The other day, I went to Starbucks and you will not believe what happened. I got my cappuccino, told the liberal barista “Merry Christmas,” and he responded “Happy Honda Days!” I was astounded. You hear about these stories in the Bay Area or Brooklyn, but all the way down in Chattanooga, TN? Is nothing sacred? There is a War on Christmas and its time we fight back by remembering the real “reason for the season.”
Now I love Christmas. It’s one of my favorite times of year. I love the decorations and lights, the chilly weather, traveling to spending time with loved ones, and peppermint-flavored everything. But it is also one of my least favorite. Like basically every holiday in this country, it has been colonized by capitalism. If there is a way for the owners of capital to make some cash, you know they will.
And Christmas is the chief Holy Day of capitalism. This Holy Day even has a liturgy. Our TVs and iPhones are flooded with thousands of advertisements to convince us to buy new TVs and iPhones. Some play with our emotions to manipulate us into buying a product. Some make us laugh, others have songs that get stuck in our heads. These songs and skits echo in our consciousness just like a creed or hymn, imparting some sort of spiritual truths.
The sacrament of this Holy Day is the swipe of the credit card. You have to consume, and it’s even better if you go in debt to do it. Your loved ones will only love you if you spend a couple hundred dollars on them. It doesn’t matter if its something they need or want, you still gotta spend it. It doesn’t even matter if you can’t afford it, just swipe that card now and spend it off later.
But it did not always use to be like this. Christmas was not about spending and consumption at the benefit of the owners of capital. Resistance and solidarity lie at the heart of the Christmas story. If we realize this, we have a shot at wining the war.
Christmas has always been kind of weird for me religiously. The Church of Christ tradition I grew up in rejected any and all tradition that did not come from the bible. I wasn’t taught that Jesus was born during Christmas but because the shepherds were in the field it was probably in spring. I was instead taught that Christmas was a pagan holiday, Saturnalia, that was converted by the Roman Catholic Church. Growing up my home never had any nativity sets, angels, or stars. The only decorations were snowmen, Santa Claus, and nutcrackers. That is why even though I identified as an evangelical (and still do) I did not understand the “War on Christmas” rhetoric because Christmas was a secular holiday.
However, over the past few years I have rediscovered Christmas as a religious holiday. It’s story is radical and powerful. God, the creator of the universe, came to live as a human being. This alone is an astounding claim. The God who dwells in the Holy of Holies and can only be visited once a year by the High Priest alone became a human? Ridiculous. But the confounding does not stop there.
The Birth
When God came to earth in human form, God came as a member of the working class. Joseph was a carpenter. He worked with his hands for a wage. It’s very possible he contracted with the Romans building forts, temples, and ports. It is doubtful that he owned any land. As a Galilean, he was returning to Bethlehem, the city of his ancestors. The children who inherited land would have stayed in Bethlehem because well, the land can’t migrate. The children who did not inherit land would have been more likely to move around country to find other opportunities. At some point in the family’s history, Joseph’s branch wound up in Galilee and Nazareth.
Mary was a young, unmarried, pregnant teenager. However her reaction to her pregnancy was not what you would expect from someone in her situation. Instead of despair she rejoices. She sings a radical song that will later be known as the Magnificat:
“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever.”
We sang a four-part harmony called The Magnificat in youth group that contained some of the lines from Mary’s song. Its no surprise that the song writer chose to omit the bits about kicking the rulers off their thrones and casting the rich away empty. The hope of the coming Christ is subversive to those in power. Mary understands this and imagines a new society free of oppression and injustice. This hope reveals the “reason for the season.” Because of Christ, we have a knew hope to create a new world.
Being engaged to an already pregnant woman would have been a scandal for Joseph’s family. Perhaps the reason there was no room at the inn was that Joseph’s extended family in Bethlehem did not want to be associated with this scandalous couple. It could have also been because Galileans were stigmatized as the rednecks of 1st century Judea and regional biases and classism influenced the inn keepers decisions. Or maybe Joseph just forgot to make reservations.
So this young working class family ends up in a barn when it is is time for God to come to earth as a human. I don’t know if you have ever spent a lot of time in a barn but it is not a very sanitary environment. Livestock create a lot of filth. They smell really bad. They are covered with disease carrying pests. Between a 1st century Judean barn and the brand new Baptist Hospital in Oxford, MS where my son was born, I know which I’d chose. But God chose different.
God chose to enter this world as a helpless baby, born to an unmarried teen mom in a feeding through for livestock. Mary labored to birth Jesus in a trough that a carpenter like Joseph would have labored to build. The blood and amniotic fluids would have mixed with the hair and saliva left in the trough. Mary’s cries would have blended with the sounds of the livestock. This is not how I would have chosen to be born.
But again, that is the way that God chose. The almighty creator of the universe did not enter the world in a palace or a mansion but a manger. God did not enter the world through a royal family or nobility, but the son of a carpenter and teenage mom. Through this God entered into a solidaristic relationship with humanity, suffering from oppression and marginalization until Christ transcended it at Calvary.
The Shepherds
God’s arrival in human form was announced to two groups of people. It was not the high priests and Levites in Jerusalem nor the Roman military governors or Jewish aristocracy but shepherds and magi who received the annunciation. These shepherds were hired field hands working for a wage to care for flocks that they did not own. They probably were paid a denarius a day for their labor which was basically the equivalent of the minimum wage. These men were dirty and lived in the fields with the flocks. They lived hard lives and worked hard. But the profit from all of their hard work went to the owners of the flocks.
But the coming of the Christ is not announced to the owners of the flocks. Instead the angels came to these working class men in the field. These men who society would deem unfit to be in the presence of a king were now the first guests of honor for the King. This king’s royal court was not composed of educated scribes and scholars, wealthy nobles, nor powerful generals but of minimum wage workers and livestock. God did not show favoritism to the wealthy but favoritism to the poor.
The Magi
In addition to the shepherds, Christ’s arrival was also announced to the magi. Traditionally there are three magi (because of their three different gifts) and represent Europe, Asia, and Africa. However these men of unknown number were probably Persian Zoroastrian astrologers. They came from far away to worship the King and give him gifts.
The star that led them to the manger was not noticed by the Jewish scribes and priests. Only the outsiders had the perspective to notice and understand what was going on. Those on the inside had no idea. How often does the wisdom of the outside confound those on the inside? Without an outside perspective, we can become blind to obvious signs around us like a shinning star above Bethlehem.
When these foreigners arrived, the powers in Jerusalem knew something was wrong. Despite his power, Herod the Great was scared of a baby. Just like Mary, he understood the arrival of the Christ was a threat to his power and all other despots like him. But instead of rejoicing, Herod sought to kill the child. And after being confounded by the magi, he ordered genocide against the innocent children. The story begins with Mary’s radical hope of liberation and ends with great tragedy as the powers of the world attempted to destroy that hope.
So in conclusion, when we look at the roots of the Christmas story, just like in the rest of the bible, its clear that God picks sides. Time and time again, God shows God’s solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized. God could have entered the world in any human form God desired. Yet God chose the infant child of a working class family, surrounded by working class people, religious outsiders, and livestock. While today Christmas is a festival of capital with its own liturgies and sacraments of consumerism, at its roots it is a celebration of labor. It is a celebration of the poor, marginalized, working people who God partnered with in a solidaristic relationship through the birth of Christ. It is not a celebration of the owners of capital, no matter how hard corporate America tries to make it be.
So the next time some liberal wishes you a “Happy Honda Days,” remind them that “sending the rich away empty” is one of the true reasons for the season.