What I Learned this Christmas…

1. Husbands tend to overdo the gift-giving!

2. I can’t say I am unhappy about the overdoing…I kind of enjoyed it!
3. There is something special about having the family all together.
4. Getting and wrapping everyone’s gifts is nothing to be stressed out about.
5. Sisters who live in Utah ought to come visit more often!

6. Lindsey is the most enjoyable person to give to.  At nearly twenty years old, you can give her Play Dough, and make her extremely happy!  Then you get
repaid in hugs and smiles and enthusiasm over the new gift!

7. Sandy has really good taste in picking out gifts.
8. Jim and his new wife are definitely in love, and apparently have a happy, albeit busy, home.
9. Christmas trips to downtown Chicago are just as fun as they always were.

10. It is good to see loved ones you haven’t seen in a very long time.
11. Daddies are pushovers for daughters!  (And I am not just talking about my Dad and I!)
12. There’s something special about Moms –all of them.
13. Jim is all grown up now…no longer a nerdy little brother!  Just teasing, Jim!
14. Adam and Catie are not grown up…still ner–…I mean,  –sorry about that Adam and Catie!


15. Mom Murdock really does make the best peanut butter balls.
16. Next time I go to Maggianos, I am going to order Chicken with Lemon Picatta!

17. Christmas Goodie trays will never go out of style…not as long as we’re all still munching!
18. Don’t plan to crochet too many scarfs for Christmas gifts…you may not have enough time!
19. It is fun to keep Christmas with friends…friends from around the world…Jamaica, Mongolia…
20. Christmas is all about Emmanuel – “God with us.”
21. We do not deserve a Saviour, but He still came.

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people…

Luke 1:46,47,68

Post Christmas blessing – Our Lord Emmanuel

(Matthew 1:23)
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

As God was literally with Mary and Joseph, and the rest of the New Testament Bible characters through the incarnate Son, so He truly is with us today.  He will always be with us.  As we serve Him, His presence will always be with us.  Matthew 28:20 says: “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Truly the Lord Jesus is Emmanuel.

At Christmas

We went to the United States Embassy in Mongolia the other day to renew our children’s passports. We had a very pleasant experience (thank you to the United States Embassy staff!). As we were leaving one of the consular office staff said, “Merry Christmas.” Don’t tell the ACLU!

It is easy to say “Merry Christmas” and forget what should make Christmas the joy that it is. Perhaps for many Christmas time is a season of receiving gifts, a time when we put out a wish list and see how much of it comes in. I know that people talk of deprivation in the United States because of the difficult economy and all, and I have no doubt that some are truly suffering at the Christmas time. But for most Americans it is too easy to notice all the sales and discounts, the lights and songs, the seasonal TV specials and sports. We miss the Person of Christmas because the season of Christmas has distracted us. We say “Merry Christmas” and are sincere, but the Person Who is the reason for Christmas is crowded out by the hustle of the season that is Christmas.

For others Christmas is a time with family. It is the one time of year when the entire family comes together. Reminisces, laughter, old memories, new ones—these all make Christmas a joyful season. During the years that I was in college and later my brothers, we often had summer ministry that kept us from coming home to family. But we never missed coming home at Christmas. But for those of us separated from family by oceans of distance, focusing on family at Christmas only brings feelings of disappointment. After all, of course we want to be with our family during this time. We truly thank God that Christmas is not really about
families, unless one means God’s family.

A few perhaps think of food first when they think of Christmas. I was reading recently about the history of the Christmas meal. Unique foods have always been a part of the Christmas meal, and those Christmas foods are something to which we look forward to, as well. But Christmas is not the food.

But at Christmas we can focus on the joy of our salvation, promised at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:11) and fulfilled at the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is a chance to marvel at the fulfillment of the great prophesies of the Old Testament—some made thousands of years before Christ’s birth. If we give ourselves time, we might wonder anew at the love displayed when God sent His son to be born.

