Merry Christ Myths

The Christmas season is filled with traditions that are long held and dear to us. The word tradition is Latin and means to hand over or down. Most traditions were “handed down” verbally and they became part of the customs of our different cultures.

Most people could not tell you what the origin of the tradition is or why it is now traditional. It is like the story of the woman who always cut the end off of the ham before she put it in the oven. One day, after watching her mother cut the ham once again, her daughter asked her why she did that. She admitted that she did not know except that this is the way her mother always fixed ham. When the little girl asked why her grandmother also prepared ham that way, her mother did not know so she decided to call her mom to ask her. Her mom also did not know except that this is the way her own mother prepared the ham. When she called her mother to ask her, she replied, “Well, the pan I cooked the ham in was too small for the entire ham so I always cut the end of it off so it would fit.” Thus a tradition was born and continued.

There are a few traditions about Christmas that most people do not know the whole truth about.

1. Jesus was not born on December 25^th.

In fact, He probably was not even born in the wintertime. Luke records that “And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8). If you have ever watched the news on Christmas Eve, oftentimes they will show what Christmas looks like in the Holy Land. And it snows at times in Bethlehem. It gets downright cold in the wintertime in the Middle East. Shepherds would not have been in the fields with their sheep in the wintertime for a couple of reasons. The cold was one reason. Another reason is that, like here in the United States, the grass and other food that sheep eat stays underground during the winter months.

Shepherds in Palestine would bring their flocks out into the fields after Passover (early Spring) and bring hem back into the folds at the beginning of the first rains (early Fall – sometime in October). Shepherds would watch over their flocks night and day during this time.

Christmas actually has it’s roots in the pagan celebration of Saturnalia, or the Winter Solstice, where the Romans would decorate their homes with greens and lights and give gifts to children and the poor. Since most church goers previously enjoyed these celebrations, as they themselves were once pagans, these traditions were “Christianized” and used by the church to make a pagan holiday acceptable to avoid the possibility of alienating anyone.

I personally do not have any problem with the celebration of Christmas on December 25^th. I know why I celebrate Christmas and I do not think it does any harm to my personal relationship with God or my Christian perspective on the life that we live.

2. There were not just three magi in the nativity story and they were not present at the manger.

In fact, the magi probably did not show up until two years later. In Luke, the child is described to the shepherds as a “baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12) The Greek word used here is that used for a newborn baby, or an infant. In Matthew 2:11, “And they (the magi) came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Here, the Greek word for child is that used for little boy. Notice also that the shepherds visited Jesus, Joseph and Mary at the manger while the magi visited this family in a house.

The tradition of three wise men probably comes from these three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were probably intended for the child’s death, since infant mortality was extremely high in Jesus’ day. Gold to pay for the funeral, and incense and myrrh for the spices used to prepare the body.

In Matthew 2:1-9, the story of the magi’s audience with Herod is chronicled. It really is no surprise that they would look for a kingly offspring in the palace of the king. The fact that Jesus was probably two years old at the time of the visit comes from Herod’s reaction to the magi not returning to him. Matthew 2:16 states, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

The word Magi is the foundation of the word “magic” or “magician”. These were probably astronomers from Persia, following the Zoroastrian religion. Because of their high degree of learning, they have also been called “Wise Men”. Magi is the plural of “magus”, and the same Greek word for magi is rendered “sorcerer” in the Book of Acts when Paul confronts a man named Elymas and prayed that God would take his sight from him. (Acts 13:8)

Another point in the story of the magi is that these “three” are actually given names. Caspsr (or Gaspar), Melchoir, and Belthasar are the names that are associated with these three wise men. But in actuality, these names are not found in the most reliable source for the nativity, the Bible. In other cultures, Christians, Syria and Ethiopia for example, use other names for the same three characters.

The story in Matthew does record that when the magi visited Herod, he was “disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:3) Understanding that Jerusalem was a major city, much like New York City today, it gives the visit of the magi another perspective. The visit of three stargazers in this major metropolis probably would not cause that much of a stir. But a caravan of a dozen or so with all of their guards and servants might. Since this journey took the better part of two years to accomplish, they would have been well provisioned for the journey out and back. And all of this simply to pay homage to a king of another country, and even another world.

3. Christmas is not the pivotal celebration of the year for the true Christian.

In its true form, Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, the coming of the Desire of the Nations. But the pivotal festival should be Easter, where Jesus cried, "It is finished." And that not so much His being crucified, but His rising from the dead on the third day. That is where we actually had the opportunity to come into God's presence without fear. Note that when He died, the veil between the holy place and the Holy of Holies was torn from the top to the bottom. (Mark 15:38) This confirmed, and today still confirms, that the way is made open to God without the help of any man.

Today, Christmas remains a cultural tradition in the western world. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the arrival of the only hope for mankind. It does not have to be the marketing nightmare we have made it. When talking about Christmas in terms of retail sales, I once heard a Wal-Mart manager say, “Folks, this is the reason for the season.”

