Do You Know Christmas?

Christmas is under attack today. One of the most frequent charges is that it is pagan or that it arose from pagan sources. CHRISTMAS IS NOT PAGAN, NOR DID IT ARISE FROM PAGAN SOURCES. The Christmas festival originated early in the fourth century from an internal theological need to emphasize the physical birth of Christ as the focal point of divine incarnation

Apparently, Christmas was not observed in the first three centuries after Christ. There is no hint of such celebration in the New Testament or in early church literature. It is true that certain Christmas customs and even the date, December 25, are of pre-Christian origin. But we must distinguish between our Christmas customs, which are from many sources, and the basic essence of Christmas, which is distinctly Christian.

Jewish people observed death anniversaries, but never birthdays. From the first century, Easter was observed by followers of Christ, but not until the fourth century was there an annual observance of His birth. Christmas apparently originated in the Eastern Church among Christian groups known as "Adoptionists," who believed Christ's baptism was the point at which Christ became divine: i.e. was adopted as the Son of God. The first Christmas was intended to commemorate the Christ-event, but placed that event at Christ's baptism. This observance was placed on January 6. The Adoptionists did not attach any particular importance to the physical birth of Christ, but placed high value on His baptism, which they called epiphany, meaning “to appear.” In their theology, it was the time when God appeared. Ina different form, this emphasis has been retained in our modern Epiphany on January 6 and in our traditional twelve days of Christmas, which end on that day.

This annual observance of the Christ-event rapidly spread to the Western Church, where it underwent two very significant changes. More orthodox western Christians changed the meaning to emphasize not Christ’s baptism, but His birth, which they regarded as the true incarnation. They also changed the date from January 6 to December 25. Two important reasons for these changes were: 1) Theological; Biblical truth firmly holds that Christ’s physical birth marked the incarnation. They had tried to emphasize this theology in connection with the January 6 observance but found that date indelibly connected with heresy. To continue with the January 6 Epiphany would have endangered orthodox Christianity in the West, a Christology only recently hammered out at the Council of Nicea in 35 A.D. 2) Practical; from remote antiquity, there had been in Western Europe a mid-winter festival called Brumalia, which was observed on December 25. It was connected with sun-worship. There were candles and bonfires to aid in the birth or rebirth of the sun god. Other features included feasting, decorations, and the exchange of gifts.

In the dark winters of northern Europe, such mid-winter gaiety and rejoicing seems almost a psychological necessity, and it was immensely popular. Serious problems arose when Christians participated in the Brumalia festival, for they reverted, if only for a few days, to pagan customs and associations. In the second century, the strict Christian teacher, Tertullian, had simply forbidden Christians to participate, but the popularity of the festival and its social and cultural ties were too strong, and Christians did participate. Then came one of the boldest and most courageous efforts of the early church; the church took over the mid-winter festival and Christianized it! This effort was in keeping with the goal of the church to see all of society redeemed. Already Christians had an important annual observance, Christmas, and they needed another date for it other than January 6. Obviously the effort to redeem December 25 was never completely successful.

Christmas, properly understood, has nothing to do with a date. It commemorates a fact. The exact date of the birth of Christ is relatively unimportant, but the historic fact of His birth is vital. The primary motivation for Christmas was theological. Early Christians felt a need to express their convictions about the incarnation. How better to do this than with an emphasis on the reality of His physical birth? The impulse to celebrate Christ’s birth did not come from outside, but was a consequence of theological reflection on the fact of redemption. The fact that Christmas came to be set on December 25, the date of an earlier festival, and that several customs of the earlier festival have survived, are purely incidental and secondary. The essence of Christmas is Christian.

At least twice, Christian leaders have tried to destroy this mid-winter festival or to prohibit Christian participation. Tertullian is representative of leaders in the early church who took this stance. Devout seventeenth century Puritans passed laws outlawing Christmas both in England and in colonial America. There is some reason to believe our Puritan forefathers rather deliberately planned a mid-winter harvest festival, which we now know as Thanksgiving as a substitute for the more “popish” Christmas. THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR RETAINING CHRISTMAS. Christians still face the very same theological necessity that first called Christmas into existence- the need to emphasize the incarnation. Christmas is of tremendous practical advantage, and the church would forfeit this only to its great hurt. At Christmas, the minds of millions are turned, if only briefly and imperfectly, to a focal point of the Christian religion.

