Christmas? Bah Humbug!

I find myself in agreement with Scrooge!  You all know the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  It is a classic that has been made into innumerable plays, staged readings, movies and cartoons to retell the wonderful story of how an old miser like Scrooge could find generosity and forgiveness by embracing the Christmas spirit.  Before his conversion his curmudgeonly retort to all who espoused Merry Christmas was, “Bah! Humbug!”

After some study, I now think that Scrooge was on to something!  He certainly needed a change of heart, but he was right about Christmas being a humbug!  Why do I say I agree with Scrooge?

I looked up the definition of Humbug. 

Here it is from the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary:

humbug

noun hum·bug  : language or behavior that is false or meant to deceive people : someone or something that is not honest or true : a hard peppermint candy

Full Definition of HUMBUG

1 a :  something designed to deceive and mislead

b :  a willfully false, deceptive, or insincere person

2 :  an attitude or spirit of pretense and deception

3 :  Nonsense, drivel

Hmmmm.  Am I saying that everyone who celebrates Christmas is ‘willfully false, deceptive and insincere?’  Not exactly.  I believe that the majority of Christians are sincere in their wish to ‘keep Christ in Christmas,’ and have no intention to deceive or pretend the holiday is anything other than a celebration of the birth of our Savior.  They would be, and are, offended to have their celebration characterized as nonsense or drivel.

But, and this is the hard part for almost everyone to swallow: What if the concept of Christmas is offensive to the Father?  What if Christmas itself is humbug?

If you are still reading this, I guess you are willing to explore the possibility that Christmas might not be based in Biblical instructions.  I am hoping you are looking for me to explain what I mean so that you can make an assessment of whether I am sincere, or a humbug.

Everyone can point to the lovely Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon where Linus reads the recounting of Jesus’ birth from the book of Luke.  “That is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown;” and, for many, that is enough.  It is a justification for all that Christmas has become.  The fact of Jesus’ birth, the shepherds abiding in the fields by night, and the singing of the heavenly hosts is familiar, inspiring and gives us all that warm fuzzy feeling.  Christmas is the memorial of this event that brought Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men, isn’t it?

We are all drawn in by our memories of movies and Christmas stories.  Films like It’s A Wonderful Life, White Christmas and many others are perennial favorites that show the spirit of Christmas as a generous and loving heart for our fellow man.  But, no story other than A Christmas Carol concentrates on the Spirits that animate our love-affair with all things Christmas.

So why did Scrooge call Christmas a humbug?

Scrooge was a bitter and disillusioned man.  His spirit was so darkened that he couldn’t accept that people might actually have love and goodwill in their heart, and certainly that these feelings were not the result of Christmastime.  Until he was visited by four spirits (Marley, and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future) he was unable to recognize that his misery was the result of his own heart and behavior.  He became a miser that worshipped money and it cost him the love of his life.  To him, all of the good cheer and love others portrayed was a deception.  It was, indeed, a humbug.  A spirit of deception, insincerity and dishonesty.

Let’s look again at the definition of Humbug.  It is “language or behavior that is false or meant to deceive people, someone or something that is not honest or true, or a hard peppermint candy.”

Now, let’s look at the other definitions.  “Someone or something that is not honest or true.”  Christmas celebrations probably fall into this category.  If we are honest, we must conclude that Christmas and its attendant trappings of trees, holly, mistletoe, Santa and reindeer etc., are all based on myths or ancient pagan practices.  A quick search on the internet yields an abundance of evidence that places all of these things we associate with Christmas as pagan symbols and celebratory customs that we have ‘Christianized.”  They are found nowhere in the Scriptures.  The reason all of these pagan practices were adopted by the Christian church may sound okay to you, but it flies directly in the face of what the Father asked of us.

