What is this "Christmas Story?"
“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so
that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that
they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no
one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.”
“So then, just as you received Christ Yeshua as Lord, continue to live
your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you
were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces
of this world rather than on Christ.”
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or
with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in
Christ.”
- Colossians 2:2-4, 6-8, 16-17
In my honest opinion, many of the ‘actions’ and ‘themes’ of this time
of year do not reflect the example of Christ, although some of the religious
like to repeat the mantra “Jesus is the reason for the season” while they are
standing in line buying up what their credit card can swallow. Folks suppose the purchase of ‘things’ bought
and wrapped somehow says I love you.
Where did that come from? When
the magi came and gave their gifts to the infant Christ, they did it out of
honor and tribute to Him being King… King of kings! It can be said the gifts represent gifts one
would bring to a birthday party, but how do you gift the Living God? By mostly giving things to others which are doodads,
novelty and trendy?
Let us look to giving a lasting gift.
I desire you to know the reality, which is found in Christ! I desire you to be built and rooted in the
faith as you were taught ( by the Spirit and His Word ). I desire you to allow the shadow of the world’s
ways to pass and for you to pursue, in faith, the path and purpose He has for
you… and surely it is not to reflect the world and the world’s ways, but to be
a living sacrifice and light to this dark world and be utilized as a vessel of
His Spirit.
I’m not trying to be a scrooge, but I would like to express the reality
of things as they are, aside from childhood emotions, sentimentality, religious
beliefs built from man’s doctrine beyond scripture, cognitive dissonance caused
by realizing the supporting and efforts in continuing pagan rituals and adherence
to secular culture’s generational repetition of tradition. These are the justifications of the actions
and themes of this time of year people use to continue on their path and shrug
off points made herein as ‘scroogy.’
My aim and goal is that you understand, as the scripture is stating; understand
and be able to decipher what ‘is’ and what is not.
Some of the themes of this time of year are:
- consumerism
- many songs singing about everything BUT what Christ exemplified
- a tree brought into the house
- a few other mostly pagan-based rituals and traditions, having been adopted as Christian traditions yet still lacking anything substantially Christian as for what that term Christian means: Christ like.
- consumerism
- many songs singing about everything BUT what Christ exemplified
- a tree brought into the house
- a few other mostly pagan-based rituals and traditions, having been adopted as Christian traditions yet still lacking anything substantially Christian as for what that term Christian means: Christ like.
Much like when in spring, a bunny rabbit, some chicken eggs and
chocolates somehow have something to do with Christ rising to life from the
dead. And when one considers that ‘holi’day
is called Easter ( google Ishtar, which is yet another pagan god ), one can see
that clearly for what it is, if only they put their mind into thinking and
cease the novelty of following the crowd.
Folks, out of habit and cultural conditioning, forward that mantra of ‘happy
easter’ and have no clue what they are really repeating ( perhaps ignorantly invoking
and celebrating a pagan god? ).
Same can be said with the winter season’s celebration of things and the
repeating of a holiday riddled with pagan themes.
Looking at the passage in Colossians, it is clear that one will not be
condemned if they partake in any kind of secular cultural celebration. Yet one should search out what exactly it is
they are celebrating, looking for themselves what the words and actions mean. For me personally, the more I’ve learned
about secular ‘holi’days, I have found they have more to do with the
continuance of pagan rituals and less to do with my faith ( and in no way
further my faith but instead lead me into more consumerism and the buying and
selling of the Babylon system which has enslaved the world ). For this reason I have steered clear due to
my conscience and desire to not be swayed in any way from Christ’s reality.
The passage does encourage the believer to further deepen their
knowledge of Christ. And what would that
knowledge of Christ be? Would it be
being able to recite passages of scripture on cue? Perhaps, yet I see it as being more so
‘knowing’ Christ by doing what He did; action and themes of what He exemplified? What were His actions while in the
flesh? He served the needs of those
marginalized and shunned by society. He
fed the hungry. He helped the blind see
( think spiritually and metaphorically ).
