Sunday, November 30, 2014

It's CHRISTMAS!
Christmas. Even the Merriam Webster dictionary knows what it is: “a Christian holiday that is celebrated on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ (the holiday, as some say, instituted to offer the people an alternative to the very pagan holiday of Saturnalia). The English word “Christmas” is derived from the medieval “Christes Masse,” or the mass or celebration of Christ. In Spanish the word “Navidad” comes from “natividad” and the Latin “nativitas,” or birth—the birth of Jesus. In French the word “Noel” also comes from the Latin verb “nasci,” or “to be born.” “Joyeux Noel” is happy or joyful Christmas, or Christ’s birthday.
All this to say, everyone knows that Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth. Whether a person celebrates Christmas as such is perfectly up to him or her, but even the name clearly tells us what it is.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I purchased a lovely Christmas decoration at a local craft fair: a small wooden Christmas tree depicting a few of the 200-some names of Christ: Comforter, Wonderful, Savior, Son of God, King of Kings, Prince of Peace and others. I told the woman who made it that I had never seen anything like it and that I was happy to buy it. “You’d be surprised to know how many people are offended by these trees,” she replied with a sad shake of her head.
Offended? By a decoration defining the reason for the season?
Ronald Reagan once said, “Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeer, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called  Christmas.” Indeed, Mr. Reagan.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16, NIV) Jesus came. We celebrate his coming. And we are not ashamed.





















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