It’s amazing what will pop into your head to ponder at 2:30 in the morning when you’re wide awake due to the medicine you are taking for bronchitis/sinusitis. Not that I’m complaining because I have been fighting this stuff for over 10 days now and it has already passed my “pain in the back side stage.” So, I wake up this morning and the first thing that pops into my head is my sermon for this coming Sunday. I’m venturing out of my comfort zone by preaching a sermon series instead of following the preaching lectionary which I have done predominantly for the past ten years. The focus for my sermon prep this week is on how the word “Christmas” has been and/or is being defined in the world over these past 2000 years.
Now instead of boring you with my vast array of “sermon marinade” from my academic stuff, I decided to see what Wikipedia (online encyclopedia) had to say and found it wasn’t too far off from some of my academic writings.
The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Christmas. (Wikipedia- 12/1/10)
It was the last sentence of the Wikipedia quote that caught my eye and began within me that was something worth blogging about this early morn. It’s that time of year when some Christmas discussions fall back on whether or not we should use “Xmas” in place of Christmas. Now, let me start out by saying that indeed the commercialization of Christmas has gone beyond description and measure and any attempt to say “Merry Xmas” instead of Merry Christmas is to me open for debate as to why someone would intentionally say that. But writing “Xmas” instead of Christmas is something I am not against for a couple of reasons.
First, as the Wikipedia article states correctly, the first letter of Christ in Greek is “chi” represented in the English alphabet as an “X” ( the word “Christ” in Greek would be Χριστός ). And since most of our New Testament writings are based on our translations and understanding of the Greek language used at that time, I believe “Xmas” can be used without problem. I would like to also add that there are some traditions that say that many early followers of Christ used the “X” letter as a way to secretly identify themselves with other believers during the early persecution of the church in the centuries after Christ’s death. They would write the symbol on the ground, in correspondence, as small mark on their homes, etc… as a way to show they believed in Christ. And for what it’s worth, I was told years ago that if you write an “X” on the ground, a piece of paper, without lifting your writing instrument the “X” could then be seen as a “fish” similar to the “Christian fish logo” we have seen used for years now.
And my final and second reason is that this may open the door for us to teach and help others to a better understanding of who Jesus Christ is for us in our lives and can be for their lives. Who knows? You just may be able to share what the true meaning of Christmas is (I’m kind of partial to Linus’ theological rendition from “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” myself). Now when this door opens for you to share, I would remind you that this is not about “bible thumping” but about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. As 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
With gentleness and respect, that kind of reminds me of another shortcut we Christians used a while back, “WWJD?” Isn’t that what Christ would want us to do?
So Merry Christmas! or Merry Xmas! Either way look for an opportunity to share the true meaning and gift of Christmas...
