Christmas Sermon From Ps. Joshua - 2022

 

Christmas Culture and Jesus Christ

 

 

Introduction:

o Arrival of Christmas season means different thingsto different people.

o Season of giving gifts, celebration, coming together and having a good time

o True believers, nominal believers, unbelievers & others celebrate Christmas

o A season to increase in sins even by many who go to church.

o Christmas comes with a lot of practices that we do or accept but it is not in the Bible.

o Today, we will look at 3 practices that are accepted by many churches and believers and the real meaning of Christmas in relation to each of them.

1. SANTA CLAUS (Reindeer, gifts, and stockings):

➢ St. Nicholas was born in 280AD in Patara, near Myra in Turkey.

➢ He gave away all his wealth to the poor and sick.

➢ How did Santa Claus tradition began? Is it in the Bible? Let’s find out.

➢ There was a pious Christian family with 3 daughters in the 3rd century. Due to debt and poverty, the parents were about to sell 3 girls into slavery or prostitution. St. Nicholas gave away his wealth to this family anonymously and one bag of gold fell into the stockings, another bag a few days later. The girls were not sold and they got out of poverty.

➢ Nicholas fame spread as protector of children and the poor.

➢ Nicholas died on 6 Dec 343AD. This day was celebrated by giving gifts to the children and the poor. This started 300 years after Jesus died and after the church started.

➢ During the reformation, Martin Luther brought this practice forward to Dec 24/25 to celebrate Christ as a gift to us and in return to bless others.

➢ HOW THE NAME SANTA CLAUS CAME?

➢ St. Nicholas real name was SINTER KLASSresulting in Santa Claus.

➢ This festival came to United States in 1773/74 in New York through some Dutch immigrants from Europe.

➢ 1822 – An account of a visit from St. Nicholas written by Clement Clark Moore, an Episcopal minister, popularized today’s Santa Claus – 8 flying reindeer on a sleigh leaving presents for deserving children.

Lesson: Know the story of each celebration why it is celebrated, who started it and how it was started. Teach others, especially to your children and explain.

- Santa Claus is not in the Bible. It was never part of the early church.

Focus: Matthew 1:21 - Christmas is all about Jesus and eternal life. Not some small perishable gifts and Santa Claus. It is important to help the poor and the helpless as believers. But our primary focus as believers is to share the Gospel, witness for Jesus. This is the real Christmas. The focus of Christmas is Jesus, not Santa Claus.

2. CHRISTMAS TREE (candles, decorations):

❖ This started in Germany in 16th century by Martin Luther, the reformer.

❖ One winter evening he was walking home and saw stars through the evergreen trees. So, he got a tree in his room and lighted a candle.

PAGAN history:

❖ Winter Solstice – shortest day/longest night falls on 21/22 Dec.

❖ Ancient people – Sun is god. They get sick in winter. Brings in evergreen trees to remind summer will return.

❖ Egyptians – a god called RA – sun as disk on the crown. In winter, RA gets sick, so gets green treessignifying triumph of life over death.

❖ Romans, Northern Europe, Scandinavians – uses green trees in winter solstice.

❖ United States: German settles began in 1830s in Pennsylvania.

❖ Till 1840s, Christmas tree was seen as pagan festival.

❖ 1846 – Queen Victoria & her German Prince Albert were sketched in London News with children around a Christmas tree. The queen was very popular. This is how Christmas tree culture came to East coast and slowly got popularized.

Lesson: The evergreen tree is not associated with Christmas or Jesus’ death in the Bible. Jesus died on a cross/tree 2000 years ago. The tree was cut down and made into the shape of a cross to hang Jesus there.

Focus: Gal. 3:13 – Our focus should be on Jesus who became our curse on the tree/cross, so that the blessings of Abraham might come upon us and that we might receive the gift of God’s salvation.

3. CHRISTMAS BELLS

➢ Bells were used from ancient times and even by Jews – in rituals, temples, etc. (Exo.28:35; 39:25).

➢ How Christmas Bells originated among Christians?

➢ St. Patrick of Ireland went as a missionary to Emerald Island in the 5th century. He used a bell to gather Irish people for teaching and preaching.

➢ Irish missionaries spread this culture of BELL.

➢ The bell was also used for weddings, funerals, etc.

➢ The bell was also used to herald New Year and birth of Christ.

➢ It slowly got associated with Christmas.

➢ The shape of the bell follows the Irish model.

Lesson: Bell was not used during Jesus’ birth and neither in the Bible in the early church. Jesus birth was announced by the angels: Luke 2:8-14. Using the bell in Christmas does not communicate the Gospel.

Focus: Like the angels announcing Jesus’ birth, we must announce verbally the Gospel. The Gospel must be preached. Jesus must be verbally witnessed. So that God will work through our verbal witness.

Conclusion:

Christmas is a time of celebration; it is good news of great joy. In the Gospels, the angels rejoiced, shepherds rejoiced, Anna and Simeon rejoiced.

At the same time, Jesus birth’ looks forward to Calvary, to the cross, to suffering.

So while you celebrate and enjoy Christmas, let us ensure that Jesus is at the center of our lives – that we are obeying God’s written word. Otherwise we are just celebrating like any other unbelievers and it is meaningless. But when Jesus is at the center, He is the Lord and Master, we fear the Lord and we are obeying His word, and growing in sanctification, Christmas celebration becomes meaningful.