What takes Christ out of Christmas?

Quite often when we think or talk about things which take the Christ out of Christmas, we are thinking about things like using the abbreviation "Xmas" instead of the full word "Christmas," or making too much of Santa Claus and Christmas trees, or about signs and greetings which say Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings rather than saying Merry Christmas! I want to talk a bit about several of these, acknowledging that they may play a part in neglecting to give the season its heart, its celebration of Christ as Immanuel, God with us! But, as things which take Christ out of Christmas, I believe they are only minor matters, not the real culprit which produces an empty Christmas.

First, I'm looking at "Xmas." Some people assume this abbreviation is an effort to have Christmas without the Christ, as though the X stands for blank, or for nothing related to Christ. That was never the case. We need to remember that the New Testament was not originally written in English, not even in the 1611 King James style of English with which we are familiar in the King James Version of the Holy Bible from 1611.

The New Testament was originally written in common first century Greek. In that Greek, the title Christ is spelled XPISTOS, using certain of our English letters as likenesses of the Greek letters CHI, RHO, IOTA, SIGMA, TAU, OMNICRON, SIGMA. When transliterated, using English letters, the spelling is CHRISTOS. From ancient times, the Church has used the letters CHI and RHO, which look like our English X and P, as a symbol for Christ. Usually the P is superimposed over the X. On church furniture, such as pulpits and tables, one will often see the two abbreviations IHS and XP. The IHS gives the first three Greek letters of the name, "Jesus." The letters CHI and RHO (X and P) are the first two Greek letters of the title, "Christ." In the abbreviation "Xmas," our English upper case X is used to represent the Greek letter CHI, because the Greek CHI looks quite like our English letter X. The point is that the letter CHI or the first two letters CHI and RHO, are letters which for centuries have been used by the church to stand for Christ. The abbreviation Xmas does not take the Christ out of Christmas, far from it. As an expression, it means the Christ mass, just as the expression Christmas means the Christ mass, a celebration of the birth of Jesus, who is the Christ (Messiah). Nevertheless, even though I argue for the Christian legitimacy of the expression "Xmas," I would rather write it out, and say it in full, CHRISTMAS!

Now to look at Santa Claus. Our society's portrayal of Santa Claus today is a sad and pitiful thing. One would think, by watching the representations of Santa Claus on TV, that Santa is mainly a big, round, jovial salesman who just goes around Ho Ho Ho-ing and urging people to be happy by buying all the bargains that are supposed to make their eyes sparkle. But should we kick Santa out of Christmas in order to save Christmas? We can remember, first of all, that our expression, Santa Claus, is a much-evolved name which originated with a real, live churchman, Saint Nicholaus. Saint Nicholaus was very dedicated to trying to make life better for unfortunate and poor children in his day. He sought to share Jesus Christ's love for children by helping them and their families with needed clothing, supplies and modest gifts. We probably mess up the Saint Nicholaus tradition with all the stories about flying reindeer and sleighs and toy workshop at the North Pole, although Saint Nicholaus did live in a cold northern country where people actually used sleighs pulled by reindeer. I wish we could have a Santa who would stay out of the stores and out of the TV commercials, and who would associate himself with things like the Angel Tree Program, the Salvation Army and other caring programs at Christmas time. You don't carry on the Saint Nicholaus tradition and you don't celebrate Christ by selling stuff and emphasizing Christmas as a time to get a lot of stuff for yourself. But using Christmas time to tell and to show that Christ Jesus cares for people, and especially needy children, is a way to keep the Christ in Christmas and to carry on the true Christly spirit of good ole St. Nick.

But, what does produce empty Christmases?

What does take the Christ out of Christmas?

I want to focus for a short time at this point on the difference between two words: "holiday" and "holyday." Is Christmas a holy day? a time to celebrate great eternal truths which bring life and vitality to the souls of a people? Or is Christmas to be allowed to become merely a holiday, a time to get off work for a few days, to try to enjoy oneself through indulgences in food and partying and material plenty? One can "have Christmas" without thinking about the Christ, just as one can go to a birthday party for the party fun of it, without giving thought to the person in whose honor the party was set up. Christmas is about the One who is Key to the Heart and Soul of life. What a loss if we take a high and holy day, and turn it into a mere holiday, or ultimately into a hollow day!

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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, is vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.