it and accept it as true Bible Doctrine.
D. This is what we call hyperliteralism. Hyperliteralism (or letterism) is an intense devotion to the details of the Bible in such a way that one misses the essential meaning of a passage. Mountains are made out of mole hills and the truth is missed.
E. The argument of silence is not enough reason for me to forbid the celebration of Christ’s birth as a special season of joy, worship, adoration, giving, thanksgiving, forgiving, and many more. The problem is not the season, it’s the attitude and the distortion and the brainwashing of the teachers and ministers who would never admit that others are also right and condemns others that does not agree with them.
Illustration 4: It Cost …
It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect the little babe.
It cost mothers, in and around Bethlehem, the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod.
It cost the shepherds the complacency of their shepherd’s life, with the call to the manger and to tell the good news.
It cost the wise men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives.
It cost the early Apostles and the early church persecution and sometimes death.
It cost missionaries of Christ untold suffering and privation to spread the Good News.
It cost Christian martyrs in all ages their lives for Christ’s sake.
More than all this, it cost God the Father His own Son—He sent Him to the earth to save men.
It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history.
Source unknown
IV. The word Christmas indicates a mixture of Christian and pagan word.
A. The name of Christ and the Catholic “Mass”, put together in one word so as non-Catholics we should not celebrate Christmas.
B. Biblically speaking, the repetitious prayers, the prayers for the dead, the transubstantiation rites, Mary worship, etc., of the Catholics are all wrong. But, when I think about Christmas, I’m not thinking about the mass.
C. In my mind it is the coming of Christ, and I want to celebrate it to honor Him, to thank Him, to praise Him, and to worship Him. The Christmas carols which when I hear brings joy to my heart has nothing to do with the mass.
D. The family reunion, the greetings, the smiles, the reconciliation, the giving of gifts is something no other holidays can have an impact to people.
E. It’s an accepted fact that it’s easier to invite people to go to church during Christmas season than any other time of the year. So, the chances of people hearing the gospel and getting saved is higher. F. If Catholics celebrate it with their mass, so be it, we non-Catholics will celebrate it with our worship service.
V. They say that Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations is a form of idolatry. They cite Jeremiah 10:3-4 to justify their reasoning. (See also Isa. 44:9-14)
A. There was a time that I really want to have Christmas tree in our house but did not put it just to avoid being criticized by other believers.
B. The truth is Jeremiah speaks of idol making that’s why it mentioned hammer and as well as silver and gold. There is no record that pagans worship any tree. What they are worshipping is their “god of the harvest” not the tree.
C. During Jeremiah’s time, there was no Christmas, and there was no Christmas tree. Jeremiah is not even prophesying about the coming of Christmas tree. If we decorate our house with Christmas tree, it’s just to beautify and to make the holiday season more colourful. I don’t see any wrong with that.
D. Who would worship a Christmas tree now? Nobody!!!
E. If we express our joy that Christ came into the world to save sinners thru decorating our house because friends and relatives are coming, I find no fault in this.
F. The Bible does not say making Christmas tree is a sin. I love to see Christmas lights in various colours flashing, colourful mistletoes and other things that would make this holiday season worth remembering because Christ became man and that’s one of the best thing or events that happened in the earth since God created the world.
VI. Christmas celebration is worldly so let’s not join the world in doing carnal things.
A. Everything God created was good but Satan and man corrupted and distorted it. Everything in this life–the Bible, sex, marriage, the church, food. There’s not one thing that Satan doesn’t corrupt or ruin.
B. I would agree that due to lots of drinking, excessive revelry, dancing, carousing, too much commercialism, as well as lies about Sta. Claus, Christmas is corrupted. But it doesn’t mean that because some people have corrupted or misused it, we would stop remembering the coming of our Saviour. Will you throw your KJV Bible just because there were so many new versions now like the NIV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, etc.
C. Lots of people are getting drunk during Sundays than people going to church to attend worship service. It’s a proven fact yet we still continue going to church despite of this.
D. Christmas is a time to tell our children or grandchildren the birth of our Saviour and if other people make Christmas a day of doing fleshly and worldly things, then we set an example of celebrating it decently and spiritually.
E. Some have removed the word Christ in Christmas and substituted it with Xmas. Christ means the Anointed one, or the Messiah. Mas in Greek means gathering of people, religious events. Thus, Christmas means gathering of people of Christ. It is said that some ungodly people who doesn’t believe in Christ removed the name of Christ and put the letter X. In algebra or mathematics, X means unknown. Removing the name of Christ and replacing it with X can mean also that there is no Christ. It can also mean “there is no gathering of Christ’s Followers. Let us not remove the name of Christ and substitute it with letter X. As a Christian don’t use Xmas but use Christmas
Illustration 5: The Awe of Christmas Eve
It may come as a surprise to learn that among Albert Einstein’s talents was a gift for music. He played the violin and often joined in chamber music sessions in the homes of neighbours and friends. When well past sixty, he decided to give up his participation in chamber ensembles because it was too demanding on his time and digital reflexes. Even so, he continued to play for his own pleasure.
An exception occurred one Christmas Eve when choristers appeared at the Einstein home—112 Mercer Street in Princeton, New Jersey. Hearing the singing, the noble man picked up his violin, went out on the chilly porch, and provided accompaniment for the carolers.
The contagion of Christmas is irresistible! Its charm surrounds and inspires young and old, rich and poor, wise and simple. Grateful souls are impelled to join in carols of praise, even the pious Jews.
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IV. Conclusion:
Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. It is a time for remembering the birth of our beloved Saviour. We don’t know exactly when he was born but what is important is it is never wrong to celebrate it. Christmas day had been abused and people are mocking and celebrating it without restraint and without even the thought about Christ. For me it’s a great sin but we as Bible believing Christians should not give up setting an example on how to celebrate it. I find no fault in celebrating Christmas specially if you celebrate it remembering, honoring, worshipping the Lord, showing love to your fellowmen, and avoiding carnal and worldly things.
