CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
December 30, 2007
HAPPY NEW YEAR
PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS:
Our congregation Our nation, leaders and military
Various friends, relatives and co-workers Upcoming elections
CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR'S PARTY
at the Cruthird's December 30, 6 P.M.
Ya'll come, ya here!
THIS AND THAT - HOLIDAY EDITION
"Some consider one day more sacred than another; others consider every day alike. Everyone should be fully convinced in their own mind" (Romans 14:5).
Between November and January there are a number of holidays, Christian, Jewish, national, and others. They at times seem to be a source of criticism. We will look at various items that I have gleaned from different sources over the last few months. I will try my best to announce results if I read about them.
A few years ago, John Gibson wrote a book called The War on Christmas. It documented various actions and lawsuits against the symbols of Christmas. Those actions continue. In Berkley, Michigan, citizens will decide whether or not to return a manger scene to city hall grounds. In Oak Lawn, Illinois, the school district announced that there would be no Christmas celebrations, fearful of offending Muslims. The Seattle airport was embroiled in a controversy last year about displaying Christmas trees. The Jewish fellow who complained didn't want them removed but Jewish symbols of Hanukkah displayed as well. This year, the airport authorities decided that they would put up a generic winter theme. Political correctness run amok.
Yet a Nativity scene will be allowed in the Washington State Capitol rotunda in Seattle. It will be put up by a private citizen, something acceptable to the courts. Last year, a Senator from Washington state refused to say Christmas tree in a talk but stuck with holiday tree. Merry holidays for the winter festivals. Confused? Go figure.
We in churches of Christ have not been enthusiastic to celebrate Christmas. Since we see no holidays in the New Testament that we are authorized to celebrate, and only to celebrate the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week, we have even refused to sing Christmas carols. All this is changing, and I for one am thankful for it, though Romans 14 would apply. I read an article in a bulletin about thirty years ago by someone who was desperate to disprove of Christmas. Here was his simple reasoning. "Noel" is not a Biblical word. (Actually it is a French word with a variety of meanings such as coming or birth of Christ and a joyful song) "El" is the Hebrew word for God. No, well, means no. Therefore, "noel" means "no god." I kid you not. Paul reminded Timothy to use careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:2). We need to do the same.
It is interesting how one can listen to something several times and then have a particular song stand out. Last year it was He Is Born, sung by the New Christy Minstrels back in the early 60s. William Studwell calls this a 17th Century French folk song, which makes it appropriate for a folk group to sing. Both the words and tune are soft and catchy. This year I was listening to the Kingston Trio and the song that popped out was Sing We Noel or Sing We Now of Christmas, another traditional French carol. It is the retelling of the birth of the Messiah with angels, shepherds and wise men. What song or songs stand out for you?
In ancient Rome, there was a cult called Mithras, adopted by mostly Roman soldiers. It was called one of the mystery religions. Through such modern works as The Da Vinci Code and others, a number of people state that nothing original came from the events of Jesus' life. Rather, various pagan religions had similar stories. Mithras is one that is appealed to, saying that he was born of a virgin, in a cave, on December 25th, was a traveling teacher, and was resurrected (1). Edwin Yamauchi is a leading Christian expert on this mystery religion. When the legend is examined, the statements above fall apart. The Mithras legend has him coming out of a rock wearing a hat, was considered a god, and that there is no record of any belief regarding his death (2). We do not know the date of Jesus' birth, December 25th chosen in the 3rd Century A.D. and Jesus was not born in a cave (3). N.T. Wright and other scholars have found no evidence whatsoever in pagan beliefs about the idea of resurrection (4). Finally, the Mithras cult did not develop until after the 1st Century A.D., and instead of Christianity copying it, just maybe it copied aspects of Christianity, especially as the myth grew.
Most Christmas music on the radio and CDs keep with the traditional words, though sometimes the tune changes. For instance, AJ and Ally, a Disney girl group, sang a really upbeat We Three Kings, which I really like. But the politically correct crowd has difficulty with some words. You might find a word or two changed, like Good Christian Friends, Rejoice rather than Good Christian Men, Rejoice. Some tone down some of the words and others do not even print all the verses. The times in which some were written and today have changed, and some words are considered too harsh or politically incorrect. Of course, the four letter word, sin, certainly has its difficulties with the politically correct crowd anyway.
I know that Halloween isn't a holiday but here is some interesting thoughts from Chuck Colson (5). It was originally known as All Saints Day, when the European churches celebrated the lives of Christians who went before. Interestingly, this dates back to the days of Polycarp in the 2nd Century A.D. He was burned alive for his faith, becoming a martyr. In the years following his death, Christians would gather at his grave and take communion (6). From that came the idea of honoring all martyrs and in the 7th Century, a holiday was created to honor the heroes of the faith.