Admittedly, much of the folklore and many of the customs surrounding Christmas are of pre-Christian origin, but this does not mean they are necessarily anti-Christian. Let us not confuse Christmas with the tinsel that surrounds its observance. Christmas properly understood and observed, is distinctly Christian.

Frozen, Rusted, Chained, or Melted

I came across this article in SBC Life the other day and thought you might enjoy it. It was written by Charles Lowry and entitled Frozen, Rusted, Chained, or Melted...

When a young girl arrived home from school and told her mom that she was the smartest student in the class that day, her mom asked how that happened. "We wrote on the blackboard," the girl said proudly, "and I was the only one in the class that could read my writing." It is natural to look at life from our point-of-view. A chicken and an elephant were locked in a cage together, and the chicken told the elephant that they needed a few rules. The first was that they not step on each other. We, like the chicken, look at rules and decisions in a way that will best benefit us.

A teenager being interviewed for a job at a movie theatre was asked what he would do if there was a fire at the theatre. The boy said not to worry; he would get out alright. That is not what the boss had in mind. The boss was thinking that he needed someone to care for others. This is what God expected when He established the church. Many of our churches have adopted the chicken point-of-view. It is usually not a doctrinal problem---we don't know enough theology to argue about that---it is a people problem.

Some want it this way, others want it another way, and still others want it another way. How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one because all he has to do is hold the bulb as the world revolves around him. We spend our lives looking for ways to disagree.

Our nature is to put others down to build ourselves up. An egotist is a man that spends so much time talking about himself that you have no time to talk about yourself. I will never forget a man I had in marriage couseling. I told him that he and his wife needed to be of one mind. He wanted to know which mind? Mine or hers? That is our problem. Which mind? Theirs or mine? That's the chicken point of view. The Bible says, "Let this mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus." That "mind" was able to forget about Himself so that we still remember two thousand years later.

I don't know anything about pianos but I am told that two pianos should not be tuned to each other. Instead, we tune each piano to the tuning fork. The pianos then would be tuned the same because they were tuned to the same tuning fork. You and I will never agree on all things, but if we can find the one purpose that we agree upon, we will not be in cross purposes. That's our job as churches and as a denomination. We should be in tune with the Mind of Christ. We can't be frozen together in formalism, rusted together by ritualism, or even chained together by conservatism. We have to be melted together by the love of Christ.

A couple adopting a child from an orphanage was drawn to one little boy and told him of all the things that they would give him---clothes, toys, and a nice new house. Nothing seemed to appeal to him, and they finally asked him what he really wanted. He replied that he just wanted someone to love him. that's what our world wants and needs.

Blest Be the Tie That Binds

For over two hundred years, Christian people, with their hearts full of emotion, have sung, Blest Be the Tie That Binds. At SHBC, oftentimes tearfully, we have sung this lovely hymn at the close of our Lord's Supper Service.

The song began in tears. Dr John Fawcett was the beloved pastor of a small church in Wainsgate, England. In 1772 he received a "call" to become the pastor of a large church in London. He accepted the call from this prestigious church in the capital city of England and preached his farewell sermon to a congregation of crushed and sorrowing parishioners.

The scheduled day of departure arrived. Outside the parsonage, the waiting wagons were loaded up with books, furniture, and other goods of the pastor and his wife. Finally all preparations were complete, and the pastor and his wife were ready to depart. The members of the congregation, who had truly become like "family" to the Fawcetts, gathered around the couple. In a sincere outpouring of affection and emotion, and with eyes full of tears, the people begged them to stay.

The pastor's wife looked at him and with quivering voice said, "Oh John, John I cannot bear this."

"Neither can I," exclaimed the good pastor, "and we will not go. Unload the wagons and put everything as it was before."

The pastor's decision brought shouts of joy and thanksgiving from all present. The whole congregation joined in a great spontaneous celebration

In commemoration of this touching event, Dr. John Fawcett wrote the words of this hymn:
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.

What a wonderful tie there is that binds us together in Christian love. I have had the privilege to build relationships with Christians from all over the world, and always there has been that wonderful "oneness."
Blest be the tie that binds.

Could Have Been You.

I must apologize again for my inconsistency in posting to my blog. I would like to say I've just been to busy, but should always find the time to communicate with you guys. Even to say I didn't have anything to say would be a stretch. Simply because I live life. And even if life is not enough there is always my friend who sticks closer than a brother, or my Heavenly Father, or His word. I suppose the best excuse is no excuse. Therefore, I simply ask your forgiveness. Having said that let's move on.