We might be astonished once again that the wise men from the East knew when Christ would be born and the religious scholars in Jerusalem knew where he
would be born. But only the foreigners came to the young child to present gifts. Perhaps the religious scholars were too busy with their studies or too fearful of Herod’s wrath to make the journey of a few miles to the village of Bethlehem to see the Messiah for which they had been waiting for so long.

We might kneel again to the King of kings and say, “I love you. You are worthy of praise. You are the Ruler of righteousness. I commit myself afresh to your service.” Or we can enjoy the food and the family, and we can just relax after all the time spent preparing and “get to Bethlehem” later when it is more convenient.

Merry Christmas, and may Christ be glorified on this the day we celebrate His amazing love.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Pre-e-Christmas greetings from the Hardeckers

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

Merry Christmas!

Life at Fairhaven Baptist College—Junior Year

By early August of 2007, Andrea was teaching in Mexico, and I knew perhaps the most difficult year in college was going to be my junior year.  A small part of me had a difficult time returning to college without Andrea there.  Our little relationship had grown in the few months we had been together.  We communicated a few times a week via a Vonage telephone line, and after her being in Mexico just a month, I felt like I had a little connection to that place because of her.

One of the important things to all returning dormitory students at Fairhaven is who your roommates are going to be for the year.  I mean, you are going to be living with that person for eight months or so!  I remember calling friends just before college to see who they were with, and then I remember hearing who mine were…

Count It All Joy

Dustin Speckhals, Julian Balatbat, and Nathan Rader—those were the names on the dorm assignment list for Room #2: Ed Weimer Men’s Dormitory.  Julian was someone on the basketball team with me who I knew at the time just a little, and Nate was a missionary kid from Vallegrande, Bolivia in South America who came to study for a year after finishing his church’s Bible Institute on the field.  What friends they turned out to be, and continue to be to this day!  I could not have had better friends and roommates.

Like always, the fall semester began with the Stewardship Banquet and Fall Push.  College orientation was in the brand new dining hall for the first time that year, but something was a bit unusual.  Mrs. Leslie, Andrea’s mother and the long time Dean of Women at Fairhaven, was feeling sick and was not able to attend the orientation.  From what I remember, she continued to not feel well for the next week, and went to the hospital on September 11 to find out what was wrong.  That night, Andrea called me with a saddened and heavy heart: her mom had cancer that tended to be terminal.  For the next year and a half, she battled that cancer.  I know that the Leslie family’s life was changed from then on; for the better and to the Glory of God.  For her battle with cancer, Mrs. Leslie gave numerous testimonies of how God had worked revival in her heart.  I also knew that Andrea was in Mexico, and would have a little harder time with it compared to the rest of her family.  God would certainly work in the coming months through answered prayer and biblical miracles.

I don’t remember too much else from that September, except for a smooth Zoo Day (which is always a blessing and a half!) and a severe drop in our bus’s attendance after the campaign.  God would change that, though.  By late October, it seemed as if our bus had hit the doldrums.   No new families were being contacted, and spirit of the kids was dropping at the same time.  It was about that time I remember hearing a sermon on simple faith that God can do anything.  We had hit the low point in early November when a family that helped on our bus was scheduled to bring jello cups for a treat.  They told us on Saturday that they had made 50 cups.  We laughed to ourselves and said, “We’ll never have that many…maybe 30 riders at the most!”  I believe God was building our trust in Him.  That Sunday, “out of no where” 53 came to church!  From then on, our bus never looked back, praise God!  People were being saved and baptized, as well as the blessing of good attendance.  I loved seeing God do that, and I truly enjoyed my Junior year in southwest Gary on Bus #101!

The Candy Sale at Fairhaven Baptist Academy is something to behold.  Twice a year, preschoolers all the way up to twelfth graders try to sell chocolate to win a few rewards here and there and help keep school tuition low (amongst the lowest in the nation in private Christian schools, I believe).  Those in college may help a family in the academy if they wish—hey, and you get a day off of school too!  I was able to help one staff member’s family all four years of college; so that would be eight times total, I think.  It is a joy to go out with a six or seven year old for a day and help them meet there goal.   This may sound crazy, but I even learned some things from it too!

