Merry Christmas! Ready or not the day of joy and celebration has arrived. Though it has become a very popular day today, this day was not celebrated in the life of the church until the fourth century of the Common Era. It was not until the 19th century that the celebration of Christmas in the United States began to take on some of the things that are seen as necessary yet today. Prior to that time the Puritan influence had suppressed the celebration of Christ’s birth in this country.

It has been suggested that the choice of Dec. 25 was quite arbitrary and was made by the church in response to the Roman emperor’s choice of that day for the celebration of the sun god. Another thought has been that the date was based upon calculations related to the belief that a good life would have both the day of conception and the day of death as the same date. As Jesus was seen to be the epitome of goodness, it was believed this would be certainly the case for him. Tradition in the west suggested Christ’s crucifixion on March 25, thus Dec. 25 would be his date of birth. The Eastern Church used April 6 for his death and celebrated his birth on Jan. 6; this continues to be celebrated yet today.

The celebration of the day is not so much dependent upon its date or the details surrounding it as it is upon the message of God’s goodness and grace that are pointed to as a result of it. The teaching of the Church is that God loved the world to such an extent that God was willing to take on flesh, to become one with humanity, that humanity might come to know and believe in God’s desire for the salvation of the whole world. In the darkness of this world, in its fallen nature and in its brokenness, the light of God shines to bring life to all of God’s children. The powers and the forces of this world, despite their claims, can provide nothing like the security, the hope, and the promise of God. The celebration of Jesus birth was a direct confrontation with the powers from every realm of this world. It is the same yet today despite the accommodations that the Church has made to the world in which it lives.

To proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior is to attribute to him titles and authority that the world would claim for it. To celebrate the incarnation is to be subversive toward the world and its authorities. It is to declare that one’s allegiance is to God and to God alone. There is so much more to Christmas than the popular trappings that have been attached to it. It is neither as innocent nor as simple as we have made it or have wanted it to be. However, in its power and in its glory it is here and for that we celebrate.