This year the blogsphere has been busy discussing, or should I say condemning, other local expressions of the Lord decision to cancel service due to its conflict with χ-mas. My take on the whole matter is simple: A. To go or not to go to (or have) service is a minor issue that falls in the “gray” area of practice. B. Christmas is not important on the Church calendar C. Therefore, local churches may do what they want. (The Lord will let us know on That Day which was the right call!)
As for my family and I, we attended our old church since I was asked to preach. My sermon was short and this was the thrust:
Every time this year there is always a debate about the validity of Christmas as a CHRISTIAN holiday. Is it the celebration of the Jewish god’s victory over the Roman god? Is it a result of syncretism? Is it blah, blah, blah…
I don’t know and don’t care. I enjoy many things about the “holiday season” and I loathe just as many (if not more). So what…
I don’t have anything to say about Christmas today but I do have something to say about Sunday. It is the celebration not of the coming of the King but of the coming of a servant. The celebration of one who was different. So different our we resist the very thought of Jesus rejecting the title of King yet assuming the role of Messiah, the anointed suffering servant.
Matthew 1:1 ― The book of Jesus the Messiah’s origin, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The son of David:
Throughout the Gospel of Matthew Jesus has one thing that he needs to make clear
to the characters in the story and to the implied audience ― they have no idea what a Messiah looks like! The messiah was to come to Jerusalem as a servant of Israel’s father not as a glorious king.
King David, whose name means servant, was great because he had a heart after YHWH i.e., a heart that sought to serve YHWH and not to be served by his people. He was Israel’s true king for reasons incomprehensible to his family or his people. While David was successful most people completely resented his reign ― it wasn’t right!
As to honor, kings are supposed to be esteemed, supplicate to no one. The honor of the country rests in the honor demanded by the king. David rejected this! This was a king who was despised by his wife because he stripped himself of his royal robes and danced before YHWH as he really was, a servant. David was a bastard and he never forgot his adoption by YHWH! Jesse was carefully careless when it came to presenting all of his children to Samuel yet David was purposely purposeful in his role as Jesse’ son.
The king is to require only the best and most qualified. David remembered Mephibosheth, the cripple. Kings were to live and die honorably, never acting beneath their right ― David feigned insanity and lived amongst the disheveled and disenfranchised for years. What. A. Fool. ― Unelectable. Unworthy of support is the only rational conclusion for a thinking person!
As for military, everyone knew who the enemy of YHWH was the Philistines. David had over many of them in his guard with some even being in his Mighty Men. The characteristics that were valued by other rulers of the day were despised in the eyes of David. He did not need good bloodlines, success at business or esteem by the masses but what he valued was something else ― something that doesn’t show up on a resume! When a true general is faced with an opportunity, they take it (in the name of YHWH no less). David repented to Saul for touching the anointed of YHWH even though he had been anointed king and was on the run from Saul the now renegade king. Humility looks good on shepherds but is loathsome on generals!
True kings are to never admit wrong or to lack an answer to a critical question. David openly repented before YHWH’s prophet. We have many psalms attributed to David where he awaits an answer from YHWH. Not only does he wait but he tearfully and desperately awaits a critical answer. David was not a perfect person but he was perfect for his role.
Solomon, David’s true son was nothing like his father. Yes, he was the wisest of the wise. Yes, he expanded the borders (almost to the extent promised to Abraham). Yes, he was the great temple builder. Yet, he was nothing like his father. While initially all of Israel ate from Solomon’s table, eventually their supplication meant forced labor for the homes of his baboons. Let that last sentence sink in. Homes. For. His. Baboons. Solomon knew little of service and knew less as he grew older. David was born ‘in sin,’ a bastard, so he knew nothing but service from his birth. In spite of this, he only learned to be the servant YHWH could use at the end of his days.
David was close to being the Great King but neither Solomon, nor his children, were even close to David.
“There is always next year!” That is the cry of the loser. Israel knew this well.
That is until…one could pray this and then fulfill these words.
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” … Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
“And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
As for the son of Abraham…
hey! we have the same last name! and, apparently, similar interests!
anyway, i do think the day of worship and christmas are theologically significant, but not understood by most people. You might enjoy the first and third articles i have links to at http://jbburnett.com/theology/theol-ltg-time.html—
‘the mystery of the eighth day’, part of the first article, discusses how from apostolic times the ‘lord’s day’ emerged as the christian celebration of the resurrection. The sabbath, of course, was always and still is the celebration of creation; that is one of its meanings even today in the traditional calendar, and as everyone knows, even the name of the seventh day of the week in most languages is still some form of ‘sabbath’ (sabade, sabato, sabbatto, subbota, sabbaton, etc). So the ‘sabbath’ was never done away, but the resurrection overshadowed it.
the second article, ‘the day of his coming’ is about the original reasons for the church’s selection of december 25th (it had nothing to do with the roman saturnalia; if anything, there is evidence that the pagan romans tried to beef up their saturnalia festivities to counter the popularity of the feast of christ’s nativity).
sorry, you get an error if you click the link i gave above because WP read the dash after ‘html’ as part of the address. Try this:
http://jbburnett.com/theology/theol-ltg-time.html