In mid-November, we had a mission agency representative (that most of us knew) in to preach a couple of chapel services.  I have always loved his preaching, and I would say he is one of my favorite preachers also.  After one message, he asked for a couple of college men to accompany him to a church to help him present the work of his board.  It happened to be a free day for me, so I asked if I could go with him.  It also happened to be one of the most profitable times for me in college.  Ironically, the same mission agency that he was representing was also the one that hired Andrea to be the teacher for their language school in Mexico.  It was a four-hour one way trip to that church in northern Michigan; but the time flew by.  The representative, another college student, and I talked about missions basically the whole time.  We spoke of David Livingstone, Adoniram Judson, and many others.  He inspired me to read more missionary biographies, one of which is a favorite of mine now: Daktar: Diplomat to Bangledesh. It all happened on my birthday too—what a gift!

My third year of the Christmas Lights activity came in early December, like usual.  Five friends and I ventured to Gino’s East of Chicago for a ‘delicioso’ version of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza.  I had no idea that at that same corner of Gino’s East—18 months from then I would be making wonderful memories with my wife on our honeymoon taking pictures and eating (of course!). We had a great time together with just five guys.  We got to see some $800 dollar a night hotel rooms, drink a way-overpriced coffee at Starbucks, and watch the snow fly of course!  Some of the students that year were a bit disappointed, though, because the activity was cut short by an hour so we could have dessert and some entertainment back at school.  That was fun, but I think we all liked the time in Chicago better…so we switched back to normal the next year.

Christmas Break of my junior year was full of memories.  Andrea had four and a half weeks off from school, so she was able to fly back from Mexico and spend Christmas at home.  She came and spent a few days with my family also in Michigan, where we went sledding, ate at the world-famous Zendher’s of Frankenmuth, MI, and got to know each other a lot more.  On the day after Christmas, I went with Andrea’s family to take Mrs. Leslie to the hospital for her fourth chemotherapy treatment.  Before that, we spent time walking around downtown Chicago and enjoying the Christmas season.  What a wonderful time that was to spend with the family!

A Christmas Day surprise: the moment I walked in the door

The second semester began two weeks before Andrea was to fly back to Mexico…so for that time, I was not a ‘single’ college student!  During the rest of the semester, we were apart!  Andrea flew back in the middle of January, and I knew I would miss her even more than before (yes, I know, I tried not to be too ‘mushy’!).  However, I still had the two greatest roommates I could ask for.  We all got along GREAT.  I don’t remember a time we got into a real argument.  I was a room captain, but never had to use my room captain position over them.  They followed college guidelines, worked hard, had a great attitude, and were truly seeking after God.  We enjoyed going out places together too…whether it was George’s Gyro Spot, a Wal-Mart trip, a hike in the dunes, playing racquetball, or just hanging out in the room (which had to be stopped sometimes; we would get going and never get anything done!).  Then we had our “fourth roommate” that year—Tyler Brock from Rapid City, SD.  He didn’t sleep in our room, but was basically there during any other free time!

Now before you think we are weirdo's all wearing the same shirt, think again. This was a hilarious coincidence that happened: one Sunday evening after church, we all came back to the dorm to change and play basketball, I think. None of us knew that we had the same shirts, and none of us were in the room while the other was changing either. Eventually, Julian, Nate, Tyler, and I ended up talking in the room, when Tyler started laughing hysterically (the “Tyler Laugh” as we called it) and said we were all wearing the same shirt. We thought that was funny, so Tyler took this picture of my roommates and me.

