I recently saw a commercial that I can only describe as a Holiday Card for a large company. It wasn't selling anything. Instead, it was a simple commercial showing a satellite image of Earth with several quotations popping up. There was a quote by St. Francis of Assisi about the peace and joy of children. Then the "..that all men are created equal..." from the Declaration of Independence. Mahatma Ghandi on peace for our children, Mother Teresa with a similar quote. Martin Luther King, Jr. was represented from his "I Have A Dream" speech. Oh, and Anne Frank believing in the fundamental goodness of men. Then, the final quote, "Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men, the Angel of Bethlehem".
It was the traditionally inclusive Happy Holiday card. By touching upon as many bases as they could, they tried to offend no one. And there is nothing wrong with that per se. After all, corporations are legal fictions; they don't exist in any way that you can touch. They exist solely for the purpose of making and protecting money. Large corporations, particularly those that have gone public, have responsibilities to their shareholders. If they wish you a Merry Christmas and you are attempting to celebrate Kwanza or Chanukah, then you might be offended and not give them business so they use a generic Happy Holidays. What struck me most, however, was the quote of the angel.
I am assuming that they were referring to Luke 2:14: "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (NKJV) Or perhaps they pulled it from the Christmas Carol "Angels We Have Heard on High". Either way, they have missed the main point. The angels were not appearing before the shepherds to announce peace for men on earth. They were there to announce that Peace had arrived on Earth in the form of Jesus.
There is, of course, no reason for a company to espouse this. Companies are looking to make money, not pronounce the Gospel. What about you? Do you say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? Christmas is a holiday. Christmas, from the Old English Cristes masses, literally means Christ's Mass. Holiday comes from the Old English hAligdeg, from hAlig holy + deg day. Though it has come to mean less, a Holiday was a Holy Day, and Christmas was a Holy Day to celebrate the coming of the King of kings. Today many rail against the commercialization of Christmas. We are told to "Remember the Reason for the Season," which might be a trademarked slogan. Yet, sometimes, we send out Holiday greetings instead of Christmas ones, we boldly declare to our fellow chuch-goers, Merry Christmas, but to those we work with Happy Holidays.
This is no time to be timid. 'Tis a time to be filled with the joy of the promise fulfilled. A promise hearkening back to Genesis 3:15 when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. A promise reiterated throughout the Old Testament (Isaiah 11:1-16, Jeremiah 23:5-6, and others). A promise so widely known that three non-Jewish scholars traveled far following the light of a star to worship Jesus. After generation upon generation between Adam and Jesus, God fulfilled His promise and gave us a baby born in a manger, worshipped first by Gentiles and lowly shepherds. And while your remember the Reason for the Season, remember also that His birth is but a minor event in the overall scheme of things. It is by the light of the Bethlehem star that we can see a path illuminated, not just to the manger, but past the manger and to a cross at Calvary and, most important of all, illuminating the empty tomb. Remember not just the reason for the season (Christ's birth) but the Reason behind that, the Salvation of us through Christ. In a time when we consider giving gifts, remember that God gave us the ultimate gift, His Son so that we might have life everlasting.
And so I say to you, Merry Christmas! Celebrate the birth of Christ and celebrate even more the Salvation He has given us.
Peace on Earth and the Blessings of Christ upon you and your family this season of Celebration
Josef