Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, it's that time of year when I begin to share some more random reflections on Christmas. I'm going to put politics aside. I'm going to put religion and politics.

I dare to mix the two, but we'll put those two topics aside, religion and politics. And when they meet, it's always explosive, isn't it? Well, let's take the time of year in hand and let me share with you some random reflections that I have at this time of year concerning Christmas. And before I do that, I would like to share with you as well what New Geneva has in store on Christmas Eve. We plan on having a Christmas Eve service, and it's going to begin at 5 p.m. And we invite you to it.

It's going to be a solemn and joyous time. We're going to have carols and readings and candles. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? It sounds good to me. Carols, readings and candles.

And we'll give you moments to reflect and moments to think about this season and the giving of Christ to us and hopefully send you away on Christmas Eve with a blessing. So plan on joining us at 5 p.m. that would be December 24, Christmas Eve. It's a Sunday evening, and we look forward to meeting you. If you've never been to our church, never been to one of our services, then this might be a good time to meet some of our people, to meet me, and just get a feel for New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Love to have you.

Look forward to seeing you. But until then, let me just share with you some random thoughts, some random reflections on Christmas. This is one of those times of year when people are open is at no other time as to who Jesus of Nazareth was and what he did. And I hope this is true of you. Maybe you find yourself more open to hearing about Jesus and his life.

And there's something about Christ's life and death that attracts people like no other. People may have never heard of sanctification or justification or any of the other words of theology, but they have heard of Jesus of Nazareth. And his life, his words never fail to attract and to disarm and to win people. So some random reflections about Jesus Christ at this time of year, this Christmas season, the Apostle Paul puts it this way. He says, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Now at Christmas, God sent forth his son, Jesus. This vulnerable, needy baby was born of a simple Jewish maiden, Mary, born of woman. And this son of grace was also born under the law. That is, he was born under the old covenant of works that we could never perfectly obey. And he was born this way in order that he might redeem those who were under the law.

That is, bring back to God, we who found ourselves contained and condemned under that law. Christ in his life and death on this earth, perfectly obeyed the law in every circumstance in which he found himself. And he thereby obeyed for us because he was our federal head. That is, he was the one who acted in our place, even as Adam did in the garden, the first Adam, the second Adam, Christ obeyed in our stead. All those who belong to him, excuse me, find themselves in perfect obedience because of his obedience.

This is what Paul meant when he said to redeem those who were under the law. And this is one of those deep theological issues with which we deal when we think about Christmas. In addition to the simpler things like shepherds and wise men and angels, there are many simple as well as complex components of Christmas, many of which we may lack information. For example, where do we derive the title Christmas? That word Christmas is actually a contraction of two words, Christ's mass.

The church has long celebrated the lives of the saints in 365 feasts, one for every day of the year. For example, St. Francis of Assisi is assigned October 4th, upon which a meal, a prayer, and a mass are said for whatever saint it might be. Likewise, the feast day for Mary, the mother of God, is celebrated on January 1st of every year in which a mass is said in the Roman Catholic Church, that is in her name. One might then ask, when is a mass said for the Savior, Jesus Christ? Ho, ho, the answer is quite simple.

Upon Christmas Day, December 25th, this is his feast day when a mass is said for Christ, that is Christ's mass contracted to Christmas. Do you see how nothing comes to us in a vacuum? Christ's mass, December 25th, is a feast day upon which presents are exchanged, feasts are eaten, religious services are observed. So elevated has this feast day become that it is observed not only by the Roman Catholic Church, but by all Christians everywhere. Why do you think that December 25th was chosen for Christ's mass, huh?

There are two competing theories, only one of which holds up to historical scrutiny. Let me share them with you. The number one explanation for December 25th, being Christmas Day, is that December 25th was chosen in order to correspond to the pagan celebration of Saturnalia, the pagan feast for the god Saturn. In the Roman panoply of gods, the majestic regal personage of Saturn occupied this place in the calendar of gods to be recognized and celebrated. It was one of winter's great breaks when firewood could be burned, animals slaughtered and consumed for protein, and daily labor ceased for at least 12 hours or so on a holiday.

In fact, we have a letter from Pope Gregory the Great to a missionary to Britain that pagan temples and festivals be converted into Christian churches and festivals in order to facilitate the transition of pagans to Christians. So December 25th, the day of Christ's mass, was one of those days. The second competing theory, the one I prefer, is that December 25th was chosen because it was figured to be precisely nine months after the church calculated Jesus' birth from his conception.