Another goofy thing we did that year was celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  None of us are Mexicans, but we all had some connection to Mexico, we thought (Dustin’s girlfriend was in Mexico, Julian looks Mexican [he’s really Filipino], and Nate talks like he’s Mexican [he spoke Spanish fluently as a missionary in Bolivia]).  So we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by wearing the colors of the Mexican flag on our respective ties during classes that day: a red, a white, and a green one.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was able to be on Fairhaven’s intercollegiate basketball team all four years in college.  I definitely was not the best player on the team, or even close to it.  I guess my motto was “Leave it all on the court.”  Put your all into practice, put even more into the game, and work hard.  Our team was never “great,” and we knew we never would be overflowing with talent—we were preacher boys, not all-stars!  We always tried to put up a good fight on the court.  We never wanted to leave feeling we had not given our all.  Our coach often emphasized the idea of “riding the bubble,” which I learned is not just a basketball principle.  You need to make the opponent think you are crazy; by that he meant dive for every loose ball, be super-aggressive, and show strength—but never to the point where you lose your head, make stupid fouls, or get a technical foul.  Ride the bubble of “insanity” as much as you can, but never pop that bubble.  My junior year of playing was the most exciting.  We had a good number of close games, a good record, and the “Revenge of the Snowman” game (a story for yet another post!).  Sometimes I didn’t like how my coaches pushed me, but now I realize why.  I believe that their pushing me not only made me a better player, but a better person also.

Wow, the ’07-’08 year was packed!  For Spring Break in 2008, I was able to go to Mexico and visit Andrea.  I loved the time I spent there, and appreciated everyone’s hospitality to me.  Everything was eye-opening and extremely interesting to me.  I loved learning about their culture and even the language some.  God used that trip in my life to give me more of burden for foreign missions also, on top of getting to see Andrea.

I returned in early April after eight days south of the border.  When I returned, I realized how fast the semester had gone.  We were already in the last several weeks of school, and the Preaching Conference was in just two weeks.  Hebrew History was probably the class with the most work.  We were required to outline over the course of two semesters the entire books of the Bible from Genesis to Esther.  For most of us, we had over 100 pages a piece, with some much more.  The Kings Project (I Samuel to II Chronicles) ended up being the most dreaded piece of the whole puzzle.  By the end of the year, however, we all gained a lot of knowledge from Hebrew History.

Overall, my grades were doing fine, but I know now that my spiritual life was lacking then.  Thank God, Preaching Conference came right when I needed it most.  God greatly worked on my heart for the few months following in areas mainly focusing around always putting Him first: in devotion, in service, and in prayer.  God worked through His Word and revived me during a critical time: I was beginning to realize how soon I would be done with school and how serious I had to be about serving Him after college.  It would never come “naturally” because of what I had learned so far in college.  It had to come by putting the Lord first in EVERYTHING.  During our end-of-the-year college activity at Turkey Run State Park, God also worked on my heart.  During a testimony time in the evening, and then the bus trip home talking with other students, I was convicted about just how serious I had to be in order to be effective for our Savior.  I was on a spiritual high coming out of college, and it was not about to stop either.

A few other male students and I were invited to go with an evangelist from Fairhaven to basically knock on doors for twelve days straight.  I was able to take the days off of work and head up to London, Ontario, Canada.  God put a serious burden in my heart during that time as well.  Half-way through our trip, I began to LOVE knocking on doors and witnessing to people with a new passion.  It was a true joy to see a few people saved during that church’s revival meetings, and know that God was all in it.  With all that, I stayed with a family that was about as hospitable as can be.  The whole church was a blessing to my heart during that short time.

God had prepared my heart and life during the last few months to fully surrender to His will.  I believe with all of my heart that I would not be where I am today if it was not for the revival God worked in my heart that spring and summer.  There I was, heading into my last year of college.  Some of the biggest decisions of my life were ahead of me in the coming year: marriage, a place to serve, and finishing strong.  It was to be a fruitful and exciting senior year to come.

