I’ve been having a good, hard think over this one, and this brain blip occurred to me in the pulpit during Wednesday evening prayer. Some Christians are getting their mistletoe in a bunch over department stores saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” or the White House seasonal greeting card being, well, “seasonal” instead of specific.
Think. Maybe all this holiday hand wringing is misplaced. Are we Christians actually pleased when Christ’s Mass is used as a generic greeting by those who don’t ever participate in the Mass of Christ or trust Him for their salvation? Do we really want Christ to become a commonplace like “Good-bye” (formerly God be with you.) or “Bless you” after a sneeze?
What’s the point, really, of an atheist or an agnostic wishing me a “Merry Christmas”? At most, it’s a sign of respect for my religion; at the least, it’s a play for the contents of my wallet. But how is a store clerk at Walmart or George Bush supposed to know what my religion is, especially if I’m not prone to wear a huge cross around my neck or a WWJD bracelet around my wrist? (My black shirt and white collar tend to be a dead giveaway, however.)
If it’s respect for another’s religion, then we need to be discerning about what we say and to whom we say it. We should say, “Happy Chanukah” to the guy with the long beard wearing a yamulke. And “Happy Kwanzaa” to, I don’t know, the guy wearing African garb, I guess, even though Kwanzaa is an American invention. Go figure. We should say, “Happy Winter Solstice” to the practicing pagan. And I really don’t know what to say to the guy in the saffron robe. “Happy holidays,” perhaps.
What all this holiday politeness gets you is the Oprahfication of religion, where everyone has his or her own cultural expression of beliefs, and all religions worship the same god and lead to the same place, and isn’t this just grand that we all get along so well.
What if, instead, what we view what we say to one another in the month of December not in terms of what we think the other person wants to hear, but what we ourselves believe? As the heart believes, so the tongue confesses. When a Jewish person wishes me a “Happy Chanukah,” I take that to mean that he’s inviting me to rejoice in the Maccabee boys’ defeat of the Greeks and the recapture of the temple, which delights me too. I love to hear how God preserved His people and the temple until the coming of Jesus the Messiah, whose body is the eternal temple. I’m even thinking of getting a menorah next year, just to keep the neighbors off balance.
If someone were to wish me a “Happy Kwanzaa,” I too would rejoice in that person’s pride over his or her African heritage, just as I am proud of my German, Ukrainian, and Polish heritage. I would ponder how Christianity has deep roots in northern Africa in theological giants like St. Augustine. I would seriously think about the injustices of slavery in America, and consider the inhumanity we inflict on others who are not like us, and how prejudice and bigotry runs through every single human being regardless of their race by way of our common ancestor Adam.
If someone were to wish me, “Happy Holidays,” I would indeed be happy. This is a fun time when people string lights on their houses, and drag trees into their living room, and have parties, and buy nice things for each other. They even take the time to wrap things with colorful paper and ribbon. It is a happy time, especially when my wife gives me a new power tool for my woodworking shop (hint, hint).
I could even rejoice in a hearty “Happy Winter Solstice,” as the dark deadness of winter settles in. I would light my Yule log and raise a mug of grog to the divine Word who orders all things, the intelligent Designer who tipped this rare gem of a planet we call Earth so that there are times and seasons. I would take delight in Jesus, the creative Word Incarnate who fills all in all, the Head under whom all things are ordered, the Sun of Righteousness, whose rising from death brings healing and life to the fallen cosmos.
And I, for my part, would wish everyone without distinction a “Blessed and Merry Christmas.” Should someone say to me, “But I’m not a Christian,” I would say to them, “Nevertheless, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, became a flesh and blood human being born of the Virgin Mary in order to offer His Body and Blood to save you and all the world by His death and resurrection. And that’s why I’m saying to you, ‘Merry Christmas.’ He’s not only my Savior, He’s the Savior of the world, including you.”
That’s the wonder and joy of Christ - He’s exclusively inclusive.
Think. Maybe all this holiday hand wringing is misplaced. Are we Christians actually pleased when Christ’s Mass is used as a generic greeting by those who don’t ever participate in the Mass of Christ or trust Him for their salvation? Do we really want Christ to become a commonplace like “Good-bye” (formerly God be with you.) or “Bless you” after a sneeze?
What’s the point, really, of an atheist or an agnostic wishing me a “Merry Christmas”? At most, it’s a sign of respect for my religion; at the least, it’s a play for the contents of my wallet. But how is a store clerk at Walmart or George Bush supposed to know what my religion is, especially if I’m not prone to wear a huge cross around my neck or a WWJD bracelet around my wrist? (My black shirt and white collar tend to be a dead giveaway, however.)
If it’s respect for another’s religion, then we need to be discerning about what we say and to whom we say it. We should say, “Happy Chanukah” to the guy with the long beard wearing a yamulke. And “Happy Kwanzaa” to, I don’t know, the guy wearing African garb, I guess, even though Kwanzaa is an American invention. Go figure. We should say, “Happy Winter Solstice” to the practicing pagan. And I really don’t know what to say to the guy in the saffron robe. “Happy holidays,” perhaps.
What all this holiday politeness gets you is the Oprahfication of religion, where everyone has his or her own cultural expression of beliefs, and all religions worship the same god and lead to the same place, and isn’t this just grand that we all get along so well.
What if, instead, what we view what we say to one another in the month of December not in terms of what we think the other person wants to hear, but what we ourselves believe? As the heart believes, so the tongue confesses. When a Jewish person wishes me a “Happy Chanukah,” I take that to mean that he’s inviting me to rejoice in the Maccabee boys’ defeat of the Greeks and the recapture of the temple, which delights me too. I love to hear how God preserved His people and the temple until the coming of Jesus the Messiah, whose body is the eternal temple. I’m even thinking of getting a menorah next year, just to keep the neighbors off balance.
If someone were to wish me a “Happy Kwanzaa,” I too would rejoice in that person’s pride over his or her African heritage, just as I am proud of my German, Ukrainian, and Polish heritage. I would ponder how Christianity has deep roots in northern Africa in theological giants like St. Augustine. I would seriously think about the injustices of slavery in America, and consider the inhumanity we inflict on others who are not like us, and how prejudice and bigotry runs through every single human being regardless of their race by way of our common ancestor Adam.
If someone were to wish me, “Happy Holidays,” I would indeed be happy. This is a fun time when people string lights on their houses, and drag trees into their living room, and have parties, and buy nice things for each other. They even take the time to wrap things with colorful paper and ribbon. It is a happy time, especially when my wife gives me a new power tool for my woodworking shop (hint, hint).
I could even rejoice in a hearty “Happy Winter Solstice,” as the dark deadness of winter settles in. I would light my Yule log and raise a mug of grog to the divine Word who orders all things, the intelligent Designer who tipped this rare gem of a planet we call Earth so that there are times and seasons. I would take delight in Jesus, the creative Word Incarnate who fills all in all, the Head under whom all things are ordered, the Sun of Righteousness, whose rising from death brings healing and life to the fallen cosmos.
And I, for my part, would wish everyone without distinction a “Blessed and Merry Christmas.” Should someone say to me, “But I’m not a Christian,” I would say to them, “Nevertheless, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, became a flesh and blood human being born of the Virgin Mary in order to offer His Body and Blood to save you and all the world by His death and resurrection. And that’s why I’m saying to you, ‘Merry Christmas.’ He’s not only my Savior, He’s the Savior of the world, including you.”
That’s the wonder and joy of Christ - He’s exclusively inclusive.