He said, “Do not learn the ways of the heathens and say you do them unto me, it is an abomination!” (Deu 18:9, Jer 10:2)

You will not find in the Bible, including the New Testament, an instruction to celebrate the birth of our Messiah.  None of the apostles observed Christmas, and for centuries it wasn’t even on the radar screen!  In fact, it was well into the 1800’s before it was even legal for Americans to erect a Christmas Tree because our founding fathers (you know, those folks who fled England because of religious persecution) understood that it was a pagan practice!

So, aside from the traditions that have been co-opted from pagan celebrations (which surely we could conclude fits the definition of a deception), the dark under-belly of Christmas is also a deception.

Why do I say that?

Sadly, the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ is not for many people. It is well-reported that there is a spike in suicides during the Christmas season.  The expectation and hype associated with this holiday results in further alienating those who are alone, mentally unstable, or are experiencing a down-turn in their lives. When the magic of Christmas fails to materialize, many cannot cope with the disappointment.

Another deception is our ability to ‘rational-lies’ to our children.  We tell them fantastic tales of flying reindeer, Santa and elves that bring good girls and boys the desires of their heart, and elves on shelves that watch everything they do and say in the run up to Christmas morning.  We think we are creating a spirit of ‘magic’ when in fact we are just lying to our children and setting them up for disappointment and disillusionment when the truth comes out.                                                                                          
                                                
                                          Deception! 

On every level!  We all want to embrace the thought of ‘good will and peace on earth.’   And many actually attain a level of that, until the post-Christmas crash and bills for how much we over-spent in the ‘spirit’ of generosity arrive in the mail.  We have substituted honest emotions of love and goodwill for Black Friday fist-fights over material goods.  We feel pressured to purchase gifts for everyone we see lest we fail to embody the Christmas spirit.  We strive for and expect the ‘Christmas spirit’ during December, and fall back into our everyday mode the rest of the year!  If it is from the heart, it should be apparent all year round, don’t you think?

If you really examine the theme of It’s a Wonderful Life, it really isn’t about Christmas at all.  Although it is a holiday classic and the climax occurs on Christmas Eve, the real story is the culmination of a life well-lived.  George Bailey is a man of integrity.  He honors his father and mother by giving up his dream to leave Bedford Falls in order to handle his father’s business.  He lives his life with a heart to help others, and because of that, this honest, hard-working man is rescued by his community in his hour of need.  Incidentally, his rescue from his own suicide was the result of a prayer for help, but it is easy to gloss over that and hang the entire ending on the ‘Christmas Spirit.’  It makes for a nice setting, but the story could have been told without Christmas in the picture and the result would have been the same.

Now I guess I have ruined your favorite Christmas movie.  It shouldn’t have.  It is still one of my favorite ones too, but I can see it as a reward of a life well-lived and an answer to prayer.  The setting is irrelevant although the snow is nice, and the winter-time ties it all up in a neat bow.  It wasn’t Christmas that caused the happy ending, it was love.

       SHAMELESS PLUG: for more on It's a Wonderful Life go here

So, now that Christmas can be properly characterized as humbug (deception), what should we do with that information?

What if we love the Father enough to search out the truth?  What if we discover that He instituted Feasts that He does want us to observe?  What if we understand that Leviticus 23 is for all mankind, and not just for the ‘Jews?’  What if we realize that celebrating Christmas that began as a pagan festival is no different than the Israelites who built the golden calf and declared it a feast to YHVH?

What if we rightly call Christmas a Humbug?

Find the Passover Story in a Christmas Movie?

A perennial holiday favorite is the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.  The film never made a big impact when it was first distributed, and is often called Capra “Corn” because of its schmaltzy plot directed by Frank Capra.  I even know of a few folks that don’t like the movie!  I find that hard to understand, to be frank (not Capra), but another article on the movie really caught my attention.  I am borrowing liberally from that article’s point of view for this one.  See Article here.  I choose to see the nobility of the sacrifices made by the movie’s protagonist, George Bailey.  In many ways his story echoes the Passover story.  Do you see the Passover story in this holiday movie so popular at Christmastime?

