December 1
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Matthew 1:1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
So, it is about that time of the year when folks everywhere are celebrating Christmas.
For some, this is a time set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ over two thousand years ago, even though we don’t have an exact date.
For others, it’s the most wonderful time of the year where we feast on food and participate in festivities based on a variety of myths, legends, pagan practices, and cultural innovations.
For others still, there is a mixture of the two without any clear dividing line letting us know where biblical truth ends, and the tales begin.
The 1963 Andy Williams hit, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, written by Edward Pola and George Wyle, captures the confusion of Christmas for us. - It’s the most wonderful time of the year / With the kids jingle belling / And everyone telling you be of good cheer / There’ll be parties for hosting / Marshmallows for toasting / And caroling out in the snow / There’ll be scary ghost stories / And tales of the glories of / Christmases long, long ago.
This confusion is based on the fact that Christmas, as we know it, is a very recent invention, whose proponents have many interests and make very little attempt at fidelity to the New Testament narratives.
The disciples and early apostles have no commemoration for the birth of Jesus Christ and Mark and John never even mention it in their Gospel accounts.
The church did not recognise it in Acts, Paul never mentioned it in any of his letters, nor did James, Peter, or the writer of Hebrews.
The suggestion here is not to be like the Grinch (a contemporary fictional Christmas character) and steal the joy that people feel at this time. Rather, this is a call for us Christians to remember that if we want to claim this festival then it should at least, for us, be based on the Bible.
We cannot do anything about what is happening in the culture, but at the very least we should be concerned about what is happening in the church.
By the time our churches are decorated with Christmas trees, holly wreaths, stockings, and candy canes; and then populated with fictional characters like Santa Clause and Frosty, we should know that we are in deep trouble. The first thing we require is fidelity to the biblical narrative.
After more than 400 years of silence, at lease the silence of writing prophets after the prophet Malachi, we finally have a new account in the canon of Scripture. The New Testament opens with a genealogy, the genealogy of Christ. Maybe that is a good place for us to start tomorrow.
Think on these things:
- How far have you incorporated the myths, legends, and cultural lore into your celebration of Christmas?
- Are you able to distinguish where the Bible ends and where the inventions of Christmas begin?
- How are you preparing for this Christmas, apart from family, food, and fun, is there a place for sharing the Gospel story?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be able to separate truth from fiction and remain focused on the meaning of the birth of Jesus at this time.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex