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Black Friday, The First Noel, and the First Atheists

Nine and a half hours to make the dinner, twenty minutes to eat it. Thanksgiving is a gastric 3,000 calories behind Americans with the only after effects the unspoken recognition that we need to take off those extra few pounds after the first of the year.

Yesterday it was Thanksgiving. Today it's Black Friday. Morning has broken across the nation, and for the majority of Americans, with only 28 more shopping days to Christmas, it is the start of the Christmas yuletide season.

It should be no surprise to anyone that today, of all days, heralded the announcement that a state government in this nation, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all, is under fire from Atheists regarding traditional Christmas, i.e. Christian, symbolism. The state of Washington has caved into (the clearly minority) Atheistic demands and ruled that there will be no nativity scene inside the state capital this Christmas.

So what should Christians do about the anti-Christian attacks on Christmas and Christianity in general?

If every Christian were to place a nativity scene on their front lawn this year, we wouldn't need one in the Halls of Congress, the White House, our state capitals, or our public squares because there would be so many in front of our homes . . . and for those of you that are brave enough to risk it all for Him since He gave so much for you . . . a wooden box stuffed with hay in front of your business.   That's all it would take: a simple wooden manager stuffed with hay, empty, a reminder that we are waiting for His return and that until then we serve a God who came to save us as a tiny child. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with skin on because He loves us so and there was no other way for us to reach perfection.

So, as Christians, I exhort each of us to learn from history. Remember the Holocaust, and how, at first, smart people, yea, brilliant people, failed to recognize the warning signs and even when they saw what was happening, refused to accept and believe Hitler's intent. They lived in denial and died in the camps.


First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

~ Martin Niemoeller, Dachau, 1944
When church bells are not approved by city councils because they disturb the peace . . . when Christmas trees become "Holiday Trees" and Christmas parties become Holiday parties . . . when the clerks in stores are not allowed to wish Christians Merry Christmas as they wrap our gifts in Christmas paper or sell us Christmas lights or Christmas cards . . . when the Salvation Army Kettle is no longer welcome in front of a major retailer because it is perceived as discriminating against others . . .

As I see what is happening around us, in our world, in our country, in our state, in our town . . . I am reminded of a hymn we sang in "the kirk" when I was a child . . .


Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see his banners go!

Refrain:
Onward, Christian Soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

At the sign of triumph Satan's hosts doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise,
Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthem raise.

(Refrain)

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers we are treading where the saints hath trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

(Refrain)

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst the church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise, and that cannot fail.

(Refrain)

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud, and honor, unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.

(Refrain)

Onward Christian Soldiers text by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1924 

As a child, I thought this hymn was about saving souls . . . today it is about so much more. Onward, Christian Soldier. Onward.
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