Isaiah 1:10-20      Holiday Or Holy Day?

Rev. David Holwick   ZN                             CHRISTMAS

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

December 10, 2017

                                                  Isaiah 1:10-20


                  HOLIDAY OR HOLY DAY?



  I. What holidays are good for.

      A. Funny greeting cards.


         T.M. Moore enjoyed reading funny greeting cards as a kid.

            He liked one of them so much he actually bought it.

         The outside had a tipsy, red-nosed guy with a glass in hand.

            His bubble says, I only drink on holidays.


         You open it up and inside a little red booklet was glued to

            the card, entitled, A Calendar of Holidays.

         The little red book lists 365 holidays, one for each day of

            the year.

         A lot of them are made up, like Kick a Cocker Spaniel Day

            which is followed by Nurse the Bite Your Cocker Spaniel

               Gave You Day.


         He was just a kid, but it got him to thinking about the

            significance of holidays.

                                                                   #35575


      B. Every culture has them.


         This months National Geographic had a short article on holidays

            around the world.

         The United States has 10 official ones.

            Only one of these is religious - Christmas.

         India, on the other hand, has 48 holidays and 43 of them are

            religious.

         What would you do with an extra 38 holidays each year?

                                                                      [1]


      C. Holidays were supposed to be holy days.

          1) Even in ancient Israel they soon became corrupted.

          2) Isaiah quotes God himself as saying:


                Your appointed festivals I hate with all my being.

                    They have become a burden to me;

                 I am weary of bearing them.


          3) Mega-holidays like Christmas can wear us out, too, but

                our reasons are different.

              a) What God hated was the hypocrisy.

              b) They went through the motions of the holiday but their

                    hearts were full of hatred and injustice.

              c) God says they shouldnt expect any of their holy day

                    prayers to be answered.


      D. How do you handle this holiday?

          1) Do you enjoy it, or is it too much so you burn out?

          2) Is this Christmas season in any way spiritual for you?

              a) Not just, do you make it spiritual or religious, but

                    do you experience any connection with God through it?

              b) If your experience falls short, perhaps you can do

                    something about it...


II. Church leaders in the past felt the tension.

      A. Luther loved holidays.

          1) He liked the singing and the food and the festivities.

              a) Luther liked beer, so alcohol at Christmas was fine

                    with him.

          2) His attitude can be called nominative - if God doesnt

                forbid something, then you can do it with a glad heart.

          3) Luther looked at Christmas celebrations and said, Joy to

                the World!


      B. The Reformers - Calvin and Zwingli - were more skeptical.

          1) These men were a huge influence on the early American

                society, most of whom were Puritans.

          2) Their attitude can be called regulative - if something

                is not explicitly ordered in the Bible, then you

                   shouldnt do it.

              a) In the New Testament, December 25 is never mentioned.

              b) Christians dont give gifts to each other or have

                    parties to honor the birth of Jesus.

              c) Therefore, you shouldnt either.

          3) Calvin felt the way Europeans did Christmas was an

                abomination.

              a) Lots of drinking and carousing around.

              b) For Calvin, the only good thing to do on Christmas was

                    to go to church and meditate on your sins.

              c) His attitude to the season was, Bah humbug!

                   (Puritans even fined people for celebrating Christmas)

                                                                   #65427


III. Christmas has some big issues.

      A. The date is problematic.

          1) There are clues in the Bible that point away from December.

              a) It is a cold, rainy month in the Middle East.

              b) Flocks would not have been outside all night, but

                    sheltered.

              c) And the Romans would not order a census to be taken

                    in the rainy season, when roads might be impassible.

          2) Autumn has more going for it.

              a) The best clue is found in Luke 1.

                  1> Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist.

                  2> He is also a priest in the Abijah division which

                        had a rotational duty in the temple.

                      A> From other ancient sources we know what this

                            schedule was.

                  3> When his division had to do its temple duties,

                        God told him his son would soon be conceived.

              b) Jesus, Johns cousin, was born six months after John.

                  1> Since the division of Abijah had its service in

                        the month of Tammuz, or June/July, then Jesus

                           would have been born in the month of Tishri.

                  2> This happens to be when Jews celebrate the festival

                        of Tabernacles.

                  3> In our calendar it is September, and some pinpoint

                        the birth of Jesus between the 16th and the 29th.

                  4> So perhaps Jesus was born on September 27 and I

                        share his birthday!

                      A> (I am glad I dont because that would mean

                            fewer presents.)                       #65966


      B. The pagan associations are a concern.

          1) December 25 wasnt adapted by Christians until 300 years

                after the birth of Jesus.

              a) It also happens to be when the ancient world celebrated

                    the winter solstice.

              b) The pagans worshipped the sun on that day.

              c) Even early Christians admit they were trying to subvert

                    that holiday and make it Christian.

          2) Some early Christians were opposed to his holiday.


             Tertullian was one of the great Church Fathers of the

                second century after Christ.

