Is Christmas Worth Fighting For?

By EVANG. MIKE AZINGER

7 FOXBORO DRIVE

VIENNA, WEST VIRGINIA

E-MAIL: MIKEAZINGER@aol.com

www.GuardingtheLandmarks.com

To many, the fight for Christmas seems futile and unworthy of our toil and efforts. The celebration of Christmas has become so thoroughly secularized and materil- istic the last decade (or two) that I personally get sick to my stomach right around November of each year at the thought of all of the "holiday" commercials coming, and it doesn’t get any better until January.

I am so tired of godless corporations and businesses - large and small - using the time that America traditionally celebrates the birth of Christ to get people to buy their products without even once mentioning His holy birth. Not only do they not mention the birth of Christ, they don’t even have the decency or integrity to mention the name Christmas.

Sadly, the word Christmas has for all intents and purposes been expunged from our modern-day vocabulary because, purely and simply, of what it represents - the birth of Jesus Christ. The word Christmas is nearly gone and with it (perhaps we didn’t expect this part) the Christmas spirit that alone makes it a little like Heaven every December.

The Christmas spirit came from God and without it we lose what Christmas is made of: the angelic melodies that lift you out of your daily drudgery and lift the spirits of all who join in singing; the manger scenes in every town and city and along every country road - cardboard snapshots of 2,000 years ago that take us back for an instant to the humble stable and that say volumes by saying nothing; the perennial pause of December that makes us all look to the Christmas symbols and listen to the Christmas music that make us - all of us - think of Christ and why He came; to give His life for us, which is why - we know this instinctively - Christmas is not about getting for ourselves, but about giving to others.

Christmas makes you feel better because it centers your thoughts and your heart around the Saviour. But we are removing the Saviour little by little every year and Christmas is becoming solely about materialism; that is why it is becoming ever more sad, more lonely, more empty and unpleasant. And - to some - it is becoming even dreadful.

The majestic term "Christmas" changed so easily to the ugly word "holiday" in recent years - like the barely noticeable turning of fall to winter - that it leaves one baffled, angry, and, frankly, somewhat distressed.

How is it that we have allowed our nation to have its Christian traditions so easily plucked from the American landscape in recent decades without hardly a fight? I suppose we should not be surprised at how easily we are losing our Christmas traditions because that is the way things have been happening since the late 60s: the ungodly rise up and demand that icons be destroyed; Christians and traditionalists barely let out a wimper in protest; and icons are destroyed.

Christmas is dying for the same reason that the many other American Christian traditions have been destroyed in the last 40 years: we no longer have our beliefs rooted in the Bible from which we used to get our backbone and conviction to stand up and fight for them.

Without a biblical foundation, things that are important can no longer matter to us: You want to say sex outside of marriage is ok? That is fine with us. You want to sacrifice the societal corner-stone of marriage on the alter of convenience? Slay away! You want to take mothers out of their homes and put the children - helpless and dying for affection - in part-time orphanages (day-care) all day long, five days a week? Have at it!

You want to destroy chivaly by scoffing at the biblical principal of the weak protecting the strong and - God forgive us - even put women in combat positions? Why not? You want to remove every vestige of God from every nook and cranny of our once Christian civilization so that America becomes nothing short of a barren secular wasteland? No objection here.

And you want to white-wash the Christmas story and every reference to the true meaning of Christmas from our culture to help us forget that it even has a Christian history and biblical roots; and thereby give us permission to do what we really want to do which is - let’s be honest - worship materialism?

Well, not only does that seem ok to most Americans, it seems really, really ok. So do it. Traditions are crashing all around us; but the Christian community is deaf and weak and innefectual and, I think, we barely even hear the thundering sound of these icons falling.

But Christmas does matter, and is, therefore, worth saving. And, frankly, many of us do care. But why does it matter? The answer in a still-Christian nation would seem axiomatic; but in the post-Christian nation that we have become, it - as queer as it sounds - needs to be answered.

Christmas matters because it is an annual, and for many, only, focus on the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Many argue, credibly, that it is more important to celebrate his resurrection, which we do to less fanfare every spring; but the fact that we take a month out of every year to talk about, hear about, and sing about one of the defining moments in history - Christian or otherwise - the birth of Jesus Christ (second only to His resurrection)- is altogether awesome and wonderful.

Every town, large and small, all over the entire nation at this time of the year is rehearsing in nearly every church of nearly every kind, the story of the Savior’s birth and will tell it in song, or in a play, or in sermon. To me, this is glorious!

The sheer ubiquity of the Christmas story being heralded in every corner of our nation should fill us still with unending praise to our God; we are yet free and we are free to worship Him. And to tell the story every year of why He came and what He did for us, is a wonderful and essential reminder for a nation that spends much of its time the rest of the year thinking about everything but God.

And the songs - the songs alone, though they are not as loud and ubiquitous as they once were - still fill the radio and churches and are still carried from house to house by the lonely but faithful Christmas carolers teaching in song and melody the great biblical doctrines once taught in churches all across our country.

It does our cold-hearted nation immeasurable good to hear, if only once a year, the haunting, joyful, and soul-stirring songs that contain words of unequalled greatness that written by saints years and years ago. But they just held the pen - God did the writing:

"Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth and mercy mild - God and sinner reconciled!"

"O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear."

"Joy to the world! the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let ev’ry heart prepare Him room, and heav’n and nature sing…"

"What Child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?"

So stand up for Christmas! America is dying, there is little doubt, but once a year our nation (that we still love!) still celebrates the birth of the only hope for mankind - Jesus Christ.

"And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace on earth, "I said; "hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.

"Yet pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men!"

Yes, peace on earth, good will to men. U