A Peaceful Christmas to All

“THE LIGHT OF LIFE”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Dec. 23, 2011) — Jesus, or “Yeshua,” might not have been born on December 25, as most of the world celebrates.  Some scholars believe that he was born during the festival of Sukkot during the harvest season, or sometime between the spring and fall.  One author believes that Jesus’s birthday occurred later in the winter than December 25.

The alleged birth of Jesus was not celebrated until more than 400 years after his death.  In modern times, Christmas has been made into something comedic, materialistic, magical, and even a musical story produced in 1951 about a very poor crippled boy who is visited by the Three Kings, undergoes a miraculous healing and then travels to visit the newborn Savior.

Today, has Christ been “left out” of his own celebrated birthday, which coincides with the Winter Solstice?

Most people want to feel happy, even joyous, at this time of the year, whether or not money is plentiful.

But what is its real meaning?

Is it one of earthly existence, his teaching, and his torture endured unto death?  Does the death of Jesus offer us eternal life?  Why do we celebrate Christmas, or “Christ’s Mass?”

Some suggest that not only did “three wise men,” or “Magi,” travel long distances to visit Jesus in the stable, but perhaps their numbers were much greater than three.  Today, the story of the baby in the manger, given birth by the virgin Mary, is shared among a reported billions.

What does it mean to be a believer in Christ, or a Christian?

Christians believe that Jesus came into the world to fulfill prophecy from the Old Testament.  Jesus had claimed to be “the light of the world.”  He preached that “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In the early days of Christianity, the new belief system was juxtaposed to the Roman Empire, which governed the people.

Upon the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, “many pious people” claimed that it did not give proper tribute to God.  While “religious tests” for public officers were prohibited by the Founders, John Adams declared, “Our constitution is only fit for a moral and religious people. It is wholly unsuited to the governance of any other kind.”

Today, many believe that there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state, which has included the removal of the Ten Commandments from government buildings and those refusing to do so should be removed from public service.   Some courtrooms have reinstated the Ten Commandments.

Is a lack of morality what is ailing America today?

If so, what opportunity does Christmas provide us to rectify our moral turpitude?

Even for those who do not believe that Jesus was sent by God to save the world from sin, many believe he was a great teacher.  Jesus taught that we should love our enemies, and do good to those who persecute us, and to store up “treasures in heaven.”  He also commanded men not to “swear falsely” and stressed the importance of telling the truth.

One of the apostles who chronicled Jesus’s life, teachings, and death on the cross, Matthew, wrote:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

If we ask God’s forgiveness for our sins, will He grant it?  If we ask to become members of His kingdom on earth and to do His will, can it be done?

If we seek to elect godly and moral men and women to the halls of our government, can our nation be salvaged from its almost-total demise?

Is it God’s will that this nation be saved?

John Adams said, “Let them revere nothing but religion, morality and liberty,” but he also wrote, “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”

This Christmas, are we lost or found? faithful or faithless?

Can we become a nation of laws again, and not of men?

This Christmas, The Post & Email prays for its readers, its haters, and its denigrators.  We pray for Monroe County Sheriff Bill Bivens and his staff, that they be moved to do the right things in their community and toward the people they are expected to serve.  We pray for the inmates of the Monroe County jail, and for all who are imprisoned throughout the world.  We pray for the Monroe County judiciary and judges across the country, that they may see God and follow His ways and not the ways of mortal men. We pray that those who have been incarcerated unjustly receive justice.

We pray for all those who have practiced deception and dishonesty to leave the darkness behind and embrace the light of truth.

We pray for Barack Obama, that he will come to know God’s love and reveal his records and true identity.  We pray for our unresponsive and morally bankrupt Congress, that they may step forward, admit their mistakes, or resign to allow a more worthy person the job.  We pray that God forgive those who have sinned, which is all of us.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God tells us:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ this Sunday, may we all pray for a healing of this land and her people.

Merry Christmas.