During
the NHL player’s lockout that cancelled the entire
2004-2005 hockey season, the MSG channel often ran games
from the Rangers-Devils 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.
Who could forget Mark Messier’s guarantee of a win in
Game 6? The N.Y. Rangers were down 3-2 in the series. It
was Messier who not only predicted the outcome (which
knotted the series at 3-3) but scored a hat trick to win
the game. The Rangers went on to defeat the Devils in
game 7, and then defeated the Vancouver Canucks to win
the team's first Stanley Cup in 54 years.
As a N. Y. Ranger’s fan
since boyhood, I often found myself watching these
reruns from the 1994 playoffs. But there was one huge
difference from when I had lived through the playoffs in
real time: Now I could relax knowing the outcome. It
didn’t matter if the Devils won a game or pulled ahead
in the series. I had seen the final game. And we won.
Now hold that thought
for a moment.
Every year during the
Christmas season, we are besieged by an element of
society that thinks it’s their, well—it’s not their
God-given right—they don’t believe in God. So what is
it? Some perverse force that drives this small minority
to declare an end to Christmas as it has been celebrated
in this country since its inception several hundred
years ago.
This obsession to
secularize a day—a federal holiday, by the way—that
Americans have always set aside to honor the birth of
Jesus Christ seems to have reached a frenzied pitch.
The
American Family Association reports on its website (afa.net)
that the push to ban “Christmas” and replace it with
“Happy Holidays,” “Season's Greetings,” etc. is gaining
ground with several retailers participating. “So far,
the list includes Kmart, Sears, Kohl's, Home Depot,
Lowe's, Target, JC Penney, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Kroger,
Office Max, Walgreens, Staples, and Dell.”
John Gibson, host of Fox News “The Big Story” has
authored a book titled, “The War on Christmas,” (click
on book's cover to learn more or to order from
Amazon.com) in which story after story exposes the
left’s war against anything having to do with the
mention of Jesus’ birthday. Examples include government
workers in Illinois being forbidden to say “Merry
Christmas” while at work, a ban on Christians from
participating in a public project to decorate the lawn
of City Hall in Rhode Island, a New Jersey school
banning instrumental versions of traditional Christmas
carols and Arizona school officials ruling it
unconstitutional for a student to refer to the religious
history of Christmas in a class project.
You can find plenty of
other examples by Googling “secularize + Christmas” or
some similar combination of key words describing the
activities of the Scrooges among us who enjoy all of the
benefits of liberty, including First Amendment rights,
principally because America was founded by godly men who
embraced Christian principles.
A part of me wants to
scream. It’s ludicrous that 255 million Americans—85% of
us—can be held hostage by the one percent who are
“offended” by any mention of Jesus Christ in public
(except when used as a swear word.)
But as ludicrous as
this has become, there is an element of tragedy in it.
Those who labor relentlessly to secularize Christmas are
ignorant of its beauty and its simplicity. They are in
truth, more to be pitied than to be held in contempt.
Jesus
came to this earth for everyone—not just Christians.
The
apostle John explained that Christ was born because “God
so loved the world”—not just a select few. The
offer of eternal life is extended to “whosoever”—anyone
willing to place his faith and trust in Christ’s free
offer of this miracle of forgiveness—embodied as an
innocent baby in a manger.
Try as
man might, he will never be able to silence God’s voice.
The record of history demonstrates the more man has
tried to destroy Christianity, the stronger it has
grown.
They
killed its founder. The silence lasted three short days.
The early
church experienced explosive growth despite extreme
political hostility under Rome—no friend to
Christianity. No one has proposed throwing Christians to
the lions in America, at least not just yet.
Christianity transcends governments and politics. It
will survive the ranting of those bent on attempts to
silence its message. So let the secularists rage. Their
noisy irreverence may be disheartening when viewed
through the looking glass of the nightly cable news
shows. But any shallow victories will be short-lived and
ultimately proven meaningless in a much larger war.
Those
among us who are personally acquainted with the Babe of
Bethlehem know how it all ends: We’ve read the last page
of the Bible.
And like
N.Y. Ranger’s fans who calmly watched reruns of the 1994
NHL Eastern Conference finals on the MSG Network earlier
this year, knowing that it didn’t matter if the Devils
won a face-off or scored a goal or even won a game,
Christians can celebrate Christmas with that same calm
assurance. In the end, we win.
Merry
Christmas Everyone.
n
