So,
why then celebrate Christmas at all? It would seem logical to cease such a celebration
since our President has declared unequivocally that the United States is no
longer a Christian nation. Is he right? I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing
Mr. Obama has miscalculated the power and influence of God’s Holy Spirit that
is still very much at work in the hearts and lives of countless Americans all
across the “fruited plain.” There is no single person, organization, religious
group, or government that will ever be able to thwart the plans of God.
Then
there are the atheists. They have rallied in recent years and are flexing some political
and organizational muscle. A coalition of eight atheist groups ran a campaign
of ads this past October on the New York subway system which transports more
than five million passengers per day. The ads appeal directly to people who do
not consider themselves to be religious or affiliated with any specific religious
organization.
During
this Christmas season the American Atheists are running electric billboard ads
in New York’s Times Square that asks the question, “Who needs Christ during
Christmas? Nobody.” There has been a running debate in the media over the question
of whether or not there is a “War on Christmas.” Again, I don’t know for sure,
but it certainly seems to be more targeted and aggressive than previous years. Does
it bother me? No, not really. You see, God does not force anyone to believe in
him. It is a matter of choice.
That
brings up an important point about atheists. They often profess not to believe
in God. This is not a basic tenet of atheism. For a person to state that they
do not believe in a god leaves open the possibility that there is a god to
believe in. An atheist, by strict definition, believes there is no god to
believe in, even if a person wanted to believe in a god. The word “atheist” is
a Greek word that literally means “no god.” What atheists should say is, “There is no god
to believe in.”
So
then, back to whether we should celebrate Christmas. The president of American
Atheists, David Silverman, claims that Christmas, celebrated on December 25, is
really a Winter Solstice celebration and has been around longer than the
Christian faith. I would agree with him. However, he than advises, “Don’t go to
church.” Here’s where I disagree. If you read my article two weeks ago, “Is
Christmas Christian?” you will recall that I wrote about the various influences
on the celebration of Christmas, and that regardless of what day Jesus was
actually born is of no matter. What Christians celebrate is his birth and his
purpose for coming to this planet we call earth. Not only is it unlikely that
December 25 is the birth date of Jesus, it has been fairly safely projected
that he was born between 3 and 7 years earlier than originally determined. That
would mean instead of my being born in the year 1948, I would actually have
been born between 1951-1955. Weird! But so what? I’m here nonetheless. And just
as Jesus was born about 2000 years ago, the exact day and year are of no
consequence. He was here in the flesh.
Christian
religious groups have chosen to enter into the billboard wars with the
atheists. Here are some of those replies: “To all our atheist friends — Thank God you’re wrong.” and “You Know It’s Real. This Season
Celebrate Jesus.”
And that’s the
reason I celebrate Christmas – It’s REAL. Knowing Jesus Christ as my personal
Lord and Savior means my life has been changed – transformed – made new. That
happened because of an encounter I had with Jesus on September 8, 1972, and my
answer to him then was “Yes!” And my answer to him today is still “Yes!”
My son-in-law, Ken, is a sheet
metal worker and a master in his craft. My wife asked him to make a sign with
the words “Jesus is the Reason for the
Season.” He finished it the other night and mounted it on top of our church
marquee. He boxed in the sign so that the letters that he cut out would have
lights inside to shine so as to illuminate the letters. It has become an
attraction on Main Street with people stopping to capture its beauty in
pictures.
Because of my own experience in
knowing Jesus I could not for one minute discount the stories of countless
millions of people over the past 20 centuries who have also had a personal
encounter with him, whose lives have been changed by this God-Man Jesus.
When I celebrate Christmas, I don’t
just celebrate Jesus being born in a manger two thousand years ago. I also
celebrate his being born in my heart 41 years ago.
And that, my friends, is worth celebrating!
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