Returning Gifts

What do you think of the practice of returning gifts? I’m not talking about not accepting them, but about taking them to the store where they were bought and getting something else. Something you really like. I think this practice should be generally avoided. We ought to, at least, teach our children to be grateful for whatever gifts they receive at Christmas or a birthday (anytime, for that matter). Now as we get older and accumulate more stuff, it gets more difficult to find something that is a “good” gift for someone; and because we are human and don’t know everything or have infinite resources, we sometimes get something that could appropriately be returned. That must be some of the impetus behind the huge gift card frenzy. Let them get what they want.

There is a distinct problem with a Christian who tries to return or not accept God’s gifts. We SAY that we understand that God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we think He should, but we often act otherwise. We will pray for something for a long time; then God answers our prayer and even gives us what we’ve asked for (though perhaps in a form we didn’t initially expect); but we continue to pray as if we’ve not gotten the gift God gave us. It’s as if we say, “No God, I don’t like that gift. Give me a different one.” We must learn to recognize God’s gifts in our lives and accept them as his will for our lives. He does have infinite knowledge and unlimited resources, and He knows what we need best and can supply it however He would like.

***Originally posted January of 2006

Strings Attached

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

More than any other holiday, Christmas is a time of giving. We find many occasions for gift giving: birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Valentine’s day, or “Just Because.” But at Christmas time, we give more gifts than at any other time of the year. And this is good.

Whether we will admit it or not, we follow the example of our Creator. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Before God created us, he spent six days making gifts for us. When God created man, He made a garden paradise, God’s special gift to man. God made a wife for man, another of God’s most special gifts.

God’s mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. His provisions are boundless. Do any read this who do not have the necessities of life? God has filled the earth with food. Who among us has no place of shelter? Who has not even one stitch of clothing? Who has had no food available? God provides for the lilies of the field. How much more does He provide for us?

As if that were not enough, God has provided a means for rescuing us from our own corruption and sin as well. God provided a way to escape His own wrath and punishment for sin. God did not provide us with a gift that would eventually need replacing. The box was not marked “batteries not included.” There was no “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back” to be found on the wrapper. This gift left nothing to be desired, though there are plenty of those who find it most undesirable. In fact, some find that they absolutely despise the gift. You might wonder why. So I hope you will let me explain.

My father died when I was five. A few years later, my mother met a man, and

He Shall Be Called…

Oh little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light.

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

In our imagination we see a calm, quiet town outside of Jerusalem on a winter night. But Bethlehem must have been quite busy, for all of King David’s descendants were there at this time.  The emperor of Rome declared that all the world should be taxed, and all of David’s lineage were to appear and be accounted for in Bethlehem.  Now it was lambing time in Bethlehem so the shepherds were out in the fields round about the town, and it’s a good thing, because if they weren’t out there, there probably wouldn’t even have been room in the stable below the inn where a poor couple who’d come to be taxed from Nazareth had to stay since there was no room upstairs.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (Luke 2:8)

The flocks of Bethlehem were not just any sheep. The shepherds of Bethlehem were employed especially to supply lambs for the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem. God had taught His people to picture the covering of sin by shedding the blood of a young, innocent lamb and offering it as an atonement for individual sins. And so, the precious, innocent lambs born in Bethlehem would very soon be slaughtered to temporarily appease the wrath of God on a man’s sin.

Spurgeon on Christmas

SPURGEON didn’t like Christmas. Or at least, one might get that impression from some of his comments. That is not to say that Spurgeon saw no value in Christmas. He most certainly took advantage of that time of year to preach the gospel. He particularly delighted in the opportunity to rest and spend extra time “assembling around the family hearth.” He urged his people to take advantage of the time in order to visit with lost family and friends, with the goal of bringing them to Christ. So, his wasn’t a total and complete rejection of all things Christmas. But Spurgeon did not believe the day should be marked above any other. Consider these remarks…