But knowing that this story is about a real young girl, Mary, a real man, Joseph, and a real baby, Jesus, who happens to be a real God in a real time and place makes it magical enough on its own merit.

Of Preachers and Profits

There is no doubt about it, preachers have a tough of it. They get hammered on both sides. God tells them what their job is and holds them to a terribly high standard. And the people that they are here to help tell them what they are supposed to look like, or, what they are not supposed to look like.

And their job does not just have these problems. There is also the temptation factor, which is amplified simply because they are preachers. They walk a fine line between compromising their beliefs in order to fit in and appearing to sit in judgment of their flock. The snares that their congregation can get caught in are not allowed for them. Being a recovering alcoholic, drug addict, gambling addict or, dare I say it, sex addict, is acceptable for secular society (a long as they are recovering). We will accept the banker who is dealing with his addiction and applaud him for his strength. We give grace to the plumber who is addicted to gambling

Preachers are especially prone to the three basic sins that plague us all: The carnal nature acted out, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Basically sins based on what you feel, sins based on what you see, and sins based on who you think you are or will become if you get what you desire. Simpler still, money, women and power, or fame. Satan really has not added to his arsenal since the Garden of Eden. He told Eve, "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food (sins based on what you feel) and pleasing to the eye (sins based on what you see), and also desirable for gaining wisdom, (sins based on who you think you are or will become if you get what you desire) she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." (Genesis 3:4-7)

This is also the tactic he tried on Jesus after He came out of the desert after fasting for 40 days. First he tried to tempt Him with carnal cravings. "The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." (Matthew 4:3) Next, he tried to tempt Jesus with pride of life. "Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' " (Matthew 4:5, 6)
Jesus could have bypassed the cross and the pain associated with it by simply jumping off the tower and allowing angels to catch Him. And lastly, the Tempter tried the lust of the eyes. "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." (Matthew 4:8)

Let me share a few simple things before I continue. 1) The tempter was not lying about anything he offered Jesus. He could have delivered everything he said he could, including the angels catching Jesus if He chose to jump off the top of the tower. All of it was true. 2) There was nothing inherently evil in any of the things with which the Tempter tried to entice Jesus. Just like there is nothing inherently wrong with wealth, women (or sex), or power (fame). And 3), everything he tried to tempt Jesus with was God's will for Him in the first place: that he get something to eat, that he be known to everyone in the world, and that He inherit all the kingdoms of the earth. All of it would come in its own time.
I want to talk about the issue of preachers and money as this is one of the easiest traps for a minister to fall into. Since 84% of the churches in the United States have 500 people or less attending each week, finances are a delicate subject for most churches and their pastors on a regular basis. The average pastor receives a salary and housing package that equals roughly $31,000 per year. That is the average, with some making a whole lot more and some making a whole lot less. Obviously, the smaller the congregation, the smaller the salary package for the pastor.

Most churches would rather have a pastor who is frugal than one who is a spendthrift. But either extreme is not what God intended for His church. Some pastors who have fallen into this trap of "money as a god to be reckoned with" use the argument that "we are to be good stewards" and therefore justify all sorts ofun -Christian behaviors to keep their balance sheet in the black. This can be anything from skimping on the quality of equipment or materiel used in the church to withholding payment, either partial or full, from staff for supposed sins in the lives of their fellow workers.

One area where pastoral staff get into trouble is in the area of their personal giving. One retired minister was heard saying, "I do not have to pay tithe on my salary since I am a minister." When God called for the tithe, or tenth, of all income (Malachi 3:10), He did not make a distinction between the minister and congregation. All were required to pay tithe. We do not pay our tithe to the church itself, although that is where the actual money goes. We pay tithes to God as an offering and the church leadership is responsible to God for the proper use of that money. The leadership actually has a more dire responsibility than we do as they must answer to God Himself for the handling, or mishandling, of the finances. We do not hurt the church or the pastor by not paying tithes. Those people who think they pay the pastor's salary have it wrong. They simply honor God with their "first fruits" and God uses that money to pay the pastor's salary.

Although pastors that become greedy do not seem to fall quite as dramatically as those that fall to sexual sin (I think of JimmySwaggart and Jim Baker as prime examples), there have been those whose financial excesses have caught up with them (Jim Baker's air conditioned dog house and Larry Lea's financial woes surrounding his aggressive fund raising are two that come to mind). They might get away with it for awhile, but not for ever, and some times, not for long.

One thing is certain, although God is not a bean counter, nothing slips by His watchful gaze. And the shepherds that are charged with watching the sheep should be very careful when it comes to the subject of ethics., be it money, women (sex), or power (fame). This may be an Old Testament quote, but the words ring as true today as they did when they were written. "And you may be sure that your sin will find you out." (Numbers 32:23)