What's in a Name?

Over the past few weeks there's been an intense fervor over our governor's choice not to refer to the decorated tree standing in the State Assembly as a "Christmas Tree."  Some pundits and media watchers have taken to referring to this and similar perceived slights as a "war on Christmas." Apparently some Christian groups are so up in arms over this "war" that they threatened to boycott a certain pharmacy chain for not using the word "Christmas" in their marketing materials, to which that chain relented and started trying to sell us stuff again in the name of Christmas.

Whew! Disaster averted.

I think we have totally lost sight of the power and meaning of Christmas when we allow ourselves to get angry at the use of "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."  Christmas celebrates the story of God coming among us in the most humble of circumstances.  These humble beginnings prefigured an adult ministry that was focused on the poor, the sick, and the outcast. Jesus teaches us that the way we treat "the least of these" is how we treat him.  

And Santa Claus?  Well, the actual Christian saint who inspired the famed North Pole dweller was Saint Nicholas, who was known for his love for children and his generosity to the those in need. For example, one story tells of a poor father who was unable to provide a dowry for his daughters.  At the time that meant that they could not marry, and so were destined to be sold into slavery.  As legend has it, Nicholas secretly placed bags of gold in the girl's shoes and stockings, hung by the fire to dry.  So those Christmas stockings you hang by the chimney are symbols of liberating the poor from the bondage of slavery.

Christmas is about remarkable, sacrificial love, not petty grievances over nomenclature.  The irony of that threatened boycott by some Christians of a retailer is that Christmas isn't about shopping at all!  As the Advent Conspiracy encourages , what if we took some of the money we spend on a $4.5 billion dollar Christmas commercial machine, and gave it to feed the hungry or shelter for the homeless?

Bringing about the peace on earth heralded by the angels in Bethlehem won't happen any faster by attaching the word "Christmas" to trees or greeting cards or advertisements.  With God's help, it may happen when all our lives begin to more closely resemble the one whose birth we are preparing to celebrate.

For another perspective on the issue of Christmas, secularization, public spaces, and the like, you are encouraged to check out Unapologetic Theology, a blog by the Rev. John Ohmer.