WE have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, 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. Fabricius gives a catalogue of 136 different learned opinions upon the matter; and various divines invent weighty arguments for advocating a date in every month in the year. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; while, since the day of the death of our Savior might be determined with much certainty, therefore superstition shifts the date of its observance every year. Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with heathen festivals. We venture to assert, that if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Savior was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. Nevertheless since, the current of men’s thoughts is led this way just now, and I see no evil in the current itself, I shall launch the bark of our discourse upon that stream, and make use of the fact, which I shall neither justify nor condemn, by endeavoring to lead your thoughts in the same direction. Since it is lawful, and even laudable, to meditate upon the incarnation of the Lord upon any day in the year, it cannot be in the power of other men’s superstitions to render such a meditation improper for to-day. Regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of his dear son.

(from “Joy Born at Bethlehem,” delivered December 24, 1871)

So in other words, we might as well make use of the day to meditate on the incarnation of Christ. But Spurgeon had more to say about the “superstition” that set the date for the birth of Christ at December 25. In fact, Spurgeon argued that this particular date was the least likely to be the correct date for the birth of Jesus Christ.

There is no reason upon earth beyond that of ecclesiastical custom why the 25th of December should be regarded as the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ any more than any other day from the first of January to the last day of the year; and yet some persons regard Christmas with far deeper reverence than the Lord’s-day. You will often hear it asserted that “The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants,” but it is not so. There are Protestants who have absorbed a great deal beside the Bible into their religion, and among other things they have accepted the authority of what they call “the Church,” and by that door all sorts of superstitions have entered. There is no authority whatever in the word of God for the keeping of Christmas at all, and no reason for keeping it just now except that the most superstitious section of Christendom has made a rule that December 25th shall be observed as the birthday of the Lord, and the church by law established in this land has agreed to follow in the same track. You are under no bondage whatever to regard the regulation. We owe no allegiance to the ecclesiastical powers which have made a decree on this matter, for we belong to an old-fashioned church which does not dare to make laws, but is content to obey them. At the same time the day is no worse than another, and if you choose to observe it, and observe it unto the Lord, I doubt not he will accept your devotion: while if you do not observe it, but unto the Lord observe it not, for fear of encouraging superstition and will-worship, I doubt not but what you shall be as accepted in the non-observance as you could have been in the observance of it. Still, as the thoughts of a great many Christian people will run at this time towards the birth of Christ, and as this cannot be wrong, I judged it meet to avail ourselves of the prevailing current, and float down the stream of thought. Our minds will run that way, because so many around us are following customs suggestive of it, therefore let us get what good we can out of the occasion. There can he no reason why we should not, and it may be helpful that we should, now consider the birth of our Lord Jesus. We will do that voluntarily which we would refuse to do as a matter of obligation: we will do that simply for convenience sake which we should not think of doing because enjoined by authority or demanded by superstition.

(from “The Great Birthday,” delivered December 24, 1876)

Essentially, Spurgeon echoes the Word of God which says, One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He teaches that we are not obligated to recognize the holiday, nor are we obligated to celebrate. But, we are free to join in the celebration. And of course, celebrating and feasting and resting are good things any time, so there is no reason why we should not on this day.

