Christmas Time -- A Christian's Perspective 
It's that time again.  Holly wreaths, Christmas lights, mistletoe, 
candy canes, and bell ringing beggars at almost every shopping center 
and department store are unavoidably present.  Christmas time is here.  
Everyone is getting ready to spend a week celebrating Christmas.  
Children hear that "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and they had best 
mind their ways.  Churches are preparing elaborate celebrations ranging 
from dramatizing the birth of Jesus Christ to cantatas of Christmas 
carols.  This is a good time to consider whether we really know how to 
celebrate this holiday, or whether we even ought to celebrate it or not.  
Stay tuned, we will study how Christmas ought to be understood. 
The West End church of Christ presents this program each week at 
this time.  Our purpose is to help you have a better understanding of 
the Bible.  We also hope you will come to understand and know us.  We 
offer nothing other than that which we find in your own Bible.  At any 
time, should you hear anything from us that you do not believe is 
biblical, please call that to our attention.  We will not deliberately 
be wrong about anything. 
We invite you to meet with us today.  At 9 this morning we have 
Bible classes for all ages, followed at 10 for worship.  We meet to 
worship again this evening at 6 p.m.  Wednesday at 7 p.m. we have more 
Bible classes for all ages.  Our meeting house is located at the corner 
of Parkside Drive and Old Morgantown Road, just across from Lampkin 
Park.  Please come visit and see what the church of Christ is like. 
We publish a small paper twice a month.  It is a teaching medium 
only.  It is free.  There is no subscription price.  There is no 
obligation.  In it you will find a number of biblical themes discussed 
in short lessons.  If you want this paper, write a note or card to West 
End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Our 
zip code is 42101.  You also may call 842-7880 and we will put you on 
the mailing list.  We do not ask for nor do we accept contributions, 
donations, or gifts for this paper. 
The Bible mentions two birthdays; neither of them were Christ's.  
One was for Pharoah (Gen. 40:30) and the other for Herod (Matt. 14:6).  
Pharoah celebrated his birthday by hanging his chief butler.  Herod 
celebrated his being enticed by a lewd woman to order the beheading of 
John the Baptist.  There is nothing at all about the birthday of the 
King of kings, the Prince of Peace. 
The early Christians did not celebrate the birthday of Jesus at 
all.  No such thing was ever thought of until long after the last 
apostle died.  In 354 A.D. Liberius, a Roman Catholic "Pope", decreed 
December 25 as the "official" day of Christ's birth.  He was influenced 
by the pagan religions of Rome who celebrated Saturnalia at that time of 
year and at the same time sought to counter the Roman celebration of 
Mithra, the Sun-god.  His selection of December 25 was purely arbitrary.  
It has no biblical basis.  Christ cannot be put into "Christmas"; He was 
never in it to begin with. 
There will be many so-called "Christmas" parties at this season of 
the year.  Alcoholic beverages will be offered.  Local police will 
arrest more disorderly drunks at this time of the year than at any other 
time.  Many will be driving a car.  (I use the word "driving" loosely.)  
Don't celebrate this holiday by drinking intoxicants or even being a 
part of drinking parties.  Peter wrote, "For we have spent enough of our 
past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles; when we walked in 
lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abom-
inable idolatries" (I Pet. 4:3).  Stay away from this sort of thing if 
you want to please the Lord.  It's a very poor way to celebrate anything 
about Jesus Christ. 
Sociologists know that there is more stress placed on domestic 
relationships at Christmas than at any other time of the year.  Why?  
Largely because people spend money foolishly and money problems stand at 
the root of most family disorders.  During the Christmas season there is 
more adultery, divorce, intoxication, robbery, assault, and general 
misconduct than during any other holiday we celebrate.  Check it out.  
Those who ignorantly think they are celebrating the birth of Christ, 
spending more money than they should on useless items that are priced as 
high as the market allows, hardly act in keeping with Jesus who placed 
no premium at all on material things.  Remember that it was Jesus who 
said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but 
the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20). 
There are dangers relative to some of the myths associated with 
Christmas.  Many Christmas customs come from all kinds of cultures.  
Santa Claus is derived from "Saint Niklaus."  This man was a Catholic 
bishop of the fourth century.  He became the so-called "patron saint" of 
children who adopted him as their "gift bringer."  Here is a danger.  
"Santa (saint) Claus" has almost become a form of pagan deity.  The 
song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," pictures him as knowing about as 
much as God Almighty does about each of us.  Remember, Santa is merely a 
myth; God is real. 