Secular songs have been the most popular songs of the last seventy or so years. Many related to the years surrounding the Great Depression and World War II. One popular song from that period was Santa Claus is Coming To Town. Of late I have thought about this song. How did Santa become a person who knows when children are asleep or awake and whether they have been naughty or nice? Michael Medved helps us here (7). A year before Clement Moore wrote Twas the Night Before Christmas, another poem was published that talked about Santa visiting good kids and encouraging parents to treat them well, and visiting bad kids with instructions to punish them with a rod that he would leave. It is amazing how a priest in 3rd Century Asia Minor became that jolly old fellow in a red suit!
A study was commissioned in England that found that England is no longer a "Christian" nation, and therefore, Christmas should no longer be celebrated. Rather, there should be a recognition of various other religions and groups in a multicultural society. One of the reasons given for this decline was that church attendance is rare. So far I have not heard what such scholars as N.T. Wright, Richard Bauckham, and others think. One wonders if there is a connection between this and the rise of anti-Semitism in England?
William Studwell states that at least ten thousand Christmas songs, both sacred and secular, have been written, and maybe two or three times that number. He also says that most people, depending on culture, national or international fame, know about forty to fifty of them. The most popular continue to be the old favorites, some of which have been sung for several centuries (8).
A note was sent to Newt Gingrich telling of an eighty-five year old grandmother in Florida who always looked forward to Christmas because a local Sunday school class would come and have a party and place an angel on top of the building's Christmas tree. But this year she was informed that any and all religious symbols and words associated with Christmas would be banned from public areas of the building. The residents could use "holiday" but not "Christmas." Gingrich notes that the word "holiday" means "holy day," somewhat of an irony. He goes on to express his concern for the anti-religious bigotry of the elites of this country. Others have expressed similar concerns (9). We do not have to be ugly about this but we do need to be bold as Christians. Peter and the early church prayed for boldness and God answered them (see Acts 4:31). Two days later this order was rescinded.
Lowe's stores had an ad that had family trees instead of Christmas tress. They said it was a proof reading mistake and that Christmas trees are still called that. A Fort Collins, Colorado task force on holidays has recommended that it is okay to have white lights, icicles, snowflakes, and unadorned greenery, but not color lights because they are too religious for the city to sponsor (10). The city council voted not to support this view and allow all the traditional symbols of Christmas (10a). One wonders why politicians do these things. In reality, they don't care about what ordinary people think because in their arrogance they know better. This does make it very frustrating for many of us.
Over the years we have heard that Christmas originated by the church adapting a pagan winter festival to the birth of Christ. This has been an accepted argument. However one Phil Greetham disagrees. The earliest evidence for Christmas is about 335 A.D. shortly after Constantine embraced Christianity. Many think that it was started to counter the festival of the 'Invincible Sun,' started by the Emperor Aurelian in 274 A.D. to mark the winter solstice. One of the flaws in this argument is that the persecution had recently ended, so why would Christians develop a new festival using pagan elements? The conflict was still there. Beyond that, there are several paintings dating from the 2nd and 3rd Centuries that depict the Magi and that it was an important theme in Christianity long before Constantine. It is possible that they added pagan elements to a Christian Nativity festival rather than the other way around (11).
Phil Greetham thinks that Christmas developed because the early church's connection with Judaism. He points out that the Lord's Supper is connected to the Passover, the resurrection or Easter with 'First Fruits,' and Pentecost with the Feast of Weeks. He then suggests that the birth of Christ relates to the Festival of Lights or Hanukkah. The events surround Hanukkah includes the restitution of faith, the weak overthrowing the strong, the cleansing of the temple, a miraculous event of one day's oil lasting eight days or light out of darkness. John 1:1-18 and other texts especially in John discuss light verses darkness. Also, interestingly enough, the Feast of Lights is mentioned in John 10:22. Keep in mind, in the early part of Acts, the Christians met in the Temple area. Later, Paul was interested in getting back to Jerusalem before Passover and was involved in some Jewish purity ideas before being arrested. The influence of Jewish thought could be much more than we think, considering the above (12).
The Pilgrims who came to America in 1620 were strong Bible believers seeking religious freedom. They were Puritans who believed that the Old Testament law was binding on Gentiles as well as Jews. This may have inspired the ideas behind Thanksgiving. The festival of the booths known as Sukkot is a fall festival of the Jews which is a week long, celebrating the harvest and the deliverance from Egypt. The Pilgrims picked this up to be thankful for God's rescue of them with the help of Native Americans (13).
