Christmas - "It's the most wonderful time of the year" - at least that is what the song writer expressed.  For those of us who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Christmas is one of the most meaningful times of the year, second only to Good Friday and Easter.  But, come to think of it, if there had not been a Christmas, there could not have been either a Good Friday or an Easter. 


It seems that the attacks of Satan become more pronounced this season of the year.  It is almost as if by attacking Christmas  he is attacking Christ Himself.  Just this week, a terrorist drove a large truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring scores of others.  These people were there in that marketplace preparing themselves for the joys of the upcoming Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations with family and friends.  Suddenly those happy lives were snuffed out.  And you remember it was a year ago that two terrorists in San Bernadino opened fire in an office Christmas party killing scores of people.  Christmas has become a target, not just of the active jihadi terrorists, but of the more subtle, yet as dangerous, liberal secularists.  Let me cite one more example before I share with you the good news of Christmas.




Todd Starnes writes this week in his Townhall.com column about an elementary school in Pennsylvania who canceled a decades old tradition of a Christmas play.  The article can be found at www.townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2016/12/19/scrooged-parents-furious-after-school-boots-tiny-tim.   "The fifth graders at Centerville Elementary School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania have been performing 'A Christmas Carol' for decades.  But this year that tradition came to an abrupt end.  Parents told local reporters the play was canceled because two parents complained about a line in the Charles Dickens holiday classic.  The unnamed parents took offense at the words uttered by Tiny Tim, 'God bless us, everyone,' television station WHTM reported.  'I was very surprised because it's going on for decades and it's a tradition at the school that everyone looks forward to,' resident Jane Burkhart told the television station.  Like many in this deeply religious community, she was saddened by the cancelation.  'One little line shouldn't ruin it for every kid,' Burkhart said.  ' Charles Dickens is a class author, not a religious author.'


"Principal Tom Kramer addressed the controversy in a message posted on the elementary school's website.  (You can access his letter at www.hempfieldsd.org/doman/185).  'We understand that some parents are upset that the play was cancelled, but we have heard from families on both ends of the spectrum, including those who expressed appreciation that the play, as it had traditionally been prepared and delivered, was cancelled,' he wrote.  Kramer went on to reject reports that their decision was based on one or two families.  'That's just not true,' he said.  He did not specifically address the parents' allegations that the play was cancelled because of the line, 'God bless us, everyone.' But he did seem to hint at some sort of issue.  'Our decision is rooted in the desire to be respectful of the many cultural and religious backgrounds represented by the students attending Centerville Elementary,' he wrote.  That's a mighty big clue, folks.  In order to be tolerant and diverse, public schools have to eradicate any mention of God.


"But to be fair - the school administration says their decision was mostly because of the amount of time it took to produce the show (about 20 hours).  'Given the changes in state standards in recent years, we could not defend the commitment of this kind of instructional time to something not part of the fifth-grade curriculum,' he wrote.  Heaven forbid the teachers try to introduce the children to the world of performing arts.  The principal also pointed out that 'producing and performing a play is not part of the written curriculum for fifth grade.'  So, after more than 40 years of Christmas productions featuring Tiny Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge, he's just now figuring that out? 


"Randy Wenger is the chief counsel for the Independence Law Center in Harrisburg.  He's also a longtime resident of Lancaster County.  'As a constitutional attorney I hate to see traditions taken away in my own community,' he told me.  'What does this communicate to our kids?  It says that anything religious is really not appropriate in public life.  It's something you're supposed to keep to yourself. ... It seems like people are trying to take away our traditions left and right.  We need to do something to push back.'  But this year, I'm afraid Tiny Tim's goose has been cooked - done-in by the Ghost of Christmas Intolerance.  Bah, humbug, indeed."


Now allow me to share with you another story.  This past weekend our church held its annual Living Nativity.  Because of the unseasonably cold weather - Sunday morning's low was 25 below zero - most of the Living Nativity was moved inside for both Saturday and Sunday night.  We have scores of volunteers who help to make this Christmas-gift to the community a reality.  I wandered over the pen where some goats were devouring bales of hay, when a young boy, dressed as a shepherd, came to me and asked if I would like to hear his story.  I agreed to listen and for the next few minutes he shared with me the story from Luke 2.  My heart rejoiced.  Dressed as a shepherd, this young boy began to understand what happened that first Christmas Eve so long ago. 


Friends, Christmas is a fact of history.  Jesus Christ came.  He was born.  He lived.  He died.  He rose again.  Jesus Christ is an historical reality.  The attack upon Christmas today is almost as if Satan would have us believe that if Christmas is destroyed so is the message of Christmas that God came in the flesh to redeem us to Himself.  But, erasing Christmas can no more erase Christ than destroying statues of Robert E Lee can erase the American Civil War.  Christmas is Jesus Christ.  He and He alone is the reason for the Season. 


And so, in the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone."  And I wish you a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.