I was pondering just yesterday some of my favorite Biblical characters. I came across one that I have always loved. He's the one children sing about, Zacchaeus, you know the "wee little man". I thought about how a lot of us are a lot like Zacchaeus. For instance, he was rich. Now, maybe we are not rich with material possessions but, we feel kind of rich with ourselves. Sometimes we think "we are all that". We think we have got it all together and under control or at least that's the persona we portray, all the while we are empty and desolate on the inside. Nothing seems to satisfy, something is always lacking.

Zacchaeus was small in stature. I'm sure he heard all of his life about his "shortcomings". Ridiculed and harassed by those around him. We may not be short but in our eyes we're not very significant. We assume that our place in life is always relegated to the background. No one notices us and in the midst of a crowd we feel alone. The room may be full but within ourselves we are alone.

He was also an outcast. He was a tax collector which meant he worked for the Roman government. The Jewish people did not care for Rome and liked their taxes even less. It would be safe to say they liked tax collectors even less than that. He had no social life outside of what would take place with his family. He was not allowed in the Temple because he was considered unclean. The only interaction he had was when he tallied the amount and collected the tax. He was an outcast. At times don't we feel this way? Our friends seem to have forgotten who we are, our acquaintances never acknowledge our presence, and even our family seems to have turned their back. And, we feel like an outcast.

So, here is Zacchaeus empty, alone, and an outcast. He's run ahead of the crowd in order to see Jesus. He's climbed the tree in order to see Jesus. He listens intently as the Savior calls him by name. At that moment the empty alone outcast becomes Zacchaeus the host of the only begotten Son of God. His life is changed dramatically.

Christ will do the same for you. He's calling your name. In the midst of your despair, detachment, and degradation He's calling you by name. He is just what Zacchaeus needed and He is just what we need. Listen, He's calling your name.

Personal Evangelism

Used by permission of the author, Dr. Charles Kelly, President of The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

I will never forget the first time I went to First Baptist church of Dallas, Texas. I was thrilled over the opportunity to visit this legendary congregation while I was in Dallas for a weekend. It was awesome! The choir loft stretched from one side of the balcony across the platform, to the balcony on the other side. they had a full symphony orchestra. I had never seen anything like that in church before. The music was so dynamic that I wondered why they did not install seat belts in the pews to keep people from floating off during the praise time. We got to the time of the sermon, and Dr. Criswell stood up and said, "I 'm going to do something that I have never done before." I was thrilled because that meant my only visit to the church would be an historical occasion! And then Criswell said, "I am going to read the church budget." I'm thinking, "No, he won't". And at that 11 o'clock Sunday morning service, being carried live on television and radio, Dr. Criswell opened a folder, put on his glasses, and read line by line through the church budget. For 3o minutes, he read the church budget.

By the time he finished, I was bored almost to tears. In fact, I was more than bored. I was mad at his waste of a opportunity to preach the gospel and call people to salvation! To my surprise, he indicated that a invitation would be extended in spite of the unusual nature of his "message". I thought we would surely beat the Methodists and Catholics to the cafeteria today. He closed his file folder, took off his glasses, put them in his pocket, and began the invitation.

Twenty minutes later people were still responding--coming down the aisles, coming from the back, and coming from the balcony. I said to myself, "I'm going to get a copy of that budget for my next revival". I envisioned a whole new approach to evangelism: budget revivals!

The invitation was finally over, and Criswell began introducing people who had made their decisions for Christ to the congregation. "Oh, glory, glory, Tom come stand here,lad. This is Tom. Some of you may recognize Tom. He is a sportscaster on one of our local stations and now he comes giving his life to Jesus. Oh, glory Bob, Mary--come and stand with Tom You don't recognize Bob or Mary, but they are on the other side of those cameras showing Tom, this good looking lad, and they have been telling Tom about Jesus. Now Tom comes to be saved."

On and on he went, introducing each one who made a decision that day. In most cases, he pointed out somebody in the congregation who had been witnessing to them. Slowly it dawned on me. The secret to First Baptist, Dallas, was more than the man behind the pulpit; it was the people in the pews telling the people they knew about Jesus. The secret to every great church is not just a great pastor. It is a great congregation who leaves church each week to go and tell the people they know about Jesus.

Part of the reason personal evangelism has not permeated the life of the church is because the typical church has lost sight of her mission.