Now, ye souls who would deny to your fellowmen all sorts of mirth, come and listen to the merry bell of this text, while it gives a license to the righteous especially — a license that they meet together in their houses, and eat and drink, and praise their God. In Cromwell’s days, the Puritans thought it an ungodly thing for men to keep Christmas. They, therefore, tried to put it down, and the common crier went through the street, announcing that Christmas was henceforth no more to be kept, it being a Popish, if not a heathenish ceremony. Now, you do not suppose that after the crier had made the proclamation, any living Englishman took any notice of it; at least, I can scarcely imagine that any did, except to laugh at it; for it is idle thus to strain at gnats and stagger under a feather. Albeit, that we do not keep the feast as Papists, nor even as a commemorative festival, yet there is a something in old associations that makes us like the day in which a man may shake off the cares of business, and disport himself with his little ones. God forbid I should be such a Puritan as to proclaim the annihilation of any day of rest which falls to the lot of the laboring man. I wish there were a half-a-dozen holidays in the year. I wish there were more opportunities for the poor to rest; though I would not have as many saint’s days as there are in Romish countries; yet, if we had but one or two more days in which the poor man’s household, and the rich man’s family might meet together, it might perhaps, be better for us. However, I am quite certain that all the preaching in the world will not put Christmas down. You will meet next Tuesday, and you will feast, and you will rejoice, and each of you, as God has given you substance, will endeavor to make your household glad. Now, instead of telling you that this is all wrong, I think the merry bell of my text gives you a license so to do. Let us think a minute. Feasting is not a wrong thing, or otherwise Job would have forbidden it to his children, he would have talked to them seriously, and admonished them that this was an ungodly and wicked custom, to meet together in their houses. But, instead of this, Job only feared lest a wrong thing should be made out of a right thing, and offered sacrifices to remove their iniquity; but he did by no means condemn it. Would any of you ask a blessing upon your children’s attendance at the theater? Could you say, when they had been in such a place, “It may be they have sinned?” No, you would only talk thus of a right thing.

(from “A Merry Christmas” delivered December 23, 1860)

Urging us to make the most of these holidays, Spurgeon even encourages us to greet each other with a “Merry Christmas!” Consider his defense of the use of this phrase:

Observe, this morning, the sacred joy of Mary that you may imitate it. This is a season when all men expect us to be joyous. We compliment each other with the desire that we may have a “Merry Christmas.” Some Christians who are a little squeamish, do not like the word “merry.” It is a right good old Saxon word, having the joy of childhood and the mirth of manhood in it, it brings before one’s mind the old song of the waits, and the midnight peal of bells, the holly and the blazing log. I love it for its place in that most tender of all parables, where it is written, that, when the long-lost prodigal returned to his father safe and sound, “They began to be merry.” This is the season when we are expected to be happy; and my heart’s desire is, that in the highest and best sense, you who are believers may be “merry.” Mary’s heart was merry within her; but here was the mark of her joy, it was all holy merriment, it was every drop of it sacred mirth. It was not such merriment as worldlings will revel in to-day and to-morrow, but such merriment as the angels have around the throne, where they sing, “Glory to God in the highest,” while we sing “On earth peace, goodwill towards men.” Such merry hearts have a continual feast. I want you, ye children of the bride-chamber, to possess to-day and to-morrow, yea, all your days, the high and consecrated bliss of Mary, that you may not only read her words, but use them for yourselves, ever experiencing their meaning: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”

(from “Mary’s Song,” delivered December 25, 1864)

Clearly then, Spurgeon saw the day as being an invention of an apostate church, and yet recognized the values of the day, urging his people to take full advantage. His preaching will suggest several activities that Spurgeon saw as important, and encouraged his people to engage in. The most obvious activity that Spurgeon urged was family time. Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to lay aside the cares of the world and to “make your household glad.” In other words, it is not a good day to set aside for fasting and prayer. God’s people do need to learn how to rest and how to feast.

Spurgeon encouraged his people to make use of the day for meditating on the incarnation of Christ as well. Any day is a good day for that. But since the rest of the world is already thinking that way, it would be a shame for us to neglect that particular meditation on that day.

WE have nearly arrived at the great merry-making season of the year. On Christmas-day we shall find all the world in England enjoying themselves with all the good cheer which they can afford. Servants of God, you who have the largest share in the person of him who was born at Bethlehem, I invite you to the best of all Christmas fare-to nobler food than makes the table groan-bread from heaven, food for your spirit. Behold, how rich and how abundant are the provisions, which God has made for the high festival which he would have his servants keep, not now and then, but all the days of their lives!

(from “Good Cheer for Christmas,” delivered December 20, 1868)

Spurgeon also thought that Christmas time was a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with the unsaved. In a sermon from early in his ministry, taken from the story of the demoniac of Gadara, he encouraged the young men returning home to be sure they told of Christ, and the change Christ had wrought in their lives.