He befriended those who the religious would deem undesirable. He walked outside the typical and the only
path He would come close to reflecting the culture was the law that drew Him to
obedience, to which He fulfilled. I
doubt we would have found Christ in line at the mall if not to help others and
preach the Word to them, but not so much buying a shopping cart full of stuff
for his mom and brothers and sisters.
Ask yourself also if you will consider the poor and homeless for a
single day, as many do for ‘thanksgiving,’ and would you ‘help’ them with more ‘things,’
or with real necessities like food, clothing and the means to shelter
themselves from the cold. Many folks who
are out in the cold have lost their minds due to an economic meltdown brought
on by the sifting of the market by the very same mechanisms which market
consumerism to you… and many folks ignorantly are out there supporting these
very same mechanisms with their shopping… a vicious cycle not easily
recognized, but felt when the desire for more is never satisfied.
Have you noticed how mainstream culture reminds you to do ‘good’ things
as a passing suggestion but not as a mainline theme? Was Christ’s attention to the needs of others
a passing distraction or a centered focus?
Could the afterthought of the poor and needy be because feeding the
homeless doesn’t equate to profits for companies selling trendy and plastic
things?
And when considering your ‘giving’ like Christ, may I suggest going a
step further from the easy move of giving to a charity, to instead going
directly to the source: finding those who are in need and handing them your gifts
directly to them. Doing so will eliminate
the waste and risk of giving to charities, for however famous and well
recognized their brand may be, your entire donation doesn’t go to the source of
the need. Yet, when you give to those
face to face, not only does the 100% you give directly impacts the recipient, the
human impact both the giver and receiver experience is priceless… the human experience
of love in action.
Let us also consider not just a thanksgiving day or a Christmas day,
but every day those who are truly Christ in disguise:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the
sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed
clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or
a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of
the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life.”
- Matthew 25:31-46
- - - - - -
Let us now look at the influence still persistence of an empire thought
to be long gone to history, but the remnant and adoption of their continued
rituals, customs and modes of thought still ever-present in today’s Amerikan and
worldwide consumer empire:
( the following excerpts are from wikipedia entries with attached links )
( the following excerpts are from wikipedia entries with attached links )
Religio
Religio among the Romans was not based on "faith", but on knowledge, including and especially correct practice. Religio (plural religiones) was the pious practice of Rome's traditional cults, and was a cornerstone of the mos maiorum, the traditional social norms that regulated public, private, and military life. To the Romans, their success was self-evidently due to their practice of proper, respectful religio, which gave the gods what was owed them and which was rewarded with social harmony, peace and prosperity.
Religious law maintained the proprieties of divine honours, sacrifice
and ritual. Impure sacrifice and incorrect ritual were vitia (faults, hence "vice," the English
derivative); excessive devotion, fearful grovelling to deities, and the
improper use or seeking of divine knowledge were superstitio; neglecting the religiones owed to the traditional gods was atheism, a charge leveled during
the Empire at Jews, Christians, and
Epicureans. Any of these moral
deviations could cause divine anger (ira deorum) and therefore harm the State. See Religion in ancient Rome.
Sacerdos
A sacerdos (plural sacerdotes, a word of either masculine or feminine gender) was any priest or
priestess, from *sakro-dho-ts, "the one
who does the sacred act." There was no priestly caste in ancient Rome, and in some sense every citizen
was a priest in that he presided over the domestic cult of his household. Senators,
magistrates,
and the decurions of towns performed ritual acts,
though they were not sacerdotes per se. The sacerdos was one who held the title usually in relation to a
specific deity or temple. See also collegium and flamen.
