Modern March | a Christian blog

Posted: 23 Dec 2010 05:32 AM PST

With only two more days until Christmas, we are well enmeshed in the season of the proclamation of war. Certainly, the rhetoric about the “War on Christmas,” has been much more tame in recent years than it has in the past, but we can still hear the whispers of this nation-wide (global?) conspiracy on the lips of the righteous few.

Facetiouness aside, the truth is that there is a war on Christmas-but it’s not one that was started by Macy’s, but rather one launched on an unsuspecting night two-thousand years ago. The apostle John gave us a picture of it in Revelation 12:

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

John’s vision begins with the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, and the cosmic signs that surround his birth. God’s plan of redemption had come to its apex, and the entire hope of the Old Testament had burst onto the scene, attracting the attention of an old serpent. The time had come for the showdown of Genesis 3:15 between the serpent and the son of Eve, with it began a war that continues to rage to this day.

The war that arose from that Christmas morning was not commercial nor consumer-driven, but rather fully cosmic in scope. It’s a war between powers and principalities, serpent and man, the dragon and the Christ. It’s a war over the heart of men and women the world over. It’s a war that began with the shattered silence of baby’s cry, ringing out from a stable because his earthly parents had been kicked out of a guest room (most likely from family members who were ashamed at the mother’s pregnancy out of wedlock). It’s a war that was decisively won, not with a shout of victory, but with a broken Savior, hanging on the cross in apparent defeat. It’s a cosmic war because it’s a cosmic redemption. But more than that, it’s a cosmic war because the very cosmos itself was flipped upside-down three days later, when Jesus was resurrected and defeated the power of death and the dragon, and when he ascended to his throne to rule the cosmos by ushering in a renewed creation in the middle of the old one.

It’s a war that has been won, but it is a war that is being won as we await the day that it will be visibly won. Death continues to ravage the creation, not realizing its defeat. The dragon continues to roar, not realizing that his teeth have been broken. It’s a war that continues to be fought, though the winner has already been declared. And it’s a war that will continue to rage, until the day that Christ the Conquering King returns to finish off what began with the birth of a child in Bethlehem.

The modern so-called “war on Christmas” is silly and pales in comparison to the reality. We expect people who have nothing to do with Christ to wish us a Merry Christmas, and get upset that they dare to acknowledge that there are several holidays happening concurrently. To expect an unregenerate society to celebrate the birth of the Messiah is…well…silly. I even read an article that argued thus: because Christmas is the one holiday out of all the occuring holidays at this time that brings in the most money and that helps keep stores afloat during this season, stores should say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays”. The most frustrating part of the article was that I wasn’t sure if the author was serious or not. Is this really a win in our favor? That the greed and rampant consumerism that has come to mark this time of year is a way of remembering Jesus’ birth? And no, I’m not against buying presents for Christmas—but that’s a different story. And yes, done correctly, shopping for the holidays, and even black friday can be missional – but that’s another post.

To hear some people talk about it, the power, kingdom, and authority of God and Christ has nothing on a minimum wage greeter saying “happy holidays.” Or that by saying “Merry Christmas,” someone will convert right there at the department store. We know differently, however, because the only thing that will convert rebellious sinners is the victory of Christ on the cross and his resurrection.

The Christmas war of Revelation 12 is the only war on Christmas that matters, and its a war that has already been won. So, instead of getting upset with a pluralistic society celebrating the holidays with pluralism, let’s join in with the heavenly chorus which sings this heavenly carol:

“‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.’”

Yes —the Kingdom of God has power, and Christ has authority, even over Macy’s.

Filed under: Daily Life, Something To Think About