The spiritually blind see Christmas in pagan, materialistic , secular ways. The spiritually shortsighted see Christmas in stunted ways. Often the believing will mistakenly slice and dice God's redemption program into seasonal occasions to be remembered annually and taken almost as separate entities. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ. At Easter we remember the death, burial and resurrection. It is only fitting and proper they say. Any deviation from the norm is seen as almost sacrilege. Says who?
Let's do some Scripture searching. Where in Scripture are we instructed to celebrate the birth of Christ annually or ever? What truths are we to commemorate, remember and proclaim not just once a year but on a regular basis?
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I don't think we have specific instruction, but I wouldn't say that precludes us from doing it. God is big on us remembering and commemorating important moments, which we see happening as far back as Genesis. Paul, of course, wrote much on the Incarnation. He remembers in particular Christ's birth in Gal. 4:4. I believe our current celebration of Christmas comes from the early Church's move to replace a pagan Roman holiday (on Dec. 25) with a celebration of the birth of our Lord. It worked, so now the attention of the world is turned to him during this time (though he was probably actually born sometime in the spring).
ReplyDeleteClearly one event we are to regularly remember is the death of Christ. We do this in community as the body of Christ as we celebrate the Lord's Supper together. Through baptism, though a one-time act, we acknowledge the resurrection of Christ - that we have died and been buried with him, but raised to new life.