Sigallaria
The Sigillaria on December 23 was a day of gift-giving. Because gifts of value would mark social status contrary to the spirit of the
season, these were often the pottery or wax figurines called sigillaria made specially for the
day, candles, or "gag gifts", of which Augustus was
particularly fond. Children received toys as gifts. In his many poems about the Saturnalia, Martial names both expensive and quite
cheap gifts, including writing tablets, dice, knucklebones,
moneyboxes, combs, toothpicks, a hat, a hunting knife, an axe, various lamps,
balls, perfumes, pipes, a pig, a sausage, a parrot, tables, cups, spoons, items
of clothing, statues, masks, books, and pets. Gifts might be as costly as a slave or exotic animal, but
Martial suggests that token gifts of low intrinsic value inversely measure the
high quality of a friendship. Patrons or "bosses" might pass
along a gratuity (sigillaricium) to their poorer clients or dependents
to help them buy gifts. Some emperors
were noted for their devoted observance of the Sigillaria.
In a practice that might be compared to modern greeting
cards, verses sometimes accompanied the gifts. Martial has a collection of
poems written as if to be attached to gifts. Catullus received a book of bad poems by "the worst poet of all time"
as a joke from a friend. Gift-giving was not confined to the day of the Sigillaria. In
some households, guests and family members received gifts after the feast in
which slaves had shared.
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The Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome, is
an early reference to the date of the nativity as December 25.
In the East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), although this festival
emphasized celebration of the baptism
of Jesus.
Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the
revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was
introduced to Constantinople in 379, and to Antioch in about
380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381,
although it was reintroduced by John
Chrysostom in about 400.
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In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas Day was overshadowed
by Epiphany, which in western Christianity focused on the visit of
the magi.
But the medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The
forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of St. Martin"
(which began on November 11, the feast of St. Martin of Tours), now known as Advent. In Italy, former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent. Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 –
January 5); a time that appears in the liturgical calendars as Christmastide or
Twelve
Holy Days.
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Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that
incorporated ivy, holly, and other
evergreens. Christmas gift-giving
during the Middle Ages was usually between people with legal relationships,
such as tenant and landlord. The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, and card playing
escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season featured lavish
dinners, elaborate masques, and pageants. In 1607, King James I insisted that a play be acted on
Christmas night and that the court indulge in games. It was during the Reformation in 16th–17th-century Europe that
many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl,
and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.
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Following the Protestant Reformation, groups such as the Puritans strongly
condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and
the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast". The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival
in a more religiously oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and
gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old
style Christmas generosity. Following the Parliamentarian
victory over Charles I during the English
Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647
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In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England
shared radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas. Celebration was outlawed in
Boston from 1659
to 1681. The ban by the Pilgrims was revoked in 1681 by English governor Sir
Edmund Andros, however it was not until the mid-19th century that
celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.
At the same time, Christian residents of Virginia and New York observed the
holiday freely. Pennsylvania German Settlers, pre-eminently the
Moravian
settlers of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz in
Pennsylvania and the Wachovia Settlements in North Carolina,
were enthusiastic celebrators of Christmas. The Moravians in Bethlehem had the
first Christmas trees in America as well as the first Nativity Scenes. Christmas fell out of favor in the United States after the American Revolution, when it was considered an
English custom
George Washington attacked Hessian (German) mercenaries on the day after
Christmas during the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, Christmas
being much more popular in Germany than in America at this time.
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In Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced in the early 19th
century following the personal union with the Kingdom of Hanover by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
wife of King George III. In 1832, the
future Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a
Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed
round it. After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became
more widespread throughout Britain.
An image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at
Windsor Castle created a sensation when it was published in the Illustrated London News in 1848. A
modified version of this image was published in the United States in 1850. By the 1870s, putting up a Christmas tree had become common in America.
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Christmas is typically a peak selling season for retailers in
many nations around the world. Sales increase dramatically as people purchase
gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the U.S., the "Christmas
shopping season" starts as early as October. In Canada, merchants begin advertising campaigns just before Halloween
(October 31), and step up their marketing following Remembrance Day on November
11.
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According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "The
use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a
custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common
among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the
Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the
New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during
Christmastime."
Alternatively, it is identified with the "tree of paradise" of medieval mystery
plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and name day of Adam and
Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to
represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and
redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas
crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced
by round objects such as shiny red balls.
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