             He was born into a pagan family and converted later.


             Tertullian had a puritan mindset.

                He wanted the church to break all ties with paganism.

             He had a real problem with getting sucked into these

                holidays, particularly Christmas and New Years.


             In his comments we see reference to the pagans holiday

                trappings that have passed down largely unchanged to

                   our own day:

             Tertullian wrote:

                On your day of gladness, we [Christians] neither

                    cover our doorposts with wreaths, nor intrude upon

                       the day with lamps. [they put these on porches]

                 At the call of public festivity, you [pagans] consider

                    it a proper thing to decorate your house like some

                       new brothel.

             We [Christians] are accused of a ... sacrilege because we

                do not celebrate along with you the holidays of the

                   Caesars in a manner forbidden alike by modesty,

                      decency, and purity.


             Tertullian also contrasted the pagans faithfulness to

                their pagan festivities with Christians faithlessness

                   and their tendency to compromise their beliefs.

             He wrote:

                The Saturnalia, New Year, Midwinter festivals, and

                    Matronalia are frequented by us!

                 Presents come and go!

                    There are New Years gifts!

                 Games join their noise!

                    Banquets join their din!


                 The pagans are more faithful to their own sect.

                 For, even if they had known them, they would not have

                    shared the Lords Day or Pentecost with us.


                 For they would fear lest they would appear to be

                    Christians.

                 Yet, we are not apprehensive that we might appear to be

                    pagans.                                       #65966


      C. The way we honor Christmas is often unchristian.

          1) Someone told me many corporations are banning alcohol at

                their Christmas parties this year.

              a) They are concerned their employees will get liquored

                    up and flirt with each other and have to get fired.

          2) Even without drunkenness, there can be an awful lot of

                excess during this holiday season.

              a) Too much debt, too much rich food, too many relatives.


IV. How Christmas can be done right.

      A. The Old Testament saw an important purpose in holy days.

          1) Holy days reminded the people of the greatness and grace

                of their God.

          2) Holy days renewed their identity as the people of God.

          3) Holy days strengthened their souls.

              a) These festivals gave them opportunities to serve God.

              b) They also gave them opportunities to bond with their

                    neighbors.

                  1> Feasting was common at many of the holy days.

                  2> Luther would have fit right in.

                                                                   #35575


      B. Christmas is tailor-made for significance.

          1) It celebrates an important and unique event - God became

                a human being.

          2) It reminds us of the joy and potential of a newborn.

              a) Not just the joy at the baby Jesus, but our own joy

                    that we can be born again.

          3) It gives us opportunities to share joy and material

                blessings with others.

              a) The Wise Men shared their joy at the birth of the

                    Messiah by giving gifts.

              b) Since Jesus said that gifts given to the least of

                    these were gifts to himself, our gifts to each other

                       can fit the spirit of Christmas.

                  1> That is why I like our Christmas gift card ministry.

                  2> People who can really use some material help are

                        blessed through the generosity of believers.

          4) It gives us an opportunity to truly worship God.

              a) This might be where we fall the shortest.

              b) God is kind of at the end of the line when it comes

                    to Christmas celebrations.

                  1> Fewer and fewer go to church these days.

                  2> The whole focus is worldly.

                  3> But it doesnt have to be this way.


  V. Put the holy back in your holiday.

      A. Look to his Word.

          1) On your own, outside of church, read one of the Christmas

                passages in the Bible.

          2) The beginning of Matthew and Luke are the best places find

                them, but the first chapter of John is good, too.

          3) Recognize the sweep of history portrayed there, that Gods

                son is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies.

          4) True believers were overjoyed to see the birth of this

                child.


      B. Spend some quiet time.

          1) Christmas is a very busy time.  Especially for pastors!

              a) Next year will be very different for me.

              b) But this year can be different as well.

          2) Take time in a quiet place to reflect and pray on what God

                has done for you and your family.

          3) And thank him for it!



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


[1] "The Holy Days," by Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, December 2017.


#35575  Preserving the Holy In Holidays, by T.M. Moore, Breakpoint

           Worldview magazine, December 18, 2008.


#65427  Reformers Disagreement On Christmas Yields Lessons, by David

           Roach, December 13, 2016; <Baptist Press; <link>.


#65966  Was Jesus Born On December 25 - Christmas Day? From the website

           of the United Church of God [an offshoot of Armstrongs

           Worldwide Church of God], January 26, 2011; <link>.

           The Tertullian quotes come from David Bercots A Dictionary of

           Early Christian Beliefs, 1998, p. 342.


           Additional data on the date of Jesus birth was gathered from

           The Course of Abija, by William Struse, The 13th Enumeration

           blog, January 6, 2013; <link> and When Was Jesus Born? by

           John O. Reid (1930-2016), FORERUNNER, December 1994; <link>.

           The timing of the priestly service courses is not entirely

           clear.


These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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