Brown Bag Christmas

Alright. Well, I think, we are getting let's see. I adjusted my watch this morning. It said December 4th. We're into that Thanksgiving Christmas corridor, I call it, you know, Into that time warp zone when nothing counts anymore. You know, I knew something was different when I drove by Walmart and it said, Walmart's open 24 hours. That means you can go to Walmart at 3 in the morning. Can you think about it? 3 in the morning.

Man. And as we know, Christmas Day, and I'm talking about Christmas, falls on a Sunday this year, falls on a Sunday, which makes it unavoidable for preachers to preach sermons about this feast. You know, you can kinda work around it, but I mean it falls on a Sunday. There's no way. You can't avoid it.

Of course, my problem is that, my family and I will not we'll be away on that Sunday. We'll be at church, but we just won't be in Choctaw that particular Sunday. So I've chosen this Sunday to talk to you about Christmas. I bet you this is the well, I wouldn't I shouldn't say I bet you because I don't bet. But I guess, I guess that this is probably the earliest Christmas sermon that you will hear.

Probably the earliest Christmas sermon anybody's gonna hear, this year. But there's a reason for that. This Christmas sermon is to get you ready for Christmas, not just to talk about it. And a lot of times we just talk about it, but I wanna get you ready for it because it's gonna happen to you. All right?

And in getting you ready for Christmas, one of the things I wanna talk about is is some of the things that you already know. You know, so let's let's kind of review some of the things you already know about Christmas. First of all, you already know that it is not a celebration that is required or spoken of in the Bible. I think we already know that idea. Although the Bible describes the human birth of Jesus Christ, it does not give instructions for us to remember his birth with some kind of ceremony.

As a matter of fact, the only ceremony that underscores birth in the New Testament is baptism. Right? That's the only thing that we do that has some significance, concerning birth. And it is not the birth of Jesus' baptism. Baptism refers to our own birth as Christians.

And that's what we live out or live through in the ceremony called baptism. In Romans chapter 6, verses 3 to 6, Paul talks about that. Now the only other ceremony that the Bible gives us is communion, which is a remembrance not of birth, but of death. The death of Jesus on the cross and of course his subsequent resurrection on our behalf. And so Christmas is a religious holiday, I understand that.

And it is based on a biblical truth. I mean, Jesus was actually born and the Bible talks about that. But it is not a necessary thing that is commanded by the Bible or even suggested. It. You can't even find a suggestion for us to celebrate Christmas looking through the New Testament.

And I think you know that. I just wanted to kind of go over that and remind you of that fact. Another thing that you know is that a lot of the things that are associated with Christmas have pagan roots and worldly purposes. I talked about that last year. I mean, I know that, or rather we know that Christmas began to be observed somewhere around the 3rd or 4th century as an effort to Christianize the usual pagan winter festivals of the time.

In those days, they had winter festivals during the December period. For example, the Roman holiday, Sola Sin victi, was celebrated during this time. It was a sun feast or a weather feast. Also, the Druids would celebrate a winter festival during this time. And these feasts and festivals during, what we now call Christmas, had a lot of pagan revelry.

A lot of sinful things that were going on during this period of time. And during this, era, the church wanted to give people a chance to keep their festivals. But they wanted to remove the pagan ideas included in these festivals and introduce Christian ideas. And that's how the feast of Christmas was born. So the holiday, the pagan holiday during the wintertime was turned into a Christ celebration.

The word mass is the Latin word for celebration. So you have Christ mass, the Christ celebration. Rather than celebrating the sun or celebrating the various pagan gods of the Druids, the church introduced the idea of celebrating Christ. And so the feast of Christ mass, Christmas, began. And along with the feast, many pagan elements were converted into Christian ideas.

For example, the Druid Yule log and other trees because the Druids would use trees in their worship. They were nature worshipers, and so they would worship different kind of trees. And so the Yule log used by the Druids was converted and replaced by the evergreen tree. And the evergreen tree was used because it represented the changelessness of Christ. The idea that it was evergreen, it was always the same, throughout all the seasons, this tree was chosen to represent the season because Christ himself was changeless.

The practice, for example, of offering gifts to the gods in those days, they'd offer gifts to the gods in order to force the gods to bring the spring weather. That's where the gift idea began. This concept was transformed, and the people began to give gifts to the poor. They would give them money and food, and fuel, and the churches would help the poor during this time of year. Now these and other, vestiges of pagan rites like wreaths and candles, whose pagan roots are long forgotten having been replaced now with Christian symbolism for so many centuries.

