Santa, Saved and Sanctified
By Jack Hayford
Those people who say "Bah, humbug" to Christmas fun should find a way to transform
holiday traditions into instruments of God’s love.
How do Christians make Christmas joyously special without it becoming
either paganized or too commercial? Over the years I have become
increasingly concerned with that question. And I am convinced that
we who share the deepest faith of Christmas are not required to
deny ourselves Christmas fun.
Our challenge is to find and show the way to a holy and happy celebration
of the season.
Sadly, I’ve encountered many victims of "sanctified Scroogism."
I’ve become wearied by those debunkers whose stock-in-trade
is assailing every enjoyment-filled facet of Christmas on the proposition
that God, truth and holiness are threatened by them. It’s not
hard to find sincere souls who:
- Don’t allow their children to give or receive Christmas
gifts because "to do so would be surrendering to superficial
commercialism."
- Attack everything from "The Night Before Christmas"
(written by a Bible scholar, incidentally) to "Frosty the
Snowman" on the premise that a child will confuse these fictionalized
representations with the miracle story of Christ’s birth.
- Exhaust all efforts to attack celebrating Christ’s birthday
on December 25 because "no one knows the actual date of Jesus’ birth!"
- Lambaste Santa Claus as a demon-inspired figure whose mission
is to distract us from Christ, infecting children’s minds
with the idea that both he and God are imaginary personalities.
And the beat goes on a "beating" that has left in the
wake of its assault a much larger contingent of battered souls than
blessed ones. Since my congregation has devoted itself for decades
to joyous, child-like, Bible-centered, Christ-honoring, light-spangled
"Christmasing," I’ve watched too many people get
saved and healed to doubt the wisdom of such celebration.
Sure, the silly, superficial and senseless surround us everywhere
during the holidays. But at the same time, most people display an
incredible vulnerability from Thanksgiving through New Year’s
Day.
I’ve picked up the pieces of too many mangled souls to believe
the "anti-Santa, anti-celebration" program works. I can’t
begin to number the people who have told me about turning from the
Lord because of the way their church or parents attacked the joys
of Christmas celebration. Nor can I number the souls who have received
Jesus in the midst of our congregation’s high, festive, rejoicing
times some of them admitting they had no idea that God’s love
and Christmas’ fun could be married in holy union.
Santa himself is a case study in how we can use cultural traditions
to serve spiritual objectives. Whatever arguments are mustered against
a commercialized Christmas centered in a secular Santa, I still
like the old guy.
Santa was "converted" at our house when I was a kid
"saved" to serve our family’s priorities, which never
diverted from Jesus. None of us and none of our own children were
confused about who the principal personality was at Christmas. We
never thought the family fun, secrets and teasing about Santa were
in the same league as the family’s worship and conversations
about the glorious fact that "unto us this day a Savior is
born, who is Christ the Lord!"
Santa is a dramatic emblem of a world crying out for a larger-than-life
daddy who will love his kids even when they are not perfect and
give them gifts to fulfill their longings. He’s called "Father
Christmas" in the Commonwealth nations; and at the holiday
season, most of this planet softens up to acknowledge its need of
someone like him.
Of course, that Someone is the real Father of Christmasæ "the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" who perfectly supplies
the full answer to humankind’s universal longing for a loving
and giving father: "For God so loved the world that He gave....."
I’m convinced that traditions can be applied without allowing
world-mindedness to clutter our celebrating. A congregation or family
that embraces Christmas, rather than embarking on a crusade against
it, will do more than avoid traumatizing kids by trampling on traditions.
This reactionary posturing is worse than "Scrooging," not having a ghost of a chance at accomplishing anything lasting,
other than breeding bitterness and turning people from the church.
A church or family can transform many of our cultural traditions
into instruments that serve the interests of evangelism and spiritual
training.
One way to do this is to turn the Christmas tree into a testimony
of Jesus instead of a target for derision. We did this more than
35 years ago in our home and nearly 25 years ago with our congregation.
It’s worked wonders!
At church, December’s first Sunday marks the unveiling of
our tree. It’s simply beautiful, but mostly because of the
way we observe it. At that service, we sing a melody to the tune
of
"O Tannenbaum" with lyrics I wrote to help convert the
focus from the ordinary to the extraordinary:
Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather.
Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather.
Because You came, God’s love is here.
Because You came, God’s love is here.
Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather!*
During the holiday seasonæ at home with our kids and at church
with our congregation we draw spiritual lessons from the elements
composing the Christmas tree. For example, I might make it a point
of devotional mention before we move into a time of ministry:
"This Christmastime," I would say, "we’re worshipping
Jesus in an atmosphere that reminds us of the many blessings Father
God intended for us when He sent His Son. This lovely tree, surrounded
by packages, for example, ought to speak of something far more than
human giving.
"This tree in its verdant freshness is a living testimony
of another treeæ the cross of Calvary. That cross was the first
Christmas tree, where our dying Savior was hung to bring God’s
gift of salvation to us. Through His rising from the dead, Jesus’ life has burst through the deadness of our world. And this green
tree around which we gather breathes of the life Jesus Christ is
ready to give us today.
"Notice also that around the base of this tree are many
gifts. This is an eloquent statement of the Holy Spirit’s
readinessæ even as we pray together now to give gifts of healing,
strength, provision and more. All these blessings are released to
us because of the ultimate gift God had given us in Jesus the first
and greatest present ever placed on a tree."
Sometimes at dinnertime during December, Anna and I have led our
kids in thinking of ways our Christmas tree reveals the Lord’s
goodness in giving Jesus. The creativity of a child’s insight
into truth seems to abound when given a chance to do so unpressured
by "religious" motivations. Such times have garnered deep
insights that arise simply from joyous gratitude for the way the
splendor of Christmas so magnificently can symbolize the glory of
God’s gift.
"Jesus is the bright and morning star," one child noted,
"and the star on the tree-top reminds us of that." Snow
on the branches brought the observation, "Because of the cross,
our sins are washed as white as snow." The ornaments have different
messages, depending upon their appearance, but all say, "God
has decorated our lives" with beautiful things through Jesus.
The lights radiate the testimony, "Jesus is the Light of the
World."
I don’t know how to clarify completely the issue of a "converted
Christmas" for someone ensconced in opposition to it. But I
do know two things: (1) All our kids are committed servants of Jesus
Christ, all are married happily, all are active in some ministry
and all celebrate Christmas joyfully and are teaching our grandchildren
to do the same; (2) at Christmastime, we not only have a richly
rewarding season of blessing with the body of our congregation,
but we also garner a harvest of souls who come to Jesus attracted
to the true Light amid the lesser lights of celebration.
And in that Light I long that every believer could allow and experience
such blessing. My Christmas prayer is three-fold:
I pray for God’s wisdom to discern the times and seasons and
perceive the possibilities of penetrating our culture, rather than
attacking it.
I pray the truth of Christmas becomes a liberating one, filled
with the warmth of the Father’s family love and overflowing
with the joy of Jesus, spreading a holy contagion over everything.
I pray for the Holy Spirit to help us prophesy like Zacharias,
give like the wise men, shout like the angels and sing like Mary.
* "Lord Jesus Christ," lyrics by Jack W. Hayford 1983
Annamarie Music. Administered by Maranatha! Music. Used by permission.
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