Yes, church fathers like Tertullian reasoned that the Bible indicates that Jesus was conceived on the same day in which he was later to die, that is, the day he was crucified, March 25th or 14 Nisan in the Jewish calendar. And this places his birth then, if his conception was on March 25th, it places his birth on December 25th. The great theologian St. Augustine notes, and I quote him, for he, Jesus, is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also he suffered.

So the womb of the virgin in which he was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which he was buried, wherein never was man laid, neither before him, nor since, but he was born, according to his tradition, upon December the 25th, unquote. So that is my preferred explanation then for why December 25th is the day of Christ's mass and his birth. Well, here's another random fact which appeals to me, which attracted me, which you might not be aware concerning Christmas. Did you know that rank pagan unbelievers were far more conscious of Jesus' birth than his own people?

That's the thrust of the account of the visit of the Magi, the wise men from the East. In 586 BC, the Chaldeans, the pagan magicians of Babylon, who were in service to King Nebuchadnezzar, overran and conquered Judah, just as the prophets had predicted. 2 Kings 23, 27 says, And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said my name shall be there. And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him, unquote.

So kings and chronicles record that they carried away everything of value that they found in Jerusalem, including the sacred scriptures that they found, that is, the Bible of the Jews. And the thing about these Chaldean pagan scholars, they read the material that they captured and stole. They did. They studied these things. And this happens with every great empire.

Those bookish souls who love to pour over pages and documents and scrolls. They exist everywhere, including me. I'm one of those guys. But these scholars assiduously studied and understood what they read, too. And thus they studied the prophecies concerning a savior.

For example, in Numbers 24, we read, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, unquote. A star shall come out of Jacob. When the Magi in Babylon saw a phenomenon in the sky, that is a star that normally did not shine in the western sky, they reasoned that this prophecy of the Jews was about to be fulfilled.

A star was about to come out of Jacob. A king, that is a scepter, was about to rise out of Israel. And what should they do? Well, they packed up and they beat feet to Israel, didn't they? They were the first to greet and pay homage to this king who would rule the whole world.

Royalty they were, the first royalty. This is the background when you read in Matthew, now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him, unquote. They were more informed than the sleepy-headed scribes and Pharisees of Israel who ostensibly studied the text, ostensibly knew it inside and out. This is one of the points that Matthew intends to make, that is even Gentiles were more receptive to the Messiah than his own people.

Well, another favorite random reflection of mine on Christmas is the 12 days of Christmas, dear listener. What a rich heritage we have in this blessed tradition of the 12 days of Christmas. What comes to mind for you when you hear the 12 days of Christmas? The song, probably, as it does for most people, the song that begins on the first day of Christmas. My true love gave to me, right?

This is all we in the West usually get concerning the 12 days of Christmas. We experience Advent, where we anticipate Christ's birth 28 days prior to Christ's Mass, but then it abruptly ends. We celebrate a secular New Year's Day a week later, and then it's back to the daily grind. Well, not so in the Eastern Orthodox churches. Unlike we in the West, the East makes a sacred celebration of Christ from his birth on December 25 to Epiphany, 12 days later on January 6th, ostensibly the day when the Magi appeared to worship this newborn king.

Well, that's when Christmas ends in the East, 12 days later. In between, there are 12 feast days when a whole spectrum of spiritual moments, that's important. These are not just rote repetitious days in a church calendar. No, they are spiritual moments, and they are celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. How much is revealed about Christ in these 12 feast days?

For example, December 26th, the day after Christmas, is the Feast of St. Stephen, which is a traditional day for giving from the abundance of Christmas to the poor, right? If you know the hymn, Good King Wenceslas, you know the entire point of the hymn is that the king on the feast day of Stephen spies, a poor man come in sight gathering winter fuel, and he orders his page, bring me flesh and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither, thou and I will see him dine when we bear him hither.

It was a feast day for St. Stephen the 26th, the first deacon of the church in Acts, Stephen was, and deacons traditionally make provision for the poor out of the treasury of the church. And so this day is set aside to lavish a king's abundance on those less fortunate. Oh, do this, dear Christian. Go to the soup kitchen, maybe bring steaks. Go to the city of refuge, replenish their store of turkeys and beef.

