“Putting Christ Back into Christmas”
A sermon by Lay Preacher, Patrick Foster
January 12, 2025
Good morning! Thank you for being here and allowing me to speak. I pray my words don’t offend anyone. That’s not my intention.
Several times during the recent holiday season, I heard a phrase I’ve heard before, but this year I thought about it in a new light.
What I heard was that annoying familiar complaint “Let’s Put Christ Back Into Christmas.” I believe whoever coined the phrase years ago did so as part of the whole “War on Christmas” charade that’s put forth not to shine a spotlight on any actual ‘war on Christmas’ but to further divide our nation’s citizens, to force each of us into ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’ categories. It’s meant to set us off on one another.
There is no war on Christmas. There never has been, and if you really think about it, the whole idea is ridiculous. What there has been, however, a long-term lessening of the meaning of Christmas. And you know who’s to blame for that? Nearly all of us.
It’s true that large corporations have monetized Christmas by emphasizing the gift-giving part of it, as if that were the main reason for us to gather together on December 25th. Retail outlets drown us in commercials, announcements, sales fliers, special deals, etc., brainwashing us into believing that the most important thing that month is to buy the perfect gift for the ones we love. And to go with that ‘perfect gift’ we also must have the ‘perfect Christmas card, the ‘perfect meal’, and of course, take the ‘perfect selfies’ to show everyone what a perfect time we had.
Lost in all of this hogwash is the thing we’re supposed to celebrate, the real purpose of this day we all look forward to. It’s intended that we set aside this day to rejoice at the good news, the glad tidings that on this date so many years ago a savior was born to the world, a child in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, who was to free us all from the sting of death. We would learn great things from Him, wisdom that lasts forever. Through his sacrifice, we would have our sins forgiven and earn a place in the eternal kingdom of God.
Over the years it became a custom to celebrate that day by attending special masses at church, and to buy gifts for our friends and family so that they might too celebrate the day.
But the titans of Capitalism slowly altered the message, turning it into an bacchanalia of excess, with people spending far too much money on gifts and celebrations in the hope they’ll find happiness and be acknowledged as ones who truly keep Christmas well. I don’t mean to sound harsh on Capitalism; it can’t help itself. Capitalism always needs to consider the bottom line, to make sure it’s delivering ‘value’ to its stockholders. But Capitalism is not an enemy.
No, as Pogo used to say in the funny papers, “We have met the enemy and it is us”.
Each and every one of us makes the decision of how to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We can emphasize consumption, or we can emphasize faith. It’s best, I think, to enjoy giving and receiving gifts with our families and friends, with moderation and restraint, while making sure to put first the real meaning of Christmas. It’s interesting that one of the best delivers of that message is Linus in the Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon.
But getting back to what I said earlier, if you believe we need to put Christ back into Christmas, do what Christ did: Feed the poor, comfort the afflicted, love the outcast, forgive the wrongdoer, and inspire those poorest of all, the ones who live each day with no hope. Be kind to everyone, for you have no idea of the burden they carry, or of the cares and worries that drag on them every day.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be ‘Christmas people’ every day of the year, remembering to share the great tidings and joy? But we are ordinary people, who tend to move on after a holiday.
In the months to come, I think perhaps we should work on a larger goal, on putting Christ back into Christians. I think a great many Christians need to be grabbed by the scruff of their necks and given a good hard shake, and maybe a slap or two to bring them to their senses.
A few months ago, I read an article about a Southern priest who spoke to his congregation using words and phrases from the Sermon on the Mount. Afterwards, at coffee hour, the priest was approached by several members of his flock who complained about his sermon, asking why it was worded so soft and ‘Liberal’. They felt it wasn’t tough enough. Where, they asked, did the priest get those snow-flake ideas? California? Some Eastern Liberal Arts college? When the priest told them he had used the words of Christ, the complainers were certain he was wrong and nothing he said could change their mind. They felt he either misquoted Jesus or didn’t understand the bible. Crazy, right?
I find it amazing that many people think that if a person can’t work, they deserve to starve. And yet those same people attend services every December celebrating the birth of a humble man who instructed them to feed the poor.
I find it amazing that some people are morally outraged at the sight of a person receiving Food Stamps who actually owns a cellphone, as if that’s a luxury they don’t deserve. These don’t stop to think that maybe that person has children and a phone is a necessity. And they don’t realize they may have gotten it free; old cellphones can be donated to charities that have them refurbished for people too poor to buy one.
So, in the coming year, if you hear someone say un-Christian things about immigrants or about throwing people off government-funded health care, say to them ‘If you think Christ would round up millions of poor people and deport them, think again’. If you think He would allow people to die so that pharmaceutical companies can make greater profits, think again. If you think it’s more important to have the Ten Commandments hanging on the wall of every schoolroom instead of making sure hungry school kids are properly fed, think again.
I try always to remember what Jacob Marley said to Ebenezer Scrooge about being ‘a good man of business’. ‘Business?’ he screamed ‘Business?’ Mankind was my business; their common welfare was my business! May it always be so.
Amen.