Is it a Sin to Celebrate Christmas?

 
     These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given to you to possess -- You must not worship the Lord, your God, in the way that {those nations} do.  But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods?  We will do the same.”  You must not worship the Lord, your God, in their way, because in worshiping their gods they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates.  - Dt. 12: 1,4, 30-31
 
     Are you ready to celebrate Christmas?  Should we be celebrating Christmas?  The title of this month’s blog might be laughed off, but it is a serious question.  Could it possibly be a sin to celebrate Christmas?  It sort of depends on how one defines Christmas and what kind(s) of celebration we’re talking about.  If we take the God’s Word as recorded in Deuteronomy, cited above, as the immutable and authoritative rule, source, and norm, for all of faith and life, then maybe the question is worth taking some time to answer.
     One of the first things to note is that for many centuries Christmas was not celebrated at all.  Certainly there was the holy feast of the Nativity, but that was an optional feast listed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD.  The day was observed, but with about as much emphasis as we put on Ascension Day or the feast of the Epiphany (more on 12th night next month).  Many times throughout the middle ages the celebration of Christmas was outlawed, simply because the celebrations were too worldly - a drunken orgy is not godly worship.  Many of the newly emerging Protestant Church bodies did not celebrate Christmas.  This is most clearly seen in our own Revolutionary War accounts when George Washington attacked Trenton on Christmas Day.  The Hessians (German Lutheran mercenaries) were recovering from their celebrations of Christmas Eve.  Our “hero” attacked a bunch of worn out, hungover troops and Washington’s troops didn’t observe Christmas.  Many of the colonies had restrictions on the celebrations at Christmas, if they allowed them at all.  There is no account of the Pilgrims - made  popular with last month’s holiday - ever celebrating our Lord’s birth.  This was primarily a Lutheran and Roman Catholic observance - until Queen Victoria.
     In the Victorian era, many of our beloved Christmas traditions came to be mainstream, largely through Victoria’s German Lutheran husband, Prince Albert.  He brought the Christmas tree to England, and it didn’t take long to spread to America.  It was Albert who brought the traditions and legends surrounding St. Nicolaus and the “stocking all hung by the chimney with care” from the Low Countries of Northern Europe.  A quick reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” will show just how quickly many of our “traditional” observances took off in the United States.  But are these traditions God pleasing?  Are they observances and rites based on “the land you have come to possess” and culturally derived?  Can they actually diminish what Christmas is all about?  Let’s look at a few of these and see.
     Let’s start with the one that launches the “culture wars” every year - is it OK to say “Merry Christmas”?  There is no legal requirement to only say “happy holidays”.  There is no legal restriction for you, as an individual, to wish someone a merry Christmas.  There may be restrictions as a representative of a company or government agency, but not as an individual.  Political correctness and theological correctness do not always go hand-in-hand.  You’ll have to decide whom to serve.
     Now we know the big thing about Christmas, especially for an 8 year old, is not the Nativity, but the presents under the tree and what shows up in the stocking.  As the great lyricist Tom Lehrer put it, “It doesn't matter how sincere it is, nor how heartfelt the spirit; Sentiment will not endear it, what's important is the price! Hark the Herald Tribune sings, Advertising wondrous things.   God rest you merry, merchants, may you make the Yuletide pay.    Angels we have heard on high,
Tell us to go out and buy!”  Black Friday (which actually started just after Halloween this year) got its name from the fact that with the seasonal gift shopping, a merchant’s ledger would go from red (loss) to black (profit).  Even during this current economic downturn, Americans will take on an added tens of millions of debt to get “just the right present” for Christmas.  So are we listening to the voice of the prophets or the voice of the profits?  We may well look at this and ask as Charlie Brown did, “Can’t anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?”  If we look at the nation around us and our capitalistic, cultural values, Christmas is all about the amount of money spent on gifts.  Is this God pleasing, or is it a realization of the warnings of Deuteronomy 12?  For many it is the latter.
     I have no problem with gift giving, and it is a reflection of the gifts the Wise Men brought to Jesus (bling, perfume, scented candles).  But gift giving wasn’t done at Christmas - that waited until the appearance of the Magi at Epiphany or 12th Night.  The stuffing of stockings (actually wooden shoes) was the feast of St. Nicolaus on Dec. 5th.  So other than our timing being a little off, there’s nothing inherently sinful about exchanging gifts.  But what happens when that becomes the focus of the season?  I remember one Christmas my elder brother unwrapping the last of the presents and saying, “Well, Christmas is over now.”  I was thinking that on Christmas morning the celebrations and joy were just beginning - after all we have 12 days of Christmas for my true love to give to me… (I’ll take the pear tree, but you can keep the noisy, smelly partridge).  So is it sinful to exchange gifts?  It can be.  It really depends on the focus of the parties involved.  Is this something we do out of a response to God’s gift of His Son, or it is one upsmanship and trying to “buy” another’s love and affection?  Are we reflecting what God has done for us in sending His Son, or are we just mimicking the culture around us and playing to its values?
     Along with presents, we should probably tackle the issue of Santa Claus.  Did you realize that if you rearrange a few letters Santa becomes Satan?  Coincidence?  The “right jolly old elf” is an invention of Clement C. Moore and the Coca-Cola company.  The real St. Nicholas (Niclaus in Moravia) is a fascinating saint of the patristic period and one of my top 3 faves (Padraig and Francis of Assissi are the other two).  According to legend, he saved three boys from being pickled in a vat of herring, 3 girls from a life of prostitution, and calmed storms at sea.  He would regularly be seen in his red bishops robes (Cardinals would wear the red after the 1200’s) carrying a sack of food and toys on his back.  The reindeer came from Norse mythology and aren’t associated with the real St. Nick.  My favorite story, and this is backed up by witnesses to it, was that at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, he became so enraged at the heretic, Arius, for denying the full divinity of Christ, that St. Nick got up and slugged Arius right in the face, breaking his nose.  Ah, theological debates were so much easier back then.
     Santa Claus certainly gets more attention than Jesus during this festive season.  Just a few years ago, our Christmas Eve theme was “Where’s the line to see Jesus?”  So I guess the real question is which Santa (saint) Nicolaus do you celebrate and how?  Certainly, Bishop of Nicholas of Myra is worthy of our study and emulation, but what about the guy in the soot covered red suit who breaks into your house through the chimney because he says he has something he wants to give your children so long as they sit on his lap?  What kind of parent are you!  Can Christians “worship” Santa Claus and “pray” to him for what they want for Christmas, or is that crossing the line as we were warned about in Deut. 12?  Is there a way we can celebrate the passion and compassion of this 4th century saint, without getting wrapped up in the modern caricature that bears his name?  Some families, to avoid behaving the way the world does, forego the hanging of stockings.  Others celebrate the life and work of Nicholas on his feast day earlier in the month.  But most don’t see the conflict of “practicing what you preach” and just go along with the way the culture does things.
     So back to our original question: Is it a sin to celebrate Christmas?  Well, no.  We should celebrate the fact that God sent His only begotten Son into the flesh so He could die in payment for our sins (only one Christmas carol mentions the passion btw).  We should rejoice in the “glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people”.  But HOW we do so can lead to sin or at least a diminishment of what this holy season is all about.  Next blog we’ll take up some of the obviously pagan elements that have crept into our winter solstice celebrations like Christmas trees, yule logs, eggnog, holly and ivy, putting lights on the house and candles in the window and the like.  Until then, I hope your days are merry and bright.
 
                                              - Pastor Brian