Musings:01/11/10,Humbug to the Humbug! by John

Humbug to the Humbug!

Since early in the Fall our thoughts turned to Christmas, we've found the season refreshing, but some elements we have introduced into it tend to be a little depressing to me, and they make me wonder how God sees it. I can't second-guess God, I have no intention of trying. I just want to point out a few things we don't know. First, we don't know what year He was born. Bishop Usher in Scotland derived a mathematical system based on presumed numbers in the Scripture. I say presumed because we still aren't sure we have a correct interpretation of them. He then applied his numerical system to the Scriptures, and they were put into the King James Version. It took more than 75 years for people to decide that version was really accurate enough to be called God's Word. When they did, those numbers began to take on a life of their own. As I remember, and I may not be too accurate, he said the earth was created in 2004 bc. He also pictured the birth of Jesus at 4 bc. (Since we date our calendars on the birth of Christ, that makes Him born four years before he was born...) I've addressed that problem in an early "musing," so I won't go further with it. Second, there is never snow in Bethlehem, at least, so far as we know. There may have been more than the usual three, or four, magoi (wise men). It would be unusual for those few to travel a long distance alone at that time because of bands of robbers they might encounter. The wording of the Scripture does not indicate they arrived at the birth of Jesus, but when he was a (paideon Matthew 2:8,9), a child rather than a newborn baby. I remember vividly my eldest telling her little sister who was about two at the time that the wise men brought the baby Jesus, gold, French-fries and murder. Both of them seemed happily satisfied with that. Some detractors of our Christmas celebration have concluded our date for Christmas is not based on any real date, but rather to substitute a Christian festival for a pagan one. When I hear that one, my reply is, "So what? The point of Christmas now is to celebrate the birth of Christ. If it wasn't in the past, that was their problem, not ours. I was born October 21, 1927, but if I want to celebrate it on July the 4th with fireworks, who cares? And why should anyone care? We who know Jesus celebrate His birth!"

Another item that bothers me is our emulation of His giving gifts to men. We give gifts to each other, and that's okay, I guess. I love to receive gifts, and I don't know anyone who doesn't, but does it represent the gifts Jesus gave? We try to give special gifts for the poor and needy at both Thanksgiving and Christmas, don't we? That's two days out of 365, isn't it? What do we represent the rest of the year? Maybe Scrooge before he was visited by "ghosts"?

Don't misunderstand me. I am not in favor of forcing anyone to do things differently. I just want to say the way things are bothers me. I hope there are some things that bother you, too. If enough of us get bothered in the Spirit, we may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, and do it not because they deserve it, but because it is what Jesus told us is the blessed way! And we will begin to make all those things happen all the time. Then when December 25 rolls around again, we can look back at the year's history without being ashamed of the selfish way we've lived.

Just today, I heard of a man who apparently is trying to do just that. The way I heard it, Christmas Eve a knock came at his door. He answered it, and there was a young man standing there. He asked if he could have a glass of water. He was invited in and given a glass of water. He was on his way from college to his home about 70 miles away. His car broke down, and he couldn't get it fixed, so he guessed he wouldn't make it. The homeowner put on his coat, got his own car out and drove the young man to his father's house and returned to celebrate Christmas with his own family. I heard several men say, "I wouldn't have dared do that!" One or two said, "Well, I might have...when I was younger!" Doesn't that remind you of Hebrews 13:2? It says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." The following verses are all good for our daily living, and verse 8 is especially meaningful to me, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." If I can be like Him, and I'm trying, I want that change to last