It has been said: "There are three stages of a
man's life: Stage 1. He believes in Santa Claus; Stage 2. He doesn't believe in
Santa Claus;
Stage 3. He is Santa Claus!"
As we approach Christmas it might be nice to consider our
thoughts on this time of year. It is a wonderful season, but it is important
that we ask ourselves what is the reason for this season in our hearts.
Hebrews 1:1–2 Long ago God spoke many times and in many
ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has
spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an
inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.
When I grew up there was a commercial that I remember
between 2 different laundry soaps. The name of one was given but the other was
called Brand X. So Brand X became synonymous to me as something unknown. Later
in life I started noticing that sometimes, instead of seeing the word Christmas
spelled-out, I would see Xmas. I knew that the word Christmas was a combination
of Latin and Greek, “mass” meaning Festival, which led me to understand that
Christmas means Christ's Festival, this made sense to me, this season would be
a time to celebrate Who Christ is. I did not understand at all the point of
Xmas. Now, having learned Greek, I understand that the "X" comes from
the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, when
translated into English is "Christ". However, at a young age I did
not understand that and so the idea of calling Christmas, Xmas, was not
something I liked. Although I was not in a relationship with Jesus Christ at
this time, I had a great respect for what I heard and read about the Son of
God. For me, Xmas meant an unknown Festival. So I would like to challenge our
thoughts as we consider what Christmas means to us.
Much of the world is missing the whole point about
Christmas. So many in the world celebrate Christmas more in the sense of how I
viewed “Xmas” as a young man. Instead of saying “Christ mas,” they see it as “?
mas!” Having a festival for a reason unknown to them. This should be a caution
to all of us. We get soooooo busy that we barely take the time to ponder why we
celebrate this season.
Many years I hear this in the news: "Some businessmen are
saying that this could be the greatest Christmas ever!”
Since I have come to understand Who Christmas is about and why…I
think that the first Christmas was the greatest one!
This saddens my heart and as I considered it, my focus was
brought to a passage that has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, but
sheds a lot of light on the problem we have today.
Acts 17:16–23 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens,
he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. He went
to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he
spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. He also had a debate with some of the
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his
resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange
ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some
foreign gods.” Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and
tell us about this new teaching,” they said. “You are saying some
rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” (It should be
explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to
spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.) So Paul, standing before the
council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very
religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw
your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an
Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m
telling you about.
V. 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was
deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
Athens was a great and beautiful city, with a lot of idolatry…much
like the world today, including so called “Christian” nations.
V. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and
the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who
happened to be there.
Paul went to where people who were willing to talk about God
were. Sadly, today I see many who feel “religious” folk are a waste of time. This is NOT the
mind of God…God loved “ALL”!
V. 18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and
Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they
said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked
up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
Epicurean’s meaning is "a helper: defender" and
is the name of a group that derived their name from Epicurus who lived 342-271
B.C. He was a philosopher of Attic descent, the school of Epicurus, called
"The Garden," at Athens had the popularity with it’s followers as the
"Porch" of Zeno and the "Academy" of Plato. The teachings of
Epicurus were embraced by many in Asia Minor and Alexandria in 95-90 B.C. The desire
of Epicurus was to find in philosophy a practical guide to happiness. Pleasure,
not Truth was the end at which he aimed; Experience, not Reason was the test on
which he relied. Due to this, his teachings degenerated into materialism. Thus,
Epicurism was the popular philosophy at the beginning of the Christian era. The
Epicureans believed in gods, but those gods held no interest in the earth. Their
focus was to experience pleasure in it’s fullest, with no thought of the
future.
The other group Paul dealt with were the Stoics, which
means "of the portico"; hence the “Porch”. A brief understanding of their worldview would be Stoics
believed God is everywhere, live with nature, the brotherhood of man, which
included the teaching of no sin nature. This school was founded by Zeno of
Citium cir. B.C. 280. Zeno’s successor was Cleanthes and he became the intellectual
founder of the Stoic system. The Stoics believed god was made up of the
universe and it’s power. Another name would be nature and is made up from the
divine energy. They believed we should not be morally indifferent, be in harmony
with nature. They sought to free from suffering through “peace of mind.” Many
believe that Stoics had a close connection to the Christian morality. However,
their morality was based on pride, not humility; they espoused individual
independence, where Christianity teaches all to have a Total faith and
dependence on another (God), they trusted in fate for the resolution of
circumstances, believers trust in Providence. As with all other beliefs, the
KEY difference is that for believers all of life is impacted by a personal
resurrection!
These folks called Paul a Babbler. The original is σπερμολόγος spermológos; a trifler, babbler, chatterer who picks up and repeats trifling
things. It is said that the Athenians applied this name to those who made their
living by collecting and selling refuse they found in the market places.
Therefore, they were men of no account, low and contemptible persons.[1]
V. 22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them
as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,
Notice Paul’s approach – looking to Bridge to these folks, not
judge them!
V. 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines.
And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This
God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
How many will celebrate Christmas this year, in reality will be
celebrating “Xmas”; A festival for an
unknown God?
The trees, lights, decorations, songs and presents are all
nice things about this season. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire stirs my
heart with “warm and fuzzy” feelings also, but they miss the point completely.
It’s like the “cease fire” nations at war have on Christmas day. Here is that
message: “We will call off the war
for one day, think about love, peace and the brotherhood of man…but then I will
kill you if I can of December 26th???”
Only an Unknown God can lead to that kind of answer in life!
After Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the President
of the United States said this: "The planting of human feet on the moon is
the greatest moment in human history!" Sometime after that Billy Graham wanted to gently set the
record straight. He said: "With all due respect to the President of the
United States, the greatest moment in human history was not when man set foot
on the moon, but when the infinite eternal God set foot on the earth in Jesus
of Nazareth!"
This is the reason for the season…it is CHRISTmas, not Xmas.
John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full
of grace and truth.
Let us not allow the business of this time to distract us from
what’s
really important this Christmas!
A number of years ago a newspaper gave an account of a
christening party in a wealthy Boston suburb. The parents had opened their palatial home to friends and
relatives, who had come to celebrate the wonderful event. As the party was moving along and the
people were having a wonderful time eating and drinking and celebrating and
enjoying one another, somebody said, `By the way, where is the baby?' The heart
of that mother jumped, and she instantly left the room and rushed into the
master bedroom, where she had left the baby asleep in the middle of the massive
bed. The baby was dead, smothered
by the coats of the guests."
Let’s not allow anything to smother Jesus out of our Christmas!
Meditation: How are you approaching this season? Focused on
parties, presents and social occasions? How about meditative time with your
Lord and understanding what He did for you and the entire world? How are you
communicating that to those around you? Sloooow down…and enjoy this season
with the One that made it!
[1]
Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word
study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG
Publisher
