Merry Christmas....I mean Happy Holidays!

Have you noticed a recent trend to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays"? It's been going on for some time. OK all you bank tellers, grocery store workers, retail store clerks.....I know you secretly want to say "Merry Christmas!" to your customers, but whatever you do, bite your tongue. You know the company policy. We don't want to offend anyone. 

How dare you remind someone that the reason for all the December excitement and celebration is.....shhhh (Christmas). Soon even Santa will start shouting, "Merry Holiday to all, and to all a good night." We can send Holiday cards to our family and friends. Lowes will be selling Holiday trees and Holiday wreathes. And what about the Holiday lights that everyone will put up. Christmas parades will be referred to as Holiday parades. Office Christmas parties will be called Holiday parties. People will be rushing to buy Holiday presents before it's Holiday eve. And on Holiday day, we can all gather the family to open our Holiday gifts from under the Holiday tree and then later have Holiday dinner together, with Holiday cheer and Holiday candy. 

And what about all the Christmas carols. They need to be changed too -- to Holiday carols. We don't want to offend anyone, so soon radio stations will be playing "I'm Dreaming Of A White Holiday", "O Holiday Tree, O Holiday Tree", "The 12 Days Of Holiday", "We Wish You A Merry Holiday", and they'll dub Elvis' voice to sing, "I'll Have A Blue Holiday Without You".

Wait a minute! What about Christmas movies? They'll need to be re-dubbed, re-titled, and re-released as Holiday movies such as Bing Crosby's "White Holiday", Jim Carrey's "The Grinch Who Stole Holiday", and Christmas wouldn't be the same without the classic "A Holiday Story", and Chevy Chase's "Holiday Vacation". And what about the great poem, "The Night Before Holiday"? We will need to re-learn everything! The phrase "Merry Christmas" will need to go..... 'underground'! What's this world coming to?

Somewhere, though, a remnant will remain. There will still be a select few, scattered among us. who secretly will say "Merry Christmas" to each other, maybe softly, maybe even just mouthing the words, silently. But I believe somehow, someway, this phrase, which is on its way to being banned for public use, will survive. There will be a remnant that carries on. And someday children will be taught how long ago, a cheerful, joyous greeting of "Merry Christmas" was once freely exchanged between two people at Christmas time, with a smile and a sparkle of excitement in their eyes. 

And hopefully, the greeting of "Merry Christmas" will eventually come full circle - once everyone realizes who the 'offended' ones really are -- it's the Christians! 

To Christians "Happy Holidays" is the offensive term, not "Merry Christmas!" To us, "Happy Holidays!" tries to cover up the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is all about Christ. After all, Christmas has the word "Christ" in it -- Christ-mas. If you don't like "Merry Christmas" --  sorry! -- because Christmas is all about Christ - and it's about us Christians.

Let's take a look at the phrase "Merry Christmas". Why do we say it? When you really think about it, saying "Merry Christmas" is a way to extend our best wishes to someone, whether they are a Christian or not. "Merry Christmas!" is a positive, gracious, cheerful greeting, not an offensive one. The reason we say "Merry" Christmas is because Christ's love is for all people, regardless of who they are. 

When we say "Merry Christmas" to anyone, including even a stranger, we are extending grace to that person. We are expressing our desire that he or she will receive and experience the joy that Christmas stands for. And hopefully they will come to know the hope, peace and joy that can only come from Christ. 

Remember the angel who appeared to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born? In a sense, that angel was giving his version of a "Merry Christmas" to the shepherds. 

Luke 2:10

but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people."

It was like the angel saying, "Merry Christmas", I bring you good news, and I'm hoping you will find great joy in it."

So don't be ashamed of saying "Merry Christmas!" It would be like being ashamed of the Gospel message - the good news of the birth of Jesus, a baby King, Immanuel, God with us, the King of all kings, who became our King - who brings hope and peace and joy. Now that's something to celebrate, something to proclaim, and something to share! 

So............."Merry Christmas!" to all, and to all a good night.

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