And so we recognize that even though the celebration of Christmas used to be a pagan celebration or was originally celebrated on a pagan date and pagan elements that were used, we know that these were converted to Christian usage and with time, Christmas has become a completely Christian idea with no reference to paganism. You'd be hard put to find anybody in the world who would interpret Christmas as a pagan thing today. It has been so converted, so changed to represent the Christian religion, so to speak, in this modern era. So so those are some of the things I think you already know about Christmas that I've talked to you about. I wanna also talk to you about things you feel at Christmas time as we review these things.

Certainly, one thing about Christmas, you know, one thing that it does is it gives us feelings, doesn't it? But not everybody has the same feelings about Christmas. For some people, the sadness of being alone or sick or in turmoil increases at Christmas time. If you're sad at Christmas time, you're sadder. If you're down at Christmas time, you're downer.

If you're blue at Christmas time, you're bluer for some reason or other. Psychologists, social workers know that Christmas time is a dangerous period for suicides because people have very strong feelings around this time of year. Another, group of people don't recognize Christmas at all. And they reject the holiday because they can't get over the commercialism, and the pagan roots, and the idea that a Christian would be involved in something religious that the Bible doesn't specifically command. Another group of people are represented by that feeling.

And still, for most, it is a time of gladness, a time of family, a time of peace, a special time with special feelings not experienced at any other time of the year. And I think the majority of people fall into that third category. But regardless of what group that you're in, one thing is for sure, Christmas affects us in one way or another. Well, I've reminded you about a few things that you know concerning Christmas, and some of the ways that we feel about Christmas time. Now I wanna share with you some of the things that you ought to do with Christmas.

See, the idea is I don't want Christmas to do something to you, I want you to do something with Christmas. That's why I'm preaching this early on before you get into the groove and we lose, you know, we lose the we lose the battle. I believe that what you do at Christmas will affect how you feel at Christmas. So here's a couple of things to do with Christmas. 1st of all, first of all, honor Christ at Christmas.

Honor Jesus Christ at Christmas. You see, Christmas, as I said, falls on the Lord's Day this year. How ironic that a man made celebration honoring Jesus comes on the divinely appointed day honoring Jesus. There's a crash here that's gonna take place. God commands that we honor Him on the Lord's day by taking the Lord's Supper.

We read the names of individuals who have not been here for weeks months, And perhaps some are worshiping with others, perhaps some have moved out of town, we don't know. But we are concerned for the people who are not worshiping with us on a regular basis over whom our elders have charge. And they've read those names to us in an effort, to regain these people back into the fellowship because the Bible says we must worship. It is a divinely appointed thing that we do when we gather together. How ironic that there is a man made celebration honoring Jesus on the very same day that there is a divinely appointed command to honor Jesus as well.

How disappointing it must and I know God must feel disappointment. If I can feel something, it means that God can feel something. I cannot feel something unless God can feel it. How disappointing it must be to God that the disciples of Jesus would not come to church to honor Jesus according to the Bible, because they find it too inconvenient to break away from their man made celebration of Jesus at Christmas time on a Sunday. How disappointing that must be to God.

The Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. Brothers and sisters, put it into your minds now, 3 or 4 weeks ahead of time, put it into your minds now that you will not insult the Lord by refusing to gather with Him around the communion table in order to celebrate Him around a dinner table with turkey and potatoes instead. The first order of business for the Christ celebration, for the Christ mass, is to honor Christ that day by attending worship. Brothers and sisters, let's keep our priorities straight no matter what time of year it is.

The day will come The day will come when there will be no Christmas, but we will always be celebrating with the Lord in the kingdom. Let's remember that. Number 2. Number 2, let's keep Christmas Christian. Let's keep Christmas Christian.

You know, a lot of people don't celebrate Christmas because it has pagan roots. And I understand their feelings. You know, I respect them. I would never force someone to celebrate Christmas, Oh, come on, don't be such a fuddy duddy! I mean, if they do not want to celebrate that feast, they have a perfect right to do so.

But I want you to know that I do celebrate it to a certain degree, because I believe the essence of Christianity is the power of conversion. In 1st Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9 to 11, Paul says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homo sexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of God. You see, the wonder of Christ is that He takes someone who is unholy, and Jesus makes him holy by virtue of his power and his purity and his love.

