Has Christmas Lost its Lustre?

For many people Christmas is perceived as a bother and a chore.  To be sure we once lived in a country that was overtly Christian but now we are all heavily secularized.  I suspect that many who will read this column do not see the lustre in the Christmas story even if they once did. Perhaps for a majority, the Nativity and all its trappings is merely a faint and distant light. 

Now for sure merchants love Christmas. Usually a third or more of retail profits come because of Jesus and the manger. Or did I get that wrong?  Perhaps I should say because of Santa and his sleigh full of gifts bought from these same retailers.   But some merchants and administrators are beginning to wonder if they can finally jettison the heavy cargo of the Nativity. Witness what the managing team of the Stone Road Mall tried to do only a few weeks ago—they attempted to off-load Jesus, Mary and the whole scene.  Some others as well would like to get away from the word Christmas completely, and just focus on the “happy holiday” aspect. With each passing Christmas season we are increasingly waging the Christmas “wars”—some want this season to be wholly secular, while others like me want to retain its spiritual meaning.

But beyond the merchants, what about you who are presently reading this article?  Do you see the historical story of Jesus’ birth in a manger as a wonderful truth? Do you pause, as shepherds once did, to worship King Jesus with awe?  Or is the whole scene simply ho hum to the point of boredom?

Why have so many lost the wonder and the awe surrounding the Nativity?   Why are so many disillusioned with Christmas?  I would like to suggest six possibilities:

1)      You may have been spiritually wounded and confused by a pagan god in a red suit, big belly and long white beard who comes bearing gifts.

2)      You may be one of those unlucky people who have been conned into thinking the historic birth is nothing but myth. Isn’t it ironic that an atheist group in New York City has a billboard urging people to “Keep the Merry, Dump the Myth?” Yes, they want you to dump the historical Jesus and embrace Santa.  Please don’t believe the lie. The truth is out there.  Refind the lustre.  Dump Santa instead.

3)      You may be a name only Christian who shows up at church on Christmas and Easter. Trust me, I’m not blaming you. There’s a really good chance your mom and dad reared you to think that Jesus and his teaching didn’t matter.  Since the apple usually falls close to the tree, you may loosely call yourselves a Christian, but in your heart of hearts you don’t have the foggiest notion of what it means to follow Christ. Sadly, you have been inoculated against experiencing the real thing.  How can you perceive the lustre for the first time? Embrace Jesus.

4)       You may have had a sincere belief in the past because you saw the light and the glory around the baby called Jesus. But somewhere, sometime, someone in the church profoundly hurt you and you turned away. You concluded falsely that it was all humbug.  And not really knowing what you were doing you threw out the bathwater. Tragically you chucked out the true God-who-came-in-flesh at the same time. No wonder the lustre is gone.

5)      You may see no lustre around the Baby in the manger for you have willed to follow light that is no light at all. Jesus warned that this would happen to some, “...Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” See and embrace the ancient lustre—love not the darkness, love light.

6)      You may be one of those persons who truly believes in the historical baby Jesus who was indeed born of a virgin. You know in your heart it is true. You know that it happened as described in the ancient trustworthy texts but somehow the intellectual knowledge of the truth has never made it to your heart and your spirit.  You are not one who rejects the glorious shining of this true Baby who came in the flesh— you simply do not perceive it.  There is not likely any lustre in Christmas for you for head knowledge without experience of personal faith remains but head knowledge.  Discover the lustre—trust and confide in Jesus.

Guelph Mercury: December 22, 2012

Royal Hamel is ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at watchman2003@sympatico.ca

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

The Christmas season is upon us. And if its like past years zealous Christians, jealous for the true meaning of the season will begin fighting with the pagans for the privilege of wishing them a "Merry Christmas" instead of, "Seasons Greetings" or whatever.

I propose a new way of looking at the situation, and using it as an opportunity of letting our light shine in the darkness. For it occurs to me that one's inner
attitude and motive in wishing all and sundry, "Merry Christmas" is of
utmost importance. For I can draw a line in the sand
and say to myself, "thus far you pagans can come and no further for I will
defend freedom of speech, and fight political correctness on this point by
hurling joyous noels at everything that breathes. But surely such an attitude is contradictory to the spirit of the season, and cannot possibly bear good fruit. But, if our attitude is
rather, "I will not be afraid, but will consciously take every opportunity
to exalt Jesus--I believe we can move beyond mere pugnacity and move in the direction of true witnessing. So when the clerk wishes us something like, "Seasons greetings" or "Best wishes for the holiday", etc. etc. what if we were to look carefully at the person and say something like, "Thank you for your kind wishes, Jesus, Light of the world has come to me, may he come to you". All it takes for this kind of ministry is the courage to be transparent and the courage to confess Christ before men. Imagine a kind of built in ministry opportunity given to all of us to at this special season of the year. Paul says in Colossians 4: 5: "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders making the most of the opportunity".