By Steve A. Hamilton

1 Pet. 2:4-10

Introduction: Do you know just how peculiar you are?  On a day that the world holds to be holy; a day known as Christmas day, you have chosen to worship God.  Among the worldly, this day is apparently too special a day to spend it at church.  Beside the fact that they can’t get their own members to show up to worship God as He has commanded (Heb. 10:25), they have decided that it is all right to forsake God to spend this day with their families.

          I have a news article entitled “Megachurches Take a Holiday,” found in the December 8, 2005 issue of the Rapid City Journal which describes this new trend to close churches on December 25^th because Christmas falls on a Sunday.

          Don’t you find that highly ironic not to mention hypocritical?  At the same time I find it all so sad.  Let me explain.

I.  Ironic, hypocritical and sad.

          A. Ironic because it is the same people who promote December 25^th as Christ birth when it is not (John 10:22 compared to Luke 2:8).  Ironic because they are the ones who say we must worship Christ on this day and then they do not!

          B. Hypocritical because it is the worldly that have pushed this notion that Christmas is such an important day (being Jesus’ birth) that it is wrong to degrade the occasion (i.e. taking Christ out of Christmas).  They denounce the commercialization of the occasion but do we find them honoring God on that day if it falls on a Sunday?

          C.  Sad because their wickedness is on display just as the scriptures foretold (1 Tim. 4:1-2; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 3:13; 2 Pet. 2:1-2).     

II. God comes first!

          A. I’m not advocating we should show up for worship because it is Christmas.  I am advocating that we should show up for worship because it is the Lord’s Day regardless which holiday may be on that day.

          B. Putting the Lord and His church above all else is a fundamental command (Matt. 6:33).

          C. Family is not more important than God (Matt. 10:37-38).  Any church that cancels services for family is not worthy of Christ!  Obviously, that means they are not of the Lord’s church (Matt. 6:24).  

III. Inconvenience is Satan’s tool.

          A. “Let’s not impose the church on people.  Let’s not make church in any way inconvenient.”  It is not surprising to find churches that cater to the entertainment and social whims of its members to find them not going to church on any Sunday because it is inconvenient.

          B. They claim that God finds their absence from services acceptable.  “We just trust that whatever the Lord tells them to do is fine.” (Mike Hayes, associate pastor of Rimrock Evangelical Free Church, Johnson Siding, SD) If inconvenience is a standard that God accepts, why go to any worship service? 

          C. Christ condemned such action (Matt. 15:3-9).

                   1. By their tradition (the observance of Christmas) they transgress the commandment of God (Heb. 10:25). 

                   2. Jesus calls that hypocrisy!  They honor God in words but not in action.  Therefore, their worship to God is worthless because they teach their own will.

          D. “I’m not offended by churches whose doors are closed on Christmas.”  I’m not either but I would be offended had these been the Lord’s churches who chose to be closed on a Sunday.  I fear that this corruption will one day leach into the Lord’s Church.

IV. The real problem?

          A. Their own members wouldn’t show up for services anyway.  “The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was 1994, and only a few people showed up to pray.” (Cally Parkinson, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL.)  By their own admission; hardly any of them love the Lord (John 14:15, 21, 24).

          B. They see holding services on a Christmas Sunday as merely accommodating their members with a tradition of going to church. That implies the leaders of these churches would rather be at home as well.

          C. “If our target and our mission is to reach the unchurched - basically, the people who don’t go to church - how likely is it that they’ll be going to church on Christmas morning?” (Cally Parkinson, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL.)  They don’t need to worry about the unchurched not attending.  They need to worry about their own salvation as they are lost.   

Conclusion: What kind of people would show up for worship services on Christmas when it falls on a Sunday?  True Christians never take a holiday from their faith (Titus 2:14-15)!

Last modified: 05/02/08