In an old television show called Daniel Boone and starring Fess Parker and Ed Ames, Ames played an American Indian educated in England, c. the late 1700s. While this was fiction, there was a true case of just such a person. In 1605, a Captain Weymouth kidnapped an Indian from the Patuxet tribe whose name was Squanto. He eventually ended up in England, learned English, and returned to New England. There he found that his tribe was had been wiped out by a plague, so he lived with a neighboring tribe. When Squanto learned that the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth, he came to them and showed them how to plant corn and fertilize with fish. He later was converted to Christianity. Our secular minds may say amazing but our spiritual minds would see God's hand in all of this. This is certainly a far cry from what we hear about Thanksgiving today (14).
Rabbi James Rubin had a commentary in the Houston Chronicle (12/01/07) about the importance of Hanukkah. He looked at it from the perspective of the past, the historical context and its importance. Then he looked at it from today's perspective, a combination of remembering and competition with Christmas and gift giving. Then he looked at it in the future, warning of the danger of extremists wanting political and religious conformity, and again remember that Hanukkah is a remembrance of freedom. While I would agree with Rubin on what he said, he is no supporter of the religious right and among other things sees us as extremists. Several years ago, a Jewish family in a Western state had their house vandalized because of a menorah in the window. Their Christian neighbors came and helped clean up the house and then most all of them placed menorahs in their windows in support of this family. So much for the extremists.
Missouri State University removed a twenty foot Christmas tree on campus after a diversity official received a complaint from a Jewish professor that it was insensitive to those of other religions (15). Wonder if they are going to remove menorahs as well?
Did you know that Hanukkah is causing global warming? No? Many Jews didn't either. The reason this is happening is because of all the candles that are lit during the celebrations. Those who have discovered this suggest that light bulbs be used and that the Jews celebrate a "Green Hanukkah." Most Jews that I have read find this amusing and nothing more.
The U.S. House of Representatives often passes resolutions throughout the year. This year they have pass such for the Muslim holiday of Ramadam and the Hindu holiday of Diwali, each passing with no "nays." So why not Christmas? Well they did but the vote had nine members of Congress voting "nay." There have been several observations about this. One, resolutions are rather meaningless, which makes one wonder why they do it other than to get votes from some group. Two, some see it as the change in attitude toward Christianity in particular and might complain about it as just another indication of hostility toward Christianity. Third, is it really important that "Caesar" recognizes the birth of Christ? In truth, how we live will do more to influence people than a resolution from Congress. It does show the changes going on in our culture though.
There are a number of mysteries in scripture (16). The birth of Christ found in Matthew's account as two major mysteries. The first is who were the Magi or wise men, where did they come from, how many were there, and how did they know and understand about the Jewish Messiah. The second concerns the star that they saw. Many theories have been suggested as to the star. It could have been an alignment of planets or a comet. Some suggest that God created a special star. T. Michael Davis has examined a number of these views and realizes that with the exception of a happy archaeology discovery, we will never know this side of heaven. He suggests that the star was not really a star but a tear in the fabric of heaven in which light from heaven shown in a way to the wise men. He sees it as a supernatural event, a light from heaven to guide them (17).
In thinking about the above thesis, I wondered if the light or star that Davis understands was the angel and heavenly host appearing to the shepherds in the fields (Luke 2:8-14). It could be that the light the Magi saw was the heavenly host appearing that evening. Of course, one can then ask why no one else saw it? It is fun to speculate.
We all enjoy getting Christmas cards and depend on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver them. Fear not, the Post Office is on the job. The family of one Ethel Martin of Oberlin, Kansas finally received a card from her cousins, the U.S. mail doing its usual fine job. The card, delivered just recently, was post marked, Dec. 23, 1914. I wonder how much the postage was? According to one of the living relatives, it was in perfect shape.
The Archbishop of the Church of England, Rowan Williams, made some headlines in the British papers that stated that he said that the nativity was a legend. Well, reading his interview, that wasn't quite true. He stated that there are things that we do not know about the birth of Jesus like when it was, if animals were present, and if it was in winter. We also do not know who the wise men were. It is here that Williams stated that the Bible said that they were "astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire." The Bible doesn't say that; this is his interpretation. He also said that he accepts the Virgin Birth because of tradition and that new Christians need not get hung up on this. Not a source of confidence.
The headlines in the British papers were, to say the least, exaggerated. That doesn't mean that there are not problems with Rowan Williams views. Rush Limbaugh commented on this as part of a view that eventually would lead to the rejection of the resurrection. For what it's worth, Rush offered insightful thoughts on this (18).
