In His Study | Enlarge Christ in Christmas

There has been a strong push in the United States to replace the greeting “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays.” Groups sue to make communities, towns, cities, as well as the state and federal governments, to cease any mention of Christmas.

It would seem that those who so press to remove the word “Christmas” do not want the celebration to stop, they just want to remove Christ from the celebration.

Individuals taking such a stand have forgotten that without Christ (the birth of Jesus Christ) there is no celebration. If you take away the “Christ mass” and deny the Christ that created the great celebration in the heavens and at the manger, and later by the Kings of the East, then there is nothing to celebrate.

People and governments for centuries have celebrated Christmas because Christ makes possible “Peace on earth, good will to men!”

The first president of the United States of America believed in celebrating Christmas. In fact, in 1787 George Washington wanted to make the celebration of the 12 days of Christmas very special, so he purchased a camel in order to have the camel present at the Mount Vernon 12-day Christmas event, which began on Christmas day.

Having been a great man of prayer before and during the Revolutionary War, our first president became a man who knew how to celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the God who had answered his prayers.

During the first year of the War of Independence, on Christmas night in 1776, General George Washington, after much time in prayer, led the Continentals across the icy Delaware River to attack the unsuspecting Hessian forces encamped at Trenton, New Jersey.

Enlistments were running out in his army, supplies were low and morale was falling badly, and the longterm prospects for the survival of the Continental Army and the revolutionary cause didn’t look good.

The general needed a miracle, so he asked for one on that Christmas night.

Many things went wrong that night. He was behind schedule, two columns never made it across the Delaware, but miraculously, he managed to transport 3,000 men plus light artillery across an ice-choked river.

And also miraculously, the enemy hadn’t caught wind of the action.

It was decisive victory. It revitalized the Continental Army, encouraged enlistment, and changed the course of history. General George Washington had received his miracle.

President George Washington never forgot Who made the miracle happen.

Is it any wonder why he celebrated Christmas with such joy and thankfulness?

He didn’t take Christmas out of the celebration;

he enlarged the place of “Christmas.”

Perhaps the reason for the greatest success any president has ever had is because he enlarged the place of Christmas, and the Christ of Christmas, in all he did, whether acting in government or as a simple servant of God.

And perhaps our greatest success will come to us if we enlarge the place of Christmas, and the Christ of Christmas, in all that we do.

A very Merry Christmas to each of you in the Year of our Lord, 2010.

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Editor’s note: Jim Duncan is the pastor of Mountain Bible Church, Mountain, Mo. He may be contacted at P.O. Box 146, Pea Ridge, AR 72751; or by telephone at 417 341-8504; by e-mail at james [email protected]. His Web site is www.jamesduncan-writer.net.

Church, Pages 2 on 12/22/2010