A "Christmas tree" is a purely traditional matter.  But there are 
those who believe it to be condemned outright in Scripture.  Jeremiah 
10:3-4 is supposed to condemn having a Christmas Tree.  It reads, "For 
the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the 
forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.  They adorn it with 
silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not 
totter."  There is nothing at all in this verse applicable to a 
Christmas Tree.  This is a plain condemnation of idolatry.  The 
craftsmen carved an idol out of the trunk of the tree.  The silver and 
gold were laid over the wood to give it brilliance.  There is no need to 
allow extremes to hinder celebrating Christmas as just another of our 
national holidays. 
Christmas is neither the birthday of Christ nor is it even 
biblical.  The only day of celebration relating to Jesus Christ is the 
first day of each week to remember His death and resurrection.  The 
church which Jesus founded was established on the first day of the week 
(Acts 2:1-47) and on that day the disciples broke bread, observed the 
Lord's Supper as a celebration of His victory over the grave.  No other 
day is ever so elevated. 
"Christmas" is the composite of two words: "Christ" and "mass."  
Christ is found many times in the Bible.  He is the principal character 
and heart of God's message to man.  "Mass" is not a Bible word or idea.  
Mass comes from "The unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of 
Christ." (Question 263 in A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Benzinger 
Bros., Inc., page 48).  The Catholic Church is the sole authority for 
anything having a "Mass" attached to it.  Their celebration of "Mass" is 
a corruption of what the Bible calls "The Lord's Supper."  Their 
doctrine is that Jesus goes through the ordeal of crucifixion (in an 
unbloody manner) every time they celebrate their "Mass."  Does that make 
you think of the Hebrew writer's words, "... seeing they crucify to 
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Heb. 
6:6)? 
The manner in which otherwise rational people "celebrate" this 
Christmas season is often contradictory and reprehensible.  There will 
be more immorality, drunkenness, senseless spending of money, divorces, 
deaths by auto accident, murders, and nervous stress than at any other 
time of the calendar year.  Think of it -- this is all done in the name 
of celebrating the birthday of one who never sinned at all. 
Christians need not go to radical extremes about celebrating any 
kind of holiday.  Just because someone, sometime in history decided to 
attach religion to a day that becomes a universal holiday means nothing.  
July 4 is a holiday (holy day).  But the word holiday does not mean 
anything more than a day spent somewhat loosely related to an event in 
history.  As long as no significance is attached to Christmas that 
relates to His birth, there is no more wrong with it than celebrating 
Armistice Day, or George Washington's Birthday. Just because it is 
called a "holi" day doesn't sanctify it. 
Had the Lord intended that the birth of His only begotten Son be 
observed as a "holy day," some inspired information would have been 
forthcoming.  Since absolute silence is God's response to celebrating 
Christ's birth, we ought to be silent. To add such things is very 
dangerous.  Read the apostle Paul's words to the churches in Galatia.  
"But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those who by 
nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are 
known by God, how is it you turn again to the weak and beggarly 
elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?  You observe days 
and months and seasons and years.  I am afraid for you, lest I have 
labored for you in vain" (Galatians 4:8-11).  What reaction do you think 
Paul would have toward Christmas?  The pagan connection is so obvious.  
Most of the customs associated with Christmas came directly from 
paganism, e.g., decoration of trees, the stockings by the hearth, etc. 
Christmas day (December 25th) is national holiday, not a religious 
or Christian holiday.  The tradition of exchanging gifts makes this a 
somewhat special time of the year, for there has never been, nor will 
there ever be, a greater gift than that which God Almighty bestowed on 
the whole world.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  This gift is unseasonal, cannot be 
assigned to a special time of year.  It is that which ought to instill 
within all of us the true spirit of what giving is all about.  It is 
tragic that the next fifty or so weeks will be spent with more of us 
concentrating on getting than giving. 
There will be no special Christmas service at West End -- just the 
normal Lord's Day observance of worship.  We meet today to sing praises 
to the Lamb, to observe the sacred memorial feast honoring His death and 
suffering, pray together, give of our means, and learn more of His will.  
If that sounds to you like the right thing to do, then meet with us this 
Lord's Day  You will always find a warm welcome.
 
If you have a question about this, or anything else you hear from 
us, please let us know.  And if you want our paper, the Voice of West 
End, write a note or card to West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside 
Drive, Bowling Green, KY  42101 or call 842-7880.  Thank you for being 
with us today.  Remember to set your dial right here next Sunday at 8 
a.m.  Till then, God bless each of you and good bye.
Radio Sermon No. 143, 12/02/96, Page 1