That's the wonder of Christ! He takes something which is unworthy. He takes something that is dirty and shameful. And what does he do? He transforms it into something acceptable, and pure, and bright, and wonderful, and worthy.

That's the whole essence of Christianity. It is the essence of transformation. That's what Jesus has done. And every single person sitting in this audience today who has been washed in the water of baptism has undergone that transformation. That's the story of Christ.

But I'll tell you something. In the same way, Christianity has done this with the Christmas feast. It has taken something worldly and pagan and unwholesome and through the power of truth and love and Christ has transformed it into a universal thing of beauty and delight representing the very best ideals of the Christian spirit, peace and love. Everybody in the whole world, whether they believe in Christ or not, when they think of Christmas, think of things that are high and noble and good and wonderful. I mean, you hear people saying, oh, come on.

Let's not do that. It's Christmas. Why do you think they say that? Because of the power of Christ. That's why.

So if this is true, let's not allow the world to convert this feast and us back to paganism. That's the trick. Christmas becomes the pagan feast when we participate along with the pagans in revelry and drunkenness, when we as Christians use Christmas as an excuse for unbridled worldliness, and gluttony, and fornication. Brothers and sisters, you read through the Old Testament especially, and you will find that the trouble with feasts has always been their danger of turning into excuses for sin. Even though God gave feasts to man, God is the one who gave feasts to the Jews.

But the danger with feasts is that we lose control, and we use them as an excuse to fall into sin. Let's be careful that we don't use Christmas as an occasion or an excuse to act in an unchristian way. Let's not allow the world to paganize this feast in our eyes, and let's not allow the world to make pagans out of us in the name of Jesus Christ at Christmas time. Let's keep Christmas Christian. And then finally, something else to do with Christmas.

Let's restore the true spirit of Christ at Christmas time. Now we try to restore the spirit of Christ always, don't we? Every week, we sing about him, we praise his name, we preach his gospel, we try to act in such a way to, evangelize, to, to, demonstrate the spirit of Christ within us every single day. But at this time of year, we have an extra opportunity because people are paying attention. You know, when Christmas began, it was done with the purpose of Christianizing a pagan society.

That was the reason for the feast. They were trying to, you know, put the seeds or the salt or the be the light with this feast, and it influenced people for Christ. That was the reason for Christmas originally. All of the symbols and all of the practices were changed or recast in order to teach and to glorify Jesus Christ. That was the original reason.

Now, one of the practices that I mentioned before, a pagan practice, was the giving of the gifts to the gods, right? To incur their favor. I said to you that this practice was changed by the Christians of the era to the giving of gifts to the poor, in order to reflect the spirit of Jesus. Jesus Christ who gave his life for many, Jesus who came to serve and not to be served, Jesus who said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so with this in mind, the early Christians began to give to the poor at this time of year as a way of demonstrating Christlikeness.

Unfortunately, this tradition has been commercialized to the point where we almost exclusively use Christmas to give and receive gifts between ourselves, between our friends, and occasionally those who serve us, the mailman and whoever else. Whoever else does something for us, we give them gifts. Funny how that tradition somehow got lost there throughout the centuries. As Christians, we should restore and return to the original purpose for Christmas. You know, especially as New Testament restorationist Christians, we should be anxious to restore the good things that were once in play.

The original purpose for Christmas was to honor Jesus and to bless others in His name. In this way, Christians demonstrate that at least they understand the true meaning of Christmas. You know, we always complain, Nobody understands the true meaning of Christmas. You know, we wear buttons that say, Jesus is the reason for the season. Yeah.

Sure. That's all a lot of, you know, marketing stuff. That's a lot of talk. The original reason for the season was to bless others in the name of Christ in order to glorify Christ. That reason got lost through the centuries.

I said before that there is a relationship between how you feel and what you do at Christmas. I'll tell you some things, if you honor Christ with obedience, you will feel at peace with God and yourself, not only at Christmas, but every other day of the year. Sinfulness is always a burden, and disobedience towards God is always a burden. Whether it's missing church or refusing to be baptized or cheating on an exam or lying to your spouse, whatever. Sin always causes anxiety and guilt and shame and discouragement.

So, if you've dishonored Christ by disobeying and you wish to be right with god, I encourage you to do it now. Never mind Christmas time. Just do it now so you can feel the peace and the joy today and tomorrow and at Christmas day and next year at Christmas time, you see, the peace and the joy don't come because people put up lights and trees. The peace and the joy come because you are at peace with god because the sin that separates you from him has been removed. The lights and the trees and the gifts, those are just extras.

