Note: For those who do not like to read posts of a "religious" nature, this won't be for you. UNLESS you want to hear a Christian complain about how petty we can be and how we can focus on the most unimportant of things. If so, read on.
I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh. To my way of thinking it was just so silly. That shouldn’t have been my response, of course, for several reasons. I should have responded the way I always try to when I see things from a different perspective than someone else, “I very respectfully, but also very strongly, disagree.” Not that those with whom I disagreed would know and get their opportunity for rebuttal. After all, they were on TV.
As is frustratingly the case, way too often, I saw perhaps a minute or two of something Allan was watching on television. There were several older women, all in their red Christmas sweaters, explaining their decision to take issue with the phrase “Happy Holiday”. They had determined that this phrase would be unacceptable to Jesus. How did they know? The spokeswoman (I guess) explained that they had tried to think what Jesus would say if He were here now, sitting at a table with them. They felt that if they were to ask Him about saying “Happy Holiday”, He would say He wanted us to greet each other with “Merry Christmas”. As I left the room laughing, I told Allan they must know a different Jesus than I do. The one I know would ask about people. He would want to ask about hungry children; about our lack of peacemaking, and our war, etc. After having my little “say”, off I went to complete whatever task it was that I was working on.
Later on, mulling the whole thing over, I asked myself how those ladies could say, with complete conviction, that they knew what Jesus would say about some modern day controversy which is not directly addressed in the Bible? (I’m always impressed, but also intimidated, by such people.) I just did not understand on what basis they could assert that Jesus would care about our greeting to one another, as long as any greeting was loving toward one another. The Jesus they know so well as to easily imagine Him at the table with them is not, to my knowledge, found in the Bible. In the three years before going to the cross, the Jesus I read about ate with sinners. He fed people. He healed illness. He healed blind people. Those unable to walk, He touched and gave them the gift of mobility. He took time to talk to people. He cried over them. He made not one complaint on the cross. He was ridiculed and made fun of. He said nothing.
In these descriptions of His actions, I simply fail to see a Jesus who would bother to take time today to concern Himself with a greeting used for a short period of time once a year. (Again, as long as it is reflective of love and peace one for another. And to my way of thinking, both “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holiday” show good intent towards those to whom either greeting is directed.) So, is the Jesus that would be at the table of these ladies a totally different Jesus than the one of the Bible? Has He changed His priorities? Is He now more interested in what people say about Him than in hunger, disease, and physical handicaps? Is His second great command to love one another as we love ourselves now replaced by the encouragement to worry about those things not essential to the human condition; those things that do not require extending our hearts, our resources, and our efforts to others?
I don’t know. If I try to imagine Jesus coming and sitting at a table with me, He is commenting on so many other things. Like the fact that last year we Americans spent approximately $450 billion on Christmas. While for a cost of only about $20 billion, clean water could be provided for the entire world. According to researchers over half of all childhood deaths are connected to dirty water. So I think Jesus might want to discuss consuming less “things” and thereby saving these lives. And I doubt lack of clean water would be His only concern. I feel certain He would be weeping over the fact that a child dies from a hunger-related cause every 6 seconds! (Just think how many will die in the few minutes it takes someone to read this!!!) The Jesus I read and study about would be a lot more concerned over these tragedies, not to mention how we have used our resources to go to war, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people, including small children. And these are merely several examples of matters that I personally believe would grieve Him a lot more than how we greet each other as an expression of goodwill.
For some reason, while thinking this over, I remembered a television show from my childhood, of all things!? (It can’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, surely!) “To Tell The truth” was a show my parents enjoyed. The show had a host, a panel of four celebrities, and guests always in groups of threes. Only one guest group was on stage at a time. The host read a brief description portraying the unusual experience or occupation of one of the three guests. The celebrity panelists, by asking a series of questions, were to determine which guest was the “real” person about whom the host had just read. If I remember correctly, these celebrities were blindfolded so as not to be able to read the body language or facial expressions of the contestants. This was because the “real” person was to respond truthfully to any questions posed. The other two guests, on the other hand, were to answer so as to deceive the panel and cause them to guess incorrectly. Once a number of questions were asked, the host asked the “real” Mr. or Mrs. Whatever to please stand.
Let’s imagine for a minute that Jesus, were, in fact, here today. He has agreed to be a guest on the “To Tell The Truth” show this December. He has agreed only on condition that He be allowed to review and approve the written description of Him. He has been given two versions, the first written by these sincere Christian women; and the second, which reflects my understanding (limited to be sure) and belief.
This man’s birthday is celebrated by many on the 25th of this month. This is because He is God who came to live among us and experience our human condition. While here He was ultimately scorned, lied about, and then suffered an agonizing death on our behalf. So He embodies the meaning of love. He has returned briefly because of His concern over the greeting we extend to one another during the season honoring His birth. His desire is that we stop wishing others “Happy Holiday”, saying instead “Merry Christmas”.
This man’s birthday is celebrated by many on the 25th of this month. This is because He is God who came to live among us and experience our human condition. While here He was ultimately scorned, lied about, and then suffered an agonizing death on our behalf. So He embodies the meaning of love. He has returned briefly because of His concern about how we are representing Him and the love He epitomizes. He is disappointed in our failure to follow His example, clearly and repeatedly given us in the book we say we must study and use as a pattern for our lives. He is disappointed that we take time to debate issues that do nothing to show this love He embodies. He would prefer we do as He did and spend the short span of our lives caring deeply about others and showing it in the same ways He did. He wants us to worry about the same things He did while dying on that cross and give nothing else undo importance. He wants us to be forgiving others, praying for them and serving their needs, just as He served our spiritual need.
And to tell the truth, I believe Jesus would choose the description I wrote. Although He would know there is much I do not understand and that I have much to learn, I think He would see that I tried, even if inadequately, to use that reference material He gave us, the Bible. I didn’t just try to make my description fit what I wanted to be true. I attempted to describe the “real” Jesus. I attempted to get to the real truth.
Note: I hate sarcasm. I work hard at avoiding it. I try to remain sensitive to when I might be sounding sarcastic. That’s why I resisted the temptation to wish anyone who might read this a “Healthy, Blessed, and Happy Holiday”.