You might have heard of "epiphany." Leroy Garrett defines it as meaning to shine. Depending on whether one is in the eastern or western sphere of influence, it centers around January 6, and the twelve days of Christmas either preceding or following it. It does center on the coming of Jesus and leads up to the visit of the Magi. The point is that God appeared in the flesh as expressed both in Matthew and Luke (19).
We know that the Magi brought three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Obviously gold was beneficial as a means of surviving, paying the bills, and providing for Joseph and Mary as the fled to Egypt. But what about the spices. Frankincense comes from a tree and myrrh from a bush on the coast of southern Arabia. What we might not realize is that these spices were used in traditional and herbal medicines that could treat various scratches and bruises as well as childhood illnesses. Mixed in various ways, they could be an entire drugstore of powerful medicines, according to Rebekah Montgomery (20). It seems that the Magi were indeed wise men.
Illegal immigration and homelessness are in the news again this season and is being used as questioning the compassion of conservatives. I can understand political pundits not understanding or misreading the story of the birth of Christ to push a particular view. But when ministers and priests do it, then there is a problem. One claimed that Joseph and Mary were illegal immigrants, could not find a place to stay because of the meanness of the day, and Herod saw Jesus as a threat to national security. Herod was paranoid but not about national security. By order of the Roman government for census and tax purposes, Joseph and Mary went to their home town to register. There was family there and there were Jewish cultural traditions of entertaining people as well. We read about an "inn" but the word means "an upper room." They were put up by family, probably in an area inside where animals were kept overnight (Ken Bailey) or attached to the back of the house for the same reason (Ben Witherington). They were not homeless. As far as being illegal immigrants, traveling from one part of Israel to another does not an illegal immigrant make. Both Israel and Egypt were under Roman rule, so traveling across the Empire was not illegal either. At most, they were fleeing political persecution, or rather fleeing for their lives. Some go to extremes to support their favorite view of an issue without taking into account the texts, history and culture of scripture.
Some now suggest that we might be in period of global cooling. In the southern hemisphere, Argentine and Australia both report colder than usual winters. However, in the northern hemisphere, all those Christmas lights are producing so much global warming pollution that would equal that of 250,000 cars, according to some group called the Union of Concerned Scientists. We should switch to LED (light emitting diode) holiday lights to cut down on this pollution to save the planet. Happy holidays all you polluters and bah humbug.
I pray that you have and will enjoy the holiday season.
George B. Mearns
(1) Michael Medved stated some of this in his The Secret History of the Christmas Holiday, broadcasted on November 28, 2002.
(2) see Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus, Zondervan, 2007.
(3) Kenneth Bailey, I think, proves that Jesus was born in a house and that the word "inn" in Luke is the word translated "upper room" two other times in Luke. The manger was a place inside a house for straw for animals that were brought in at night because of the outside dangers of village life (A Clear View of the Birth of Jesus, DVD, 2005.
(4) N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Fortress Press. 2003.
(5) Chuck Colson, Honoring the Witnesses, (10/31), www.breakpoint.org
(6) Wright, ibid., makes reference to a similar study of this.
(7) Medved, ibid.
(8) William Studwell, An Easy Guide to Christmas Carols: Their Past, Present and Future, The Lyre of Orpheus Press, 2006.
(9) Newt Gingrich, The (Anti-Religious) Bigotry of the Elites, 11/13/2007, www.humanevents.com
(10) "Red, green lights to be banned?" and "Lowe's says 'family trees' a mistake" from 11/14/2007, www.worldnetdaily.com
(10a) reported at www.cnsnews.com (11/26/07)
(11) Phil Greetham, The Nativity Pages, www.btinternet.com/~prgreetham
(12) Greetham, ibid.. John Mark Hicks and company have similar thoughts in their book, A Gathered People, Leafwood, 2007, which will be reviewed in the next bulletin.
(13) Robert J. Hutchinson, The Biblical Roots of Thanksgiving, 11/20/2007, www.humanevents.com
(14) Kerby Anderson, Thanksgiving Quiz, 2001, www.probe.org
(15) www.stltoday.com (12/1/07)
(16) A couple of mysteries we find are the following. What happened to Eden and does it still exist? What happened to the Ark of the Covenant, when did it go missing, and where is it today? Despite the rumor that the Ark might be in a government warehouse somewhere in the U.S., we will probably never know unless discovered by archaeologists. But it is fun to speculate.
(17) T. Michael Davis, "The Star of Bethlehem," Christian Research Journal, volume 30, number 6, 2007.
(18) www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_122007/content/01125110.guest.html