Holy day...

We are rapidly aproaching this great holiday of Christmas! I've been fortunate enough to actually be able to spend some time with family, my sister has been here all week and leaves tomorrow. We've had a great time! This has been the most time ever that just her and I have spent together...without any parents. Like I've said, it's been a great time! I received an email from one of my fellow brothers about Christmas, he writes:
"I recently heard some disturbing news about Christmas this year. The report is that larger churches, particularly those in major cities, are foregoing church services on Christmas Day.

Why?

To me, this makes no sense. Granted, there will be people who skip, preferring to sleep late, or visit family, or stay home so they can participate in that mainstream commercialism of Christmas known as "opening presents." But to me, Christmas is not just a holiday, but a Holy Day, and if God's Church is not going to celebrate it as such, then who is?

And this year Christmas falls on a Sunday, which now gives us two reasons to celebrate this doubly Holy Day, the Lord's Day and Christmas.

Through the grapevine of the mainstream media, I keep hearing about this so-called "War on Christmas." Apparently some Christians are complaining because major retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are foregoing the use of "Merry Christmas" in favor of the more eclectic "Happy Holidays." Now, I'm not going to argue one way or another whether such a "War on Christmas" is a genuine effort to secularize the holiday or not. But I will say this: if you want to win this so-called "War on Christmas," then it seems to me the best way to do so is to celebrate it in the appropriate way: In Church. That's right. Instead of following the way of the world and ignoring the call to celebrate the Lord's Day, I am suggesting actually attending Church, giving thanks to God for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, and celebrating the mystery of his Incarnation among fellow believers in Christ.

And granted, these large churches may be looking at diminished attendance on the Holy Day, but so what? Surely there must be some Christians out there—even those that attend these big city mega churches—that want to celebrate the Holy Day. It would seem to me that the Church has a responsibility to minister to their needs, rather than to accommodate those who choose to ignore the Holy Day.

I am reminded of that old cartoon, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In this cartoon, that mean old Grinch decides to ruin the holiday by stealing everybody's stuff. He takes not only their decorations and presents, but also all their food, leaving them absolutely nothing. But on Christmas Day, the people celebrate anyway. Why? Because Christmas was something far bigger than anything the Grinch could do to stop it. They celebrated anyway, because Christmas wasn't about presents and food, but something far deeper. To us Christians, it is nothing short of the birth of our God, when our Lord left his heavenly glory and took upon himself our lowly human estate. Our God came down from heaven so to meet us.

So do you care about keeping the "Christ" in "Christmas?" Then get up on Sunday and go to church. And if the church you normally attend is one of those that decided to close on this Lord's Day, then find one that is having Christmas services and attend there. And let the leaders of your regular church know that you think it far more appropriate that they actually celebrate Christ's coming than to follow the ways of the world by shutting their doors to worshippers on this most holy day. Let's not let that mean old Grinch steal the true meaning of this holy day from us.

Oh, and one more thing: if the concern is to give your pastor a chance to enjoy the holiday, then that is commendable. But instead of foregoing worship, perhaps it would be more appropriate just to have Scripture readings and music instead of a sermon. Personally, I plan to preach both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but I can certainly understand a pastor wanting a chance to relax. I just don't feel it is appropriate to forego worship on this holy day, especially when Christmas is on a Sunday." -Thomas Wright (A fellow LCMS brother.)