I love to see allegorical stories or allusions to things that at first glance seem remote from the heart of a story.  Yeshua spoke in parables, and in many ways It’s a Wonderful Life is just such a parable.  It is a parable that tells the story of our Messiah. 

First, my friend that doesn’t like the movie concentrates on the fact that George Bailey puts all of his own hopes, dreams and aspirations on hold for everyone else.  He misses college, never becomes an architect or world-traveler, and because of that my friend is offended to think George displays such altruism.  Nobody would do that, would they?

What if we look at in the context of George Bailey as a portrayal of Yeshua?

What would ‘Jesus’ do?

Seems to me that George Bailey fits the gospel story almost perfectly.  Should we feel sorry for him?  Or glory in his magnificent gift to his fellow men? What kind of character does George display?

George gives no thought to himself when he plunges into icy water to save his brother from downing.  And this is not the only time!  We see that George has a penchant for doing the right thing, even when he is punished for it.  When he saves the life of a sick child (that he never sees) by choosing not to deliver the wrong medicine he is slapped for it.  And when the truth comes out, even bleeding and in pain George has a generous heart of forgiveness and understanding for the heartbroken druggist who had just lost his son.  He saved both the druggist and the child who would have received the wrong medicine.

Just when life seems to be on the up-swing for George, a curious event happens.  Right before the calling on his life begins with the death of his father, he winds up plunging into a swimming pool in the middle of a Charleston contest.  Mikveh anyone?

Through a series of events George puts all his hopes and dreams aside.  Upon his father’s death he steps up to be the head of the Savings and Loan.  He gives up college to allow his younger brother to go instead. 

Life isn’t all terrible for George, he marries, has a family, and enables the townspeople to escape the thumb of Mr. Potter to build their own homes though the Building and Loan. 

Here is where it gets interesting.   What is George’s response when Potter offers him a job?  It’s triple the salary (wealth beyond belief), it is prestige!  It comes with a cigar, and it even offers travel!  Potter fills in for Satan by offering George the world and all it holds, but George, though sorely tempted, turns him down.  It may not have happened in a desert, but the story is familiar.

George uses money out of his own pocket to save the Building and Loan when there is a run on the bank.  And when Uncle Billy has a large deposit of money stolen from him by Mr. Potter (the richest and most evil man in town) George again places himself in the breach.  Instead of throwing Uncle Billy under the bus, he claims the sin as his own and seeks to fix the short-fall.

When George is at the end of his rope, with no hope to recover the lost money, he turns to prayer.  It is his garden of Gethsemane moment.  He’s contemplating his own death!  A suicide that would pay the debt from his insurance!  And even that is a parallel to Yeshua.  When George jumps off the bridge to save Clarence, he, for all intents and purposes, dies!  He’s given a gift to see the world as it might have been without his ever being born.

Without George, Bedford Falls becomes Pottersville, ruled by the avarice of the most evil guy in town.  Pottersville is dark, decadent and without hope.  Loved ones are inevitably headed for Potter's Field!  And in another parallel, the folks that George loves the most don't recognize him.

When George repents and asks to be returned, he is resurrected.  He tells GOD, “I don’t care what happens to me, just get me back.”  The climax of the movie is when his life is restored.  The world is again a better place in which to live.  With George Bailey there is light and hope; without him it was dark and hopeless.

There is yet another allusion that I see in the movie that takes me to Passover.  When George and Mary make a gift to the new owners of a house built by the Building and Loan they present the family with salt, wine and a loaf of bread.  A covenant meal!  And George is the access point for the poor to have their own homes.  Didn't Yeshua say he was going to prepare a place for us?

Can we look at George as a man after the Father’s heart?  A man willing to sacrifice his own desires, his life, to honor the legacy of his father?  George recognized the weightier matters and set aside worldly things for what is important.  He behaved as a righteous man, even when it was not what he wanted for himself.  And, in the end, he was rewarded for his altruism (I prefer the term love) when the entire town rallies to lift him up. 

Perhaps there isn’t any truth to an angel getting wings every time a bell rings, but George certainly earned his crown.