The "War on Christmas": Why the Outrage Seems Empty Now
The whole "War on Christmas thing took an ugly turn, and not from the forces opposed to the church. If you are going to go so far as to call for boycotts on merchants who say, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" the least you could do is attend worshuip on the day especially when it falls on Sunday! Back when I was pastoring I ran into this problem on a couple of occasions.
"It is a day for family", I was told.
And my personal favorite, "It will be inconvenient"
The day was adopted by the church for Christians to come together to celebrate the Eucharist in honor of Christ's birthday. You know the Eucharist, something that, for most non-Catholics, is little more than "juice and crackers at the altar". The exception being baptists for whom it is "juice and crackers in the auditorium". Most seem to forget that the Eucharist is a participation and rememberance in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The words of the Great Thanksgiving remind us that ir is "meet, right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks." Yet, we can't seem to be bothered to show up at the Lord's Table on the day that we profess to celebrate his birth!
While I seem to be harsh with the laity here, I am reminded of Prof. Boyd's words in seminary, "The laity is very often a reflection of clergy who was there before you".
Which brings me to what provoked this tirade. The clergy that pastoring some of the largest churches are saying that they will not even have service that morning. My words to the clergy in question: So spare me your "outrage" at the so-called "War on Christmas" when you will not even lead or attend worship on the day. Yes, this at you pastors who are stirring the pot on this issue while not even bothering to lead worship. When I read that some of the largest churches in the country are not even having services I have to wonder why anybody is getting upset over a clerk saying "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". Please, don't even try the bit about "Taking Christ out of Christmas". That boat sailed when you cancelled services for the day. If you can't even be bothered to worship, isn't a little silly to get upset over a commercial greeting.
"It is a day for family", I was told.
And my personal favorite, "It will be inconvenient"
The day was adopted by the church for Christians to come together to celebrate the Eucharist in honor of Christ's birthday. You know the Eucharist, something that, for most non-Catholics, is little more than "juice and crackers at the altar". The exception being baptists for whom it is "juice and crackers in the auditorium". Most seem to forget that the Eucharist is a participation and rememberance in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The words of the Great Thanksgiving remind us that ir is "meet, right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks." Yet, we can't seem to be bothered to show up at the Lord's Table on the day that we profess to celebrate his birth!
While I seem to be harsh with the laity here, I am reminded of Prof. Boyd's words in seminary, "The laity is very often a reflection of clergy who was there before you".
Which brings me to what provoked this tirade. The clergy that pastoring some of the largest churches are saying that they will not even have service that morning. My words to the clergy in question: So spare me your "outrage" at the so-called "War on Christmas" when you will not even lead or attend worship on the day. Yes, this at you pastors who are stirring the pot on this issue while not even bothering to lead worship. When I read that some of the largest churches in the country are not even having services I have to wonder why anybody is getting upset over a clerk saying "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". Please, don't even try the bit about "Taking Christ out of Christmas". That boat sailed when you cancelled services for the day. If you can't even be bothered to worship, isn't a little silly to get upset over a commercial greeting.
posted by Unknown @ 10:52 PM
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