Some Thoughts on Including Christ in Christmas

November 29, 2018

Some thoughts on including Christ in Christmas

 

Birthdays and presents

 

When I turned five, my mother arranged a birthday party for me—the only one I remember having with guests from outside the family.  I was excited at the idea of other kids bringing me gifts.  Decades later, I remember only one of those gifts.  But I will never forget it.  One little girl brought me a magnificent toy battleship.  I could hardly wait for the party to end so I could play with my new ship without interruption.

Toy battleship similar to the one I got on my 5th birthday

 

When the festivities ended, I was horrified to find that the girl who gave me the battleship intended to take it home with her!  I’m quite sure that at age five I didn’t know what the word “gall” meant.  But my little friend was certainly full of it.  The very idea of wanting to give herself a present on MY birthday! 

 

Readers of this post are sharp enough to see where we are going with this story.  This coming month Christians throughout the world will busy themselves with celebrations of Christ’s birth.  Many will give lavish presents to family and friends.  They may even use the season as an excuse to buy some for themselves.  But precedent suggests few will think much about what they could give Him whose birthday it is.  Let’s consider the irony of this a bit further.

 

 

Joy to the world

 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare him room,

And saints and angels sing.

 

So proclaims the carol.  But many seem, perhaps inadvertently, to be teaching a modernized version to their children:

 

Joy to the world, St. Nick has come,

Let kids receive their loot!

While every heart forgets the Lord

For the guy in the red fur suit.

 

 

 

I recognize that good people can differ on the place of Santa Claus in Christmas celebrations.  It is not my intent to judge those who feel there is a place for both him and Jesus.  When our own kids were little, Santa regularly appeared in our home, just as he has done for countless years in homes around the world.  But in my more senior (and grinch-like?) years, I have come to worry about the implications of the following questions:

 

  1. Instead of “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” do we imply that the really important thing is for children to “Please Santa from Whom All Presents Flow”? Has “Hosanna!” turned into “Ho!  Santa!”?

 

  1. How many children are as concerned about Jesus’ opinion of them on Christmas Eve as they are about Santa’s?

 

  1. How does encouraging a child’s reverence for a mythical, though reputedly omniscient and benevolent being who can bestow material blessings upon all children everywhere in a single night differ from other forms of idolatry?

 

  1. Do the following passages have anything to do with Christmas?
    • “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Ex. 20:3.)
    • “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10.)

 

  1. Do our children understand clearly that while it may be fun to pretend there is a jolly fat man who visits on Christmas Eve, there really is a loving Father in Heaven who cares more for boys and girls, who bestows infinitely more valuable gifts, and who can and does bring more joy and happiness, if we will let him, than anyone in his wildest imagination ever claimed for Santa? Or will our having misled them concerning Santa Claus lead them to wonder if the Jesus story may also be a myth?

 

 

Ideas for a “real old-fashioned Christmas”?

 

The cover of the December Family Circle some years back announced that inside were “189 ideas for a real old fashioned Christmas.”  Included were suggestions for no-bake gingerbread houses, stitching special Christmas cards, and stained-glass wreaths.  There were sock dolls to make in a jiffy, Christmas paperweights, and flashcube ornaments.   Next came sparkling Christmas gift wrap, Christmas brunch, window decorations, and hassle-free festive desserts, to name a few.  For the little folks there was an attractively illustrated “I Can Read” story in which the “real” Santa Claus visited a children’s Christmas party.  Naturally, he arrived and left in his airborne, reindeer powered sleigh.  And page after page advertised toys “guaranteed to make little kids merry.”  After all, one of the ads concluded, “200 million happy kids can’t be wrong”!  (Who was it that said, “Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat”?) 

 

Perhaps in a token effort to placate the religious element there was an article by Billy Graham on the Christmas angels who announced the Savior’s birth.  But the vote ended up a lopsided 188-1 regarding what really mattered about Christmas.  The message was clear that the “good tidings” heralded to the shepherds just don’t have what it takes to bring “great joy” in this more enlightened age. 

 

What is the ratio of the material to the spiritual in our own Christmas celebration plans?  As Paul Harvey regularly reminded us, “It’s His birthday–not yours!”  Will our celebration of Christmas mean we will have neither the time nor finances to pay much attention to the Savior for all of December and much of January?

 

 

Serious suggestions for having more than a merely “merry” Christmas

 

Here are a few possible ways to have a peaceful and joyful Christmas, not just a “merry” one.  You’ll come up with others.

 

  1. Plan ahead. A Christmas takes preparation.  An “Xmas” just happens.  Have a family council meeting and get everyone on board.

 

 

  1. Give gifts to Him whose birth we are commemorating. (The Wise Men didn’t just give them to each other.)

 

For example:

 

  • Attend your church meetings. Arrive at least 15 minutes early to show the Lord your heart is really in it.

 

  • Keep the commandments with enthusiasm.

 

  • Pay a full tithing, an extra generous fast offering, and maybe even give something to the missionary fund and humanitarian fund.

 

  • Do a better than usual job in your church calling(s).

 

  • Work on your family history.

 

  • Attend the temple.

 

  1. Do extra things for people who would otherwise be forgotten at Christmas time. Jesus reminded us that “Inasmuch as ye have done it undo one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  (Matthew 25:40.)  He added: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”  (Luke 14:12-14.) 

 

 

  1. Participate in the Light the World campaign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click here for details.  

 

 

  1. Spend time with your family and loved ones–not necessarily a lot of money. Take pictures.  Create happy memories of things you did together.  Sing songs.  Tell stories.  Put on family plays and programs.  Make popcorn or candy together.  Go caroling.  Invite some friends in.

  1. Sing in the ward choir, the stake Christmas program, a Messiah chorus, etc.

 

 

  1. Give gifts which have eternal significance. For example:

 

  • Illustrated scripture story books and other uplifting books.

 

 

  • Church-related CD’s, or DVD’s, including dramatized stories from the scriptures.

 

  • CD’s of good music (the uplifting kind).

  • Family histories or compilations of family stories
  • Hymn books and scriptures for each family member
  • Temple clothing
  • Money or banks with which to begin missionary funds
  • Year’s supply or emergency supply items
  • Religious paintings or statues, such as the Christus, nativity sets, etc.
  • Copies of the Book of Mormon or other good introductory books or videos for non-member friends.

 

 

 

  1. Include Christmas decorations which have religious significance.

 

  1. Try to avoid:
    • Becoming so busy that Christmas is drudgery, with no time left for leisurely and spiritual family evenings.

  • Spending so much that you upset the family budget or convince your children that money actually can buy happiness.

 

  • Sending cards or giving gifts to people merely out of a sense of obligation.

 

  • Planning (or even attending) too many festive parties.

 

  • Displaying too many gaudy Christmas decorations in an effort to outdo the neighbors.

 

  • Postponing Church responsibilities because you are so busy and financially hard-pressed in December.

 

Christmas really can be the most wonderful time of the year.  But it takes effort. 

 

Best wishes from our home to yours for the most wonderful Christmas ever, as we bask in the earthly peace and eternal joy made possible by the birth, life, and sacrifice of Savior, Jesus Christ!

 

The Cazier home in Weston, Florida