Out Our Way: Out of Darkness - Isaiah 9:2

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."

Out our way folks are getting set up for Christmas. The street decorations, lights on houses, trees being set up in living rooms, carols on the radio, and lots of shopping. More importantly, I hope most of us look past the glitter and the Christmas season to what the season is really all about.

I read recently some folk are now demanding Christmas be removed from the calendar as it is offensive to non-Christians, atheists, and folks who likely got bucked off too many broncos and landed on their heads. But you know, this is nothing new. Consider why we celebrate Christmas in December.

Now, if you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth, you will recall the shepherds were out in the fields with the sheep. In winter, the sheep were in folds near the villages. It was in the spring the shepherds gathered the flocks and took them into the hills to graze. So why do we celebrate Christmas in December? Because of the pagan hostility towards Christ and His Church.

The pagans had a great celebration every year in late December - to welcome the Winter solstice. That is when the winter darkness in which the sun rose late and set early began to reverse itself. The pagans celebrated the return of longer days and shorter nights. Now in the early days of the Church, the dominant culture saw Jesus as a threat and actively persecuted any Christians they could find. All the disciples, with the possible exception of John. had been put to death by the pagan authorities, the Apostle Paul wrote most of his Epistles while a prisoner, and was eventually beheaded; and of course we have all heard of Christians being torn to pieces by hungry lions in the Coliseums and arenas throughout the Empire.

Now, a person who did not celebrate the Winter Solstice festival would be immediately suspect, and so the early Church leaders suggested that believers celebrate the "dying of darkness and the coming of light" in the spiritual sense, i.e. the birth of Christ. As the Scriptures do not give us an actual date, why not set aside the Solstice as the day to praise God and give thanks for the coming of Christ? And so, the early Church, blending in with their neighbors, transformed the pagan festival into a sacred one and eventually replaced it. 

Now we live in a time when the forces of darkness are celebrating their strength and taking control of modern culture and the world. Christians are openly persecuted in many places, and even in our own country there have been folks vandalizing churches, vocal and physical attacks on believers who dare to speak to their faith, and,more and more a growing number of "the cultural elite" and media moguls who openly seek to replace God with self, and traditional values with the latest popular trend. "Big Brother" has begun spreading the "gospel of darkness"   

We have been here before - look at why December 25th is now Christmas. The pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice was replaced with the celebration of the birth of Christ. The Vatican sits in the heart of Rome while the Coliseum lies in ruins. For those who reject the Scriptures, let them look instead to the history books, for the same message is there for all to see. "The people who walked in darkness (then and now) have seen a great light. Those who walked in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined."

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].