When
people come to your church this Christmas season, they want to hear the story
of Jesus. Give them what they came for.
by
Karl Vaters
“Keep Christ in Christmas” is a familiar
saying this time of the year. But you don’t expect to hear it from the local
rabbi.
For
several years I was involved in our town’s Police Chaplaincy. One year, at our
December meeting, the Methodist pastor noticed that the napkins had a picture
of Santa Claus on them. He slid one across the table to the rabbi from the
local synagogue.
“Hey
Steve,” he asked, “what do Jews think about Santa Claus?”
“Nothing,”
the rabbi responded as he picked up the napkin. “Santa is a Christmas
character.”
“But
he’s a secular figure,” countered the Methodist. “Don’t you even let the kids
get presents from Santa so they won’t feel left out?”
“No,”
he responded. “We don’t worry about that. Actually, I think Christians ought to
keep Christ in Christmas.”
Until
this point, my interest in the conversation had been minimal, but when a rabbi
tells me to keep Christ in Christmas, he has my full attention.
“Did
I hear you right, Steve?” I asked him.
“Absolutely,”
he said. “As Jews, we don’t secularize our holidays. It amazes me when
Christians water down their message with things that have nothing to do with
their faith.
“In fact, I’ve actually delivered a ‘keep Christ
in Christmas’ message to my congregation as a lesson about not diluting our
faith with non-Jewish images and celebrations.”
As
the conversation went on, my attitude shifted from curiosity to gratitude as my
friend, the rabbi, taught me the following lessons about Christmas – and about
being Christian:
1.
They’re coming to church for the Jesus story
“When
you come to a synagogue during any of our holiday seasons, you will never be
confused about which symbols are religious and which ones are secular. I assume
that if people are coming to a synagogue they are coming to see Jewish symbols
and receive Jewish teaching, and that’s all I give them. Holiness means ‘set
apart’. When we add non-religious symbols to the picture, we make it less than
holy.”
People
can, and do, go to a lot of places to get Christmas cheer. When they choose to
come to a church during the Christmas season it’s not because they want to see
more of what they can get elsewhere. They’re coming to church because they want
to hear about Jesus.
I
don’t see any need to be an anti-Santa zealot. But let’s not let this
once-a-year opportunity pass us by. And don’t water it down.
Give
them what the came for.
Give
them Jesus.
2.
Believe what you believe, but don’t be a jerk about it
“What
do you do when someone wishes you Merry Christmas?” asked my Methodist
colleague.
“I
wish them a Merry Christmas back,” responded the rabbi. “We’re allowed to say
the words, you know,” he smiled. “What would you say if someone wished you
‘Happy Hanukkah’?”
“I
say Happy Hanukkah back,” the Methodist answered.
“There
you go.”
3.
Why blend in when we can be set apart?
“So,
being around the Christmas images doesn’t make you uncomfortable?” I wondered
out loud.
“No,”
he replied. “The vast majority of our society claims to be Christian. If you
lived in Israel, you’d expect Jewish celebrations to be predominant, right?”
“Which
brings me back to my original question,” my Methodist friend responded. “What
about your kids? Don’t they feel left out when almost all the other kids are
celebrating Christmas?”
Separation
from the culture isn’t something to be embarrassed about. It’s who we are.
“No,”
responded the rabbi. “What some people call left out, we call set apart. Being
different is central to what it means to be Jewish. It always has been. So
that’s what we teach our kids. That kind of separation from the culture isn’t
something to be embarrassed about. It’s who we are.”
After
that, the conversation ended with thanks and farewells – and a few Merry
Christmases and Happy Hanukkahs, of course.
I
went home pondering these things in my heart.
And
I’ve never looked at Christmas the same way since.
Copyright
© 2016 by the author or Christianity Today.
No comments:
Post a Comment