I was so ashamed, embarrassed, sickened and disgusted by the scenes from throughout the UK today, so called Black Friday, including Dundee, where a Tesco store had to be closed down, that I wrote this article. The importation of Black Friday from the US in the past couple of years is a depressing and sickening thing. Here is the article I wrote for Christian Today – again feel free to let me know what you think and pass it on to others.
To be quite honest I cannot really be bothered with the “spiritual” aspect of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong – I like a party as much as anyone and I enjoy the turkey dinner and all the trimmings – it helps dispel the gloom of winter!.
But there is nothing in either the Gospels or the epistles to say that we should celebrate Christ’s birth, and certainly not in the totally “way over the top” that the church does with all nearly a month of “advent”. We are obviously very grateful that he came. But the only thing we are required to do in scripture is to celebrate his death, which we do in the communion service.
To be blunt I think the church colludes with the world on this, and we all know that more marriages break up over Christmas, more go into debt and more family fights take place than at any other time in the year.
With regard to Christmas I alays think of the passage in Zechariah 7 where the King sends to ask of the Lord whether he should continue to fast and mourn in the 5th months as he had done so for many years. The Lord answers through the prophet that they had been doing it for themselves, not for Him. He had never asked them to do it so it really made no difference to him. I feel that about Christmas – the Lord has never asked or commanded us to celebrate Christ’s birth so why do we? (To celebrate is different from being thankful – we can be thankful every day for the incarnation).
The first coming was, of course, crucial to reveal the way of salvation and the time of God’s mercy and grace.
But the more important coming for us in this age will be the second coming when Christ will come as judge. Christ himself teaches extensively about this. It is also taught in the epistles and in Revelation, and of course in the Old Testamant.
Funny but you almost never hear the churches speak about the second coming! All we get is the sickly sentimentality of Christmas! Starting in August!!
“Oh holy child of Bethlehem
Descend to us we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in.
Be born in us today”
This is theological tosh – yet it will be sung in believing churches all over the world – many many times.