See that those less fortunate than you enjoy a king's banquet. That's the point of St. Stephen's Day, even as good King Wenceslas provided for that poor man and his family. Well, December 27th then is a feast day too, a feast day for St. John, the only one of the 12 disciples who did not die as a martyr. A mass is set for him, the disciple who wrote of the incarnation of Jesus, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. December 28th is the feast day of the holy innocence when a mass is set for the children murdered by Herod, that monster who tried to sweep up the newborn baby Jesus and the dragnet of Holocaust.

Yes. Now, these infants were not martyrs like Stephen who died consciously and heroically in a vision of the glorified Christ. No, these innocents were not heroes like the apostles who died consciously witnessing to the risen Christ. No, rather the church asserts that they died for Christ nevertheless, because they died unjustly before they had a chance to know or to will. So in celebrating the holy innocence, we also remember the victims of abortion, for example, children of abortion or children who have died in war or children who die of parental abuse, all these innocents, if you will.

So each feast day in the 12 days of Christmas has its own aspect of Christmas that highlights a singular feature for Christians to remember. This is why it's so valuable. Not just gifts given by my true love, like a maids of milk and golden rings or partridges in a pear tree. No, even Epiphany celebrates not only the day on which the wise men arrived to worship the newborn king, but also the day on which the gospel is begun to be proclaimed. Christ manifestation to the nations symbolized in these pagan Gentile kings who now have their savior revealed to them.

Oh, yes. So the 12 days of Christmas is so much more than a Christmas carol about exotic gifts given me by my true love. It is more about the good gifts of God to his people through his son, Jesus the Christ. One of my favorite random thoughts about Christmas. Another random reflection on Christmas that I like and surprises many people too, is that the genealogy in Matthew is an integral part of the Christmas story.

Yes, it's a part of the Advent story. What? You may say, come on, no boring list of names, pastor, can be part of the wondrous story of Christ's nativity. Well, name me one Christmas carol about it, right? There's no Christmas carols about the genealogy that I know of, but nevertheless, it's an integral part of the Christmas story.

I've seen plenty of dramatizations about the holy family who found no room at the inn, retired to the manger, shepherds who tended their flocks by night, visited by singing angels, and even Herod killing the infants at Bethlehem. But I've never seen Cecil B. DeMille or Steven Spielberg dramatize Jesus. Genealogy, have you? It's an oxymoron. Genealogy cannot by definition be dramatic, can it?

But any self-respecting Jew of the first century, he'd shake his head in disbelief at this kind of attitude, and he'd ask you why you could, on the one hand, say you relied on the Bible for truth, while on the other hand, dismissing genealogies. They were utterly necessary to the life of a young baby, and they were necessary for several reasons. Number one, a child's genealogy established his chosen status. Are you a Jew or a Gentile? Even today, a Jew is not a Jew unless he can establish his lineage via his parents.

And secondly, the genealogy was valuable because the promised Messiah would descend from Abraham and David. Oh yes, the promised Messiah would descend from Abraham and David, and he'd have to prove it. The covenants which God cut with Abraham and David both promised that the Savior of mankind would descend from their line. To Abraham, he said, in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. And to David, he promised, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever, unquote. Therefore, when the Messiah appeared, he would have to establish his lineage right out of the gate. No Jew worth his salt would expect anything less, especially those responsible for authenticating these things. So, dear listener, it is difficult for us Gentiles on this side of Christmas to comprehend the primacy of Christ's genealogy to first century Jews, but it was there.

Consequently, can you understand the importance of Jesus' birth narrative, his birth narrative, Advent, beginning with these words, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, unquote. Matthew 1.1. Few people realize that the nativity actually begins with a genealogy. Turn to Matthew 1. You will find that the birth narrative of Jesus begins not with angels or shepherds or Joseph and Mary, but with a dry, boring, and trivial to us anyway, perhaps, genealogy.

But it would not have been thus for its first audience that it's Jews who expected the Messiah's credentials to be authenticated before anything else was said about him. The genealogy in Matthew does precisely this. It is entirely fitting to begin the birth narratives with a genealogy. And thirdly, Christ's genealogy gathers up all of fallen humanity, too, as you read through it. Christ's genealogy gathers up all of fallen humanity.

