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Charles Spurgeon, the well-known British preacher, famously had a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I like that. So do I.

On one hand, Spurgeon spoke against Christmas, in part because of the excesses of his day. In a sermon ironically titled “Joy Born at Bethlehem” preached on December 24, 1871, Spurgeon says, “We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas … because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Savior’s birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred.” I dare pastors to begin their Christmas Eve sermon as Spurgeon did!

Still, Spurgeon preached the birth of Christ at Christmas. On December 21, 1856, he said, “For my part, I wish there were twenty Christmas days in the year. It is seldom that young men can meet with their friends; it is rarely they can all be united as happy families; and though I have no respect to the religious observance of the day, yet I love it as a family institution, as one of England’s brightest days, the great Sabbath of the year, when the plough rests in its furrow, when the din of business is hushed, when the mechanic and the working man go out to refresh themselves upon the green sward of the glad earth.”

Twenty Christmases a year. Slow down, Spurgeon. One is enough for most of us.

Spurgeon recognized that Christmas is a great opportunity to talk about Christ with friends and family. He also appreciated the break from our routines. He may not have loved Christmas, but he saw some value in its practice.

Humbug

I remember feeling surprised the first time I learned how many people struggle through Christmas. A 1973 article in Christianity Today cites four reasons for yuletide unhappiness: the increased pressure many people feel; loneliness; feelings of inadequacy; and even increased Satanic activity. “Whenever people begin to think about Christ, it appears that the devil becomes more active,” it says. “At Christmas, more than at any other time of the year, Christ’s name and birth are predominant.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Satan is especially active at this season, distracting people from the babe of Bethlehem, creating misery instead of joy, and even providing his own substitute for the divine Christ in the form of an old man named Santa Claus who is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, infallible, the giver of good and perfect gifts, the symbol of happiness, and a powerful judge who judges on the basis of works.”

The root of my ambivalence in Christmas lies in its busyness. Busyness threatens to rob me each year of the enjoyment of what’s good about Christmas.

Even if you don’t feel ambivalent about Christmas, it’s possible that others around you do.

The Opportunity of Christmas

I like Spurgeon’s approach. He was honest about his ambivalence. He displayed his inner curmudgeon.

And yet he recognized the value of Christmas. We can remember Christ; we can rehearse what he’s done; we can share the gospel; we can take a break.

I’ll still take one Christmas a year over twenty, but I want to take full advantage of it, even if I feel like a curmudgeon at Christmas.

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