Recently, the president of the United States asserted that "We're saying Merry Christmas again," as a valiant defense against the supposed attack on Christmas, and Christian values in general. And, well, that made me feel angry. Because he used his platform to declare to the world that the thing Christians are willing to take a stand on is the right to tack Jesus' name onto a holiday that has pagan roots and is often more about consumerism than Jesus' love.
Don't get me wrong, especially in recent years, I feel moved during the Christmas season. I enjoy the peppermint this and that, I celebrate our family traditions, I relish in cheesy Christmas movies, and during December my house tends to look like someone threw up red and green all over it. More than that, though, reflecting on the notion of a God who leaves heaven to come to earth and enters into the most humble of circumstances in loving pursuit of humanity changes me. I love setting aside time to remember that each year. However, sometimes I wonder what associating Jesus with the not-so-spiritual aspects of Christmas has done to our collective psyche. How has the connection impacted our views on God and who he is?
I think that sometimes we look at God like he is Santa Claus. Santa is generally looked on as a positive character. He is loving and kind, generous and jolly. Those are words that the average person might use to describe God (assuming that person believes in him). Saint Nick is an old man. Both he and God are often portrayed with long white flowing hair and beards. Santa's thought to be omnipresent, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake." That's another characteristic that links him with God.
Santa is primarily a gift-giver. Lots of folks view God this way. He's the guy you go to when you want/need stuff. But Santa has a naughty and nice list. If you do enough good, and don't do too much bad, you make the nice list. If you're not "good, for goodness sake," watch out. You might end up with no presents, or find the ominous gift of coal lurking at the bottom of your stocking. The bottom line is this: we ask Santa for (material) things, and if we've been good enough he gives them to us. Do believe that Jesus is the same way?
We treat Jesus like he's Santa Claus when all we do is ask him for stuff. We send up prayers like, "Dear Jesus, please give me an Xbox, and an iphone 8." We often ask for things we don't need, things that would not add value to our lives, or even things that would be destructive were we granted them. I don't think this is necessarily wrong to do. The bible talks about having childlike faith, and I want to be dependent upon God the way my son is dependent upon my husband and I. That naturally leads to looking to him for things I want/need. I think it's to be open and honest with God about where I'm at. That includes bringing my desires to him.
Ultimately, though, I also want to ask God to be sovereign over my desires. To change my desires--make them more holy, more selfless. I want him to give me whatever it is that he knows is best for me. Plus, if that's all we ever talk to God about we are missing so much. God wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to walk with us in intimacy through life. He wants to hear about your day. He wants to share with you his dreams for your life and his heart for humanity. He wants to just be with you while you're doing the dishes or walking the dog. He wants to express his love to you and for you to express it back.
Sometimes, we act like, in suite with Santa, God has a naughty and nice list. Only, instead of coal the perceived risk is hell-fire and damnation. (Try fitting that into a stocking). I think we often sense that getting into heaven, or earning favor with God works on a system similar to Santa's. Don't do too many bad things. Do enough good things, and you're golden. You'll make it to heaven. Or at least, God will give you good gifts. This is so contradictory to what the bible actually says, and to what I personally have experienced in relationship with Jesus. Take a gander at these bible verses in Ephesians:
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
The path to heaven here is described as undeserved. It is declared a gift from God. The clarification is made that this is not based on works. It can't be earned. It can only be received through faith in Jesus. The passage also speaks of the kindness Jesus wishes to show us. The good things he desires to give us. We see words like "grace" and "mercy," used. Mercy: not giving someone something bad even if they deserve it. Grace: giving someone something good even if they don't deserve it. That is a stark contrast to the naughty and nice list!
The bible reiterates this point in Matthew:
"For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
God is a good father who likes to give us good gifts and that is not based on our behavior. That, is the Jesus that I want to contemplate during the Holiday season.
With all due respect, Mr. President I am bowing out of the battle. Someone else will have to fight the war against Christmas. As a Christ-follower, I'd much rather stand for the downtrodden. For the widow and orphan. For the poor and the broken. For the outcast and the oppressed. I'd rather stand for love. Sure, I'll still say, "Merry Christmas," most people that I know do, religious or otherwise. I might also say, "Happy Hanukkah," or even *gasp* "Happy Holidays," at times in consideration of my friends. That doesn't mean that I won't be celebrating, even the pagan rituals, because evergreen trees smell amazing. But I want to use the Christmas season to reflect on who Jesus really is. To be in communion with him. To celebrate who he is, what he stands for, and that day when he appeared and my soul felt it's worth.