There are actually some very poignant moments of drama in the genealogy, if you know your Old Testament. How many of you know that Jesus is a descendant of incest and prostitution by way of Judah and Tamar? Go over the story in Genesis. Jesus stands in the line of Perez, son of Tamar, who connived and controlled her father-in-law, Judah, to bear her a son by posing as a prostitute. Jesus is also descended to Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, and what is more, Solomon, the son of David's adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.

If you read the genealogy of our Savior carefully, you notice that there is a lot of saving to do by the Savior. So the next time you pick up Matthew and you begin to read, do not skip over the genealogy with which he begins his narrative. It's an integral part of the story of salvation by grace. And finally, I think we'd be remiss to neglect the history of Santa Claus, who is really a pale image of the real Saint Claus or Saint Nicholas is who we're talking about when we talk about Santa Claus. We're talking about Saint Nicholas.

What a contrast between the legend in the West and the reality of Saint Nicholas. The true story of Saint Nicholas begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patala. At the time, the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. And obeying Jesus' words to sell what you own and give the money to the poor, Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, the suffering.

He dedicated his life to serving God and was eventually made bishop of Myra while still a very young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children and his concern for sailors and ships. Under the Roman emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith. He was exiled and he was imprisoned. And after his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.

Yes, Santa Claus was at the very first church council, the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died on December 6, AD 343 in Myra, and he was buried in his cathedral church. Well, one story of Saint Nicholas tells of a poor man with three daughters. Now, in those days, a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value, that is a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband.

Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters without dowries were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. But mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home, providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold tossed through an open window are said to have landed in stockings or in shoes left before the fire to dry. That's where the tradition leads to the custom of children hanging stockings, right?

Or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of gold, excuse me, instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for Saint Nicholas. This is where the oranges come in. And so Saint Nicholas is a gift giver.

So, dear listener, banish the notion of cartoon character Santa Claus that's come to take the place of the real Saint Nicholas. He'd weep if today, if he saw what's been made of him. Saint Nicholas, not a clown character dressed in a red suit and a fluffy white beard, black boots. No, Bishop Nicholas, indeed, loved children, deeply cared for them. In an age when infant mortality hovered around 20 percent, disease, poverty characterized childhood all over Europe and Asia.

So, Saint Nicholas did anonymously leave food and clothing and gifts for children and their families. He did it all year. He didn't slide down chimneys, leave a room full of toys for kids. The good bishop ministered to children in a disciplined fashion all year round. He did not work year round at the North Pole with an army of elves in order to disgorge an avalanche of toys in one night on Christmas Eve and an orgy of consumerism.

No, Saint Nicholas followed the example of Jesus Christ, and he did all in Christ's name. He was not the secular, godless, cardboard cutout that our society makes him out to be. So, remember this, inculcate this, teach this example to your children. Follow the lead of the good Bishop Nicholas, not Santy Claus. Finally, my last random reflection on Christmas.

Why is the season anticipating Christmas called Advent? Well, Advent means coming or arrival. It looks forward to the first arrival of Jesus Christ into the world that he made. But savvy Christians also know that Christmas anticipated his second Advent, when he returns to redeem his own, to renew a fallen creation, and to judge the wicked. So, know this, at every Christmas, Christ's first Advent is only half the story.

Use this Christmas season also to anticipate his second Advent. Put your faith in him now for the work of salvation that he accomplished at his first Advent and the completion of that work at his second Advent when he comes to claim us. Well, this has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And we at New Geneva would like to invite you to our Christmas Eve service, which is coming on Sunday, December 24th, and it's going to be at 5 p.m., our Christmas Eve service, 5 p.m. in our sanctuary. And we invite you to join us.

Perhaps you've been listening to us for a while, and you have been thinking about visiting us. This would be a good time to do that for our Christmas Eve service, where we'll have carols and readings and candles. It's going to be a solemn, joyous time. I look forward to it. I look forward to sharing it with our congregation and with you as you come to visit us.

So, come and join us for our Christmas Eve service, 5 o'clock, Christmas Eve, December 24th. That's a Sunday. And also, join us in our worship services, too. We invite you to our worship services, and they occur on Sunday at 10 a.m. We are located at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Join us, 101 4th Street, right on the corner of 4th and Boulevard.

And you can call us for more information at 523-0196. That's area code 208-523-0196. God bless you, and Merry Christmas.