The Auckland Farmer’s Santa parade, as it wound its way down Queen Street in the ‘City of Sales’, captured the imagination of an enthusiastic crowd. For me what stood out were the carollers, declaring “The reason for the Season” and the Nativity float that left no-one in doubt that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birthday.
As Christians we say we are committed to evangelism, and so we should be. It was the birth of Jesus that brought hope into our troubled, writhing world. This is something worthy of celebration.
We recognise that the politically correct are seeking to sideline Jesus. Billboards everywhere are defaced. His name, scratched out and replaced by ‘Holiday gifts’, ‘Holiday trees’, anything that takes the name of ‘Christ’ out of Christmas.
It is great to see organisations like Liberty Counsel in the United States placing pressure on retailers wanting to replace the word Christmas with holiday. The Counsel’s ‘Naughty & Nice’ list catalogues more than 50 retailers which either censor (‘naughty’) or recognise (‘nice’) Christmas. Shoppers can use the list as a guide for where they want to spend their money. So successful has this list been that a number of major retailers have been forced to switch from ‘naughty’ to ‘nice’.
The most recent is online pharmacy Walgreens, which ended up on the ‘naughty’ side for trying to sell ‘holiday gifts’ and providing ‘holiday shipping’ for gifts. Walgreens has since been moved back to ‘nice’, with Company spokesperson, Tiffany Washington saying, “During the month of December, there will be greater use of ‘Christmas’ in our store and online …”
Let us pray that New Zealand’s businesses don’t head down this road. A few years ago it was reported that a mall chain in this country had banned the playing of Christmas Carols over its sound system — ominous signals.
Surely it is right for churches to resonate to the sound of Carols and a declaration afresh of the message of the angels, “Unto you is born a saviour, Christ the Lord”. But with that let’s get out on the streets with the triumphant message, carolling until it brings the house down.
Let us compliment Richard Stewart and those from the Anglican Church in Te Kauwhata who again this year have sponsored and created the Nativity float. It has taken its message to the crowds who have thronged the streets of our cities, even as far away as Greymouth. Its message is simple, clear and effective.
Likewise we applaud the carollers who recently took to the streets in Auckland to declare to a congregation of 50,000 that “Jesus is the reason for the season”. Pray that next year hundreds of other churches and carollers will swell their ranks.
