Christmas: Stop majoring in the minor
It’s that time of year again when Christians must answer numerous questions, queries, concerns, doubts, and fears about Jesus and Christmas. Some of the questions and concerns include, is Jesus real? Was He really born on the 25th of December? Isn’t Christmas a pagan festival? What about the winter solstice? Isn’t this what was celebrated by the Romans and adapted by Christians and repurposed as the birth of Jesus? Indeed, there are countless other questions which I do not intend to answer in this article.
However, at the same time, we must reckon with concerns such as the commercialization of Christmas as more a money making rather than a religious activity. In addition, the idea that Jesus is somehow caught up in the consumerist, materialist and atheistic cultures seems to suggest a commemoration that is possibly fast becoming redundant, or is it? Moreover, it’s conflation with Hanukah, a Jewish celebration, and other religious observances, which focus on joy, peace, hope, and love, could possibly give the impression that it’s just one holiday among many and should therefore be embraced as such. Nevertheless, the question remains, what is Christmas?
Christmas is a season
Christmas is a season on the Christian calendar, not just one day but twelve, which ends on the 6th of January as the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorated as the time the magi, or wise men, visited Jesus in Bethlehem, about two years after his birth. For some Christians, then, bearing in mind there are others who do not subscribe to Christmas as the occasion to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the movement or way of life embraces Christmas as the birthday of Jesus. Without denying there are definitely pagan elements incorporated into the celebration, such as the focus on light, which is significant for northern climes where it is especially dark for long periods at this time of year, yet, at the same time, the symbolism of Jesus as the light of the world (John 8:12) has not been lost on the joys of the season.
At the outset, that is, within the context in which Jesus was born, somewhere between 4 BC and 2 AD, the occasion was celebrated as a divine epiphany represented, for example, by the angels in Luke’s gospel (Lk 2:14), by Mary and Joseph (Matt 1:18-25), the animals in the manger (Lk 2:7) and the magi or wise men (Matt 2:1-2). In this sense, Jesus’ birth has cosmic implications in that there is a definite divine intervention in the world and in the ordinariness of human life on a day to day basis. Hence, shepherds (Lk 2:8), a class of people regarded as outcasts and despised, despite the fact that they help to feed the nation, nevertheless, hear and respond to the good news of Jesus’ birth, their lives are transformed for good, hence they ran to see the divine miracle (Lk 2:8).
Christmas is the story of salvation
Salvation, liberation, freedom or transformation are just some words that come to mind when I think of the reason for the celebration of Christmas. In this way, whether the birth of Jesus took place in the winter, spring, summer or autumn, the message is the same, the God of love is now resident, active, and alive in the world (John 3:16). I’m particularly interested in a perspective shared by writer Robert Williamson in an article entitled The Politics of the War on Christmas. Williamson uses the song of Mary, commonly called the Magnificat, in Luke 1, to make the point that Mary represents the core message of Christmas as she points to Christ’s birth as a cosmic shift in which the powerful are cast down and the lowly, humble or poor are lifted to a place of dignity, honour, worth, and value. In other words, salvation means God sees the plight of the downtrodden, is paying attention, responds and ‘will cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift the lowly to a position of power and prestige. The recent collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, after fifty years of rule by one family, with all its complex dynamics of geopolitical seismic shifts and power struggle, may very well be, for those who will pay attention, indicative of a modern Mary paradigm of liberation.
Christmas is a revolution
To celebrate the birth of Jesus in December could be considered, at best, arbitrary, however, on closer examination it could be viewed as a revolution. For example, it is not likely that shepherds would be out in the field in winter. Nevertheless, there is no reason to doubt the veracity of the birth of Jesus, and hence his authenticity, as the New Testament did not so much give a month, day nor year of his birth, as the focus is primarily on poor working-class people who experienced his presence first hand and were joyful and happy. In fact, where there was reference to positions of power and prestige, as in the case of Herod’s household on the occasion of the visit of the magi (Matt 2:1-12), there was much skepticism, and, only when the powers were informed that the birth was prophesied in scripture was there a measure of acceptance, albeit for more political and nefarious reasons.
Williamson, whom I cited earlier, refers to Christmas as a revolution. With the idea of a fundamental change in mindset, attitude and systemic change at its core, the focus is on the season of Christmas as a time to delight in God. Not to highlight a consumerist Christmas, which coopts the Christ child into a system of ravenous self-gratification and economic exploitation, while lining the pockets of the wealthy. Rather, Christmas is a season of good cheer, which means, its message points to health, dignity, and the well-being of all, especially the poorest of the poor. It is a time to love our neighbors, to cross the lines that divide us as friends and family, heal the divisions that separate us, rich and poor, Black and White, uptown and downtown, while taking steps to repair the damage we have done to others in our quest for goods rather than God.
This concentration on Christmas as a season to focus on divine love and human dignity is likely to result in the transformation of systems, structures and processes which could very well result in a better world for all to live, work, raise families and do business. To this end, we must focus on Christmas as a season to celebrate life, God’s life of joy and love and avoid quibbling over, or, majoring in the minor.
Rev. Garth Minott is the Suffragan Bishop of Kingston.