Now, I will just tell you the reason why I selected my text. I thought within myself, there are a large number of young men who always come to hear me preach; they always crowd the aisles of my chapel, and many of them have been converted to God. Now, here is Christmas-day come round again, and they are going home to see their friends. When they get home they will want a Christmas Carol in the evening; I think I will suggest one to them — more especially to such of them as have been lately converted I will give them a theme for their discourse on Christmas evening; it may not be-quite so amusing as “The Wreck of the Golden Mary,” but it will be quite as interesting to Christian people. It shall be this: “Go home and tell your friends what the Lord hath done for your souls, and how he hath had compassion on you.” 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. If any of you are masters you will pardon me for the digression, when I most respectfully beg you to pay your servants the same wages on Christmas-day as if they were at work. I am sure it will make their houses glad if you will do so. It is unfair for you to make them feast or fast, unless you give them wherewithal to feast and make themselves glad on that day of joy.

(from “Going Home – A Christmas Sermon” delivered December 21, 1856)

We would be remiss to overlook another issue that surrounds Christmas. More and more and more, we have forgotten how to rest. Consumerism knows no holiday. Stores find fewer days all the time to lock the doors. After all, they could be missing out on a few dollars profit. This is a shame.

The New Testament refers, from time to time, to what was called the “preparation day” for the Sabbath. This was the Friday leading up to the Sabbath. All work was to be completed, and with the arrival of the Sabbath, was to cease. Convenience has made us forgetful of this custom, but it is important, even necessary for us to prepare diligently for the start of the day. Let us finish with our work… it will be waiting for us on the other side of the day. And let us learn to rest.

This is the season of the year when, whether we wish it or not, we are compelled to think of the birth of Christ. I hold it to be one of the greatest absurdities under heaven to think that there is any religion in keeping Christmas-day. There are no probabilities whatever that our Savior Jesus Christ was born on that day and the observance of it is purely of Popish origin; doubtless those who are Catholics have a right to hallow it, but I do not see how consistent Protestants can account it in the least sacred. However, I wish there were ten or a dozen Christmas-days in the year; for there is work enough in the world, and a little more rest would not hurt laboring people. Christmas-day is really a boon to us, particularly as it enables us to assemble round the family hearth and meet our friends once more. Still, although we do not fall exactly in the track of other people, I see no harm in thinking of the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus. We do not wish to be classed with those

“Who with more care keep holiday
The wrong, than others the right way.”

The old Puritans made a parade of work on Christmas-day, just to show that they protested against the observance of it. But we believe they entered that protest so completely, that we are willing, as their descendants, to take the good accidentally conferred by the day, and leave its superstitions to the superstitious.

(from “The Incarnation and Birth of Christ” preached December 23, 1855)

The Value of the Gift

Is there anything for Christmas that you can think of, which you would want, for which you would give up everything that you possess?  Clear the bottom of the Christmas tree, because underneath is just this one present.  And not just the tree, get rid of the house, the garage, and everything in it; clean out the bank accounts of all savings, leaving this one thing.  This scenario is essentially what Jesus described in His kingdom parable in Matthew 13:44, 45:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Most good investors, if not all, say the proverbial, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”  But that’s what this merchant man did—shucked the whole basket for the one egg.  He sold all his goods for one pearl.  He ridded himself of his entire inventory for a miniature treasure.

Pearls in Jesus’ day were the most valuable of commodities, more expensive than diamonds.  Then, pearls were a girl’s best friend.  Nobody owned scuba equipment, so the only way to get the pearl was for a man to tie rocks to himself, throw himself overboard, and sink down to the bottom of deep water without the aid of a breathing apparatus.  After digging out the shell, he exploded to the surface of the water if his lungs didn’t explode first.  Lots of pearl divers died in the process.  The sheer difficulty of obtaining a pearl made them in short supply but in great demand.