“Even if you do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God,
Christmas is still a wonderful time of year,” said
Garrison Keillor, host/writer/producer of Prairie Home Companion on Public
Broadcast Radio. The remarks made during his monologue on Lake Wobegon, his
mythical hometown, grabbed my thinking driving down the interstate last Saturday
night.
“Even if you do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God,
Christmas is still a wonderful time of year,” said
Garrison Keillor, host/writer/producer of Prairie Home Companion on Public
Broadcast Radio. The remarks made during his monologue on Lake Wobegon, his
mythical hometown, grabbed my thinking driving down the interstate last Saturday
night.
Is that true? If it is true, why is it true?
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, except for those with psychological
wounds or scars associated with the major components of Christmas that interfere
with the experience for them.
But if Christ were not divine, would there be a Christmas? Would we celebrate
the birth of a person, who, if he were not divine, was certainly delusional?
If he were not divine, would his disciples have been martyrs to keep His message
alive? There are easier ways of starting a religion or a movement than getting
oneself crucified and rising from the grave three days later. There are easier
ways of perpetuating a religion than dying for tenaciously telling others that
the leader was divine. No one died for Buddhas message, as far as I know,
or for telling folks where Mohammeds grave is or that Rev. Moon is some
kind of reincarnation of Christ. Yet they have religions based upon their teachings.
Christmas bears the name either of someone who
is who he said he is – The Son of God – or for a lunatic with a messiah
complex of the most severe kind. Folks who think Christmas is “wonderful”
but do not accept Christ as Savior have not dealt with the contradiction
of their beliefs.
Christs life and message were beyond human imagination and we frequently
turn to music to give feeling to such times. Mention Christmas and people think
music. The great music of Christmas proclaims the miracle of God being born
as a babe. “Joy to the World, the Lord is come.” “Angels We Have
Heard on High.” “Silent Night, Holy Night.” “The Magnificat.”
Not to mention Handels “Messiah.” Singing of Christmas carols
without including these songs is like looking at shadows of the Mona Lisa and
thinking one has seen the real thing.
Oh, certainly, there are non-Christ holiday songs. “Jingle Bell Rock.”
“Jingle Bell Roll.” “Sleigh Bells Jingling.” “White
Christmas.” “Ill Be Home for Christmas,” now heard while
the Budweiser horses pull beer through a snow-covered countryside. Nice songs.
But there is no way they can carry a season year after year. How popular can
hearing Elvis Presley sing, “Ill-a have-a-a blue-Christmas without
you-a” make a holiday, any holiday?
“When I think of Christmas, I think of home, of warm feelings, of friends,”
some say. “I think of gathering around a table filled with holiday food
and a tree loaded with presents for everyone.”
Great. Why are these so identified with Christmas? Because they are the products
of Christs presence with
us – significant relationships, reconciliation, generosity, daily bread.
When nonbelievers say, “Although I do not believe in Christ as the Son
of God, Christmas is a wonderful time of year,” they are riding the coattails
of Christians. If Christians did not worship Christ during the Christmas season,
before long, observing Christmas would be like observing the Fourth of July
– important, fun, but not wonderful – full of wonder.
The true message of Christmas – Christ is God incarnate – generates
the thoughts of warm fuzzies that make Christmas special. Families gather. Friends
are remembered. Gifts of love are given. People in need receive, and, thereby,
give. Without The Divine Message, these significant components of life would
not have the purity of thought that generates the Christmas spirit.
These actions find their beginning and their nurture in churches where Christ
and His message are proclaimed, “Love one another … As you have done
it to the least of these my children, you have done them to me … Give, and
it shall be given unto you.” Christ-folks hear the message and go out into
the world to live it, and, thereby, inspire others to do likewise. That is Christmas.
How many Christians live the message of Christmas? Some. But the power of the
Message is not in how many live it completely, but in the Message. Christ said
that we are the salt of the earth and taking care of matters requires –
just enough salt.
“For those who do not believe that there was anything more divine about
that baby than anyone else, Christmas is a wonderful time of year,” Garrison
Keillor added. Nevertheless, those who do not believe in the deity of Christ
have His deity to thank for the full-of-wonder spirit of Christmas. With apologies
to their sensitivities, that is just the way it is.