My final encouragement to you this morning in relationship to Christmas is for those who really do wanna restore the true spirit of Christ to this see to this feast this year. Before we purchase all the gifts, before we stock up on the food and the goodies, before we have the first eggnog or the taste of great pies, chocolate pies maybe for some of us, I encourage you to give the very first portion of your Christmas celebration to the widows and the poor of our church and our community. Brother Lewis talked about this, and I wanna reframe his his invitation. Let's offer God our entire Christmas celebration. Let's offer it to God by giving the very first gift to the poor and to the needy, just like it was done originally, just like it was originally conceived.

If we do this, several things are gonna happen. We're gonna be able to honor God with the feast. How do you honor God with Christmas? That whole celebration, that whole good thing that we're gonna do, take the very first portion of that celebration and put it on the altar to God. That's how you'll honor Him with it.

You don't have to give Him the whole thing, but if you give Him the first part, like everything else, you'll honor Him with it. We'll also be able to build up the body of Christ in this community. Doing something in the name of Jesus for our community builds up the body. We'll also be able to bless those who are less fortunate than we are. We will also be able to begin a good work that others can build upon and continue in the future.

Who knows what this will lead to in future years? And we will be able to recapture the feeling of love and joy and peace that Christmas is all about. You know, the sign up front says, a brown bag Christmas. Are you willing to have a brown bag Christmas this year? You know, Louis showed you a couple of bags, and I wanna show you a couple here too.

See that? See, this is the front part. This is the back part. You know, I gave these to my girls, and I said, here, take some coloring pencil. Aren't those fun?

Wouldn't you rather get those rather than just a a brown Albertsons bag? You know, wouldn't you like to get the same bag full of groceries? And on the back, somebody took the time to color a a nice message that says, happy holidays or merry Christmas from the Choctaw Church of Christ, or even your own name from this family and that family, and we love you, and a and a small message on the side that says, come visit us. 9:30, Sunday morning, you know? Call the church building.

We'll come pick you up. Whatever. Wouldn't you rather receive something personal like this than just, you know, hello? Okay. I got your Christmas basket.

Alright. Just set it over there. Thank you. See you next year. Bye.

You know, what is that? You know, wouldn't wouldn't we rather make it personal? Wouldn't we rather give the honor to god? Would you like to have a brown bag Christmas this year? If you would, then I encourage you to pick up 1 or more.

Maybe you can do only 1 bag, but maybe you've been prospered. Maybe there's a couple of salaries coming into your house. Maybe you've got less expenses. Maybe you've got a bonus check that happened this year. Maybe you can do 2 bags or 3 bags.

I don't know. We've got some people I think, Louis, is that right? We've got some people who'll be distributing okay. We'll be having people who'll be distributing these bags. They won't come to you.

They'll just stand there. But, you know, if you want some, just go get a couple of bags. If you can, if you're if you're a pretty good artist, go ahead and do that. And if you're not, hire it out. Get somebody get some grandkids or somebody to do this for you.

Don't ask our secretaries, though, please. They've got lots to do. Then I want you to fill those bags with groceries, and then each of them have a little list. And, you know, not 6 cans of kidney beans, you know? You know, don't give the stuff that you don't want.

Give the stuff that you would eat. Heaven help you if you'd eat 6 cans of kidney beans too. I mean, it's strange. You know you know what I'm saying. Make it good.

Pretend you would be getting the bag. What kind of stuff would you like to get? And then here's the important part. On December 18th, that's not next Sunday, that's the following Sunday, we want you to bring those bags, and we want you to put them all here on the stage. We got over 200 bags out there waiting to be filled.

We'd like to fill the stage up with 200 bags brimming with food. And then we'll call our elders up, and we'll ask them to offer this to God through prayer. And then the church will distribute this food to those who need it in our church and in our community. Why? Because we want to say to God, we love you, God.

We want to say to Jesus, Lord, we love you. You're wonderful. You've blessed us. We want to say to our community, we're not cheapskates. We love you too, community.

We want to do a little something for you too, and we want to make it personal. And we want to go further than that. We want you to become part of our family. And if it means we have to start feeding you a little bit first, we'll do that too. This is the brown bag Christmas that we are going to be doing.

As we stand and as we sing this morning, I wanna encourage you to make the decision that you will do this good thing. Or if you need to repent or be baptized, whatever the good thing is you need to do this morning, we encourage you to do that as we stand and as we sing our song of invitation.