“Merry Christmas!”

That’s what it says on the cards I send out every December.  If anybody calls them ‘holiday cards’ they are going to get a harsh reprimand. It’s a Christmas card. I’ve gotten lots of cards that wish me “Happy Holidays” and some that convey sincere “Season’s Greetings”, but the ones I cherish are those that stand up and proclaim “Merry Christmas”. It’s a rare thing these days to see a Merry Christmas card; they’ve been relegated to a little section in the card shop called “Holidays – Religious”. That section shrinks every year.

This holiday has been sanitized for your convenience

There’s a strange sort of persecution going on in the western world, and Christmas seems to be the front line of battle. The Man is determined to purge Jesus from the holiday, replacing him with such wonderful personalities as Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Batteries Not Included. Every year we read about some group that’s offended by the Christ in Christmas, whether as a result of a manger scene being erected on public property or a company putting the words “Merry Christmas” on a store display.

Make sure you sing “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and not “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” You can do “Silent Night,” but don’t read too much into it.  The whole situation is hopeless if you’re a gloomy sort of person, but in the end the Man doesn’t stand a chance. The Man doesn’t understand that Christians are used to offending people, that Christ himself was offending people long before any of his followers were accused of it.

Jesus didn’t always play nicely

He’s been called the Great Teacher, the Miraculous Healer, even the Kind Hippie, but the fact is that Jesus didn’t come here to make people well physically or to ensure that we all just get along. He came here to establish a revolution, to tear down the religious establishment of the day and set up a new church. He connected people to God, not through priests or temples, but directly. He gifted humanity with an all-knowing Spirit, and he planted within each of us the desire to seek something beyond ourselves.

And the establishment didn’t like it. Those in charge tried to keep Jesus down, but he kept operating, right under the nose of the Man, kept operating even after his crucifixion. Jesus didn’t stay down. He vacated his tomb, walked the land, had words with a lot of people, and established his church on earth - a revolutionary church.

Jesus was a revolutionary and he left behind a church of revolutionaries.

That’s why I love Christmas. It gives me the chance to flex my muscles as a Christian revolutionary. It gives me the chance to go out there and stick it to the Man. When I’ve paid for my purchases “Merry Christmas” is what I say when they wish me “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” Once in a while I get a smile back, or even a wink, like I’m part of an underground society.

We really need to come up with a secret handshake.

A good friend of mine has this colossal homemade cross that he risks life and limb to place on the peak of his roof every year. It’s covered with lights, bright enough to divert low-flying aircraft. His neighbors glare at it with malice as they climb atop their own rooftops to install animatronic reindeer and “Ho-Ho-ing” Santa Clauses.   He also has a manger scene in his front yard, lit up by several spotlights and broadcasting to the world that yes, Jesus is the reason for the season.  I’m sure his neighbors have called the police to complain but, for now at least, there’s nothing the police can do.   

My friend is a revolutionary, just like me. He and I do have a secret handshake. We meet on Mondays at lunch and discuss how we can reach the world without being trodden on by the Man. We have Jesus fish bracelets, and we say grace in the restaurant before lunch. People look at us funny, but we just smile and eat our chicken.

The Man can do what he will to tear down Christmas in the name of the “melting pot,” in the name of ensuring that not a single individual is offended by overt religion. He can replace Jesus with Santa Claus, the wise men with reindeer, the manger with a sleigh, because none of that matters. The fact is, Jesus doesn’t want to live through our television commercials, and he isn’t interested in being portrayed by somebody in a costume at Macy’s. Jesus wants to live in our hearts. As long as he’s there the battle is won.

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