Merry Christmas, dear readers, brothers and sisters in Christ! At last, this festival day has once more come, and we reflect upon the mystery of the Incarnation of our Lord, and we connect His manger with His cross, and we celebrate Christ’s Mass as He continues to come to us in His Word and Sacrament: the Gottesdienst.
Of course, nothing gets everyone riled up quite like the coming of the Prince of Peace. Every year, we Christians - and especially we cranky Lutherans - wage the annual Advent war over “Blue vs. Purple,” or sometimes “Purple vs. Violet” and “Rose vs. Pink.” We have the annual donnybrooks over whether or not to put the tree up before December 24th, singing only Advent hymns until that date, and scolding people for attending Christmas parties during a penitential season. Then there is the conflict over whether XMas is appropriate: does it “cross out” Christ from Christmas, or does it signify the letter Chi: the first letter in the Greek word for “Christ”?
Of course, the big scuffle involves the world and its insistence on “Happy Holidays” as a politically correct and inclusive alternative to “Merry Christmas.” In addition, there is the annual bruhaha of whether or not Christmas is actually a Pagan festival of Sol Invictus and the Solstice, or whether it actually is the birthday of our Lord - only to be appropriated and aped afterwards by Pagans.
Regardless of where anyone stands on these issues, let us remember the true meaning of, well, adiaphora. There is neither command nor prohibition from Scripture to celebrate Christmas, or to say one greeting or another, or regarding seasonal colors and music. We are free in such matters, but of course, this is not to say that such matters are unimportant. I believe it is a sad thing when churches use their freedom to celebrate a Massless Christmas, whether opting for a Mass without the Mass, or calling the whole thing off for the sake of “family time” or to accommodate the schedule of the Feast of Our Lord and Savior Football. And as far as making changes to longstanding practice, perhaps Chesterton’s Fence and the Book of Concord’s repeated suspicion of novelty and change in the way we practice our faith make for a good rule of thumb.
A lesser fight involves the English word “merry” as opposed to “happy” in conjunction with our Christmas wishes. This one is particularly interesting. While some claim “Merry Christmas” dates back to the sixteenth century, I can’t find any real proof of this. It is certainly at very least Victorian, as any reader of Dickens will attest. The British royal family has, in recent years, taken to saying “Happy Christmas” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I’ve read a few people make the case that “Merry Christmas” has connotations of drinking and debauchery - which reminds me how the Babe of Bethlehem will thirty years hence be called “a glutton and a drunkard” by the very people He was born to save, and for whom He will die.
The etymologies of “happy” and “merry” are interesting.
“Happy” is a Germanic word related to the older English word “hap” which means “chance” or “fortune.” This makes sense when we consider the words “happen” and “happenstance.” Happiness is therefore a kind of good fortune or good luck. When we wish someone “Happy Birthday” or “Happy New Year,” there is the connotation of a desire for material prosperity and good fortune in the turning of this page of life.
“Merry” likewise traces its origin to the Germanic part of the English language family tree. It has more of the connotation of celebration, of “making merry,” of feasting and laughing with others. It is related to the word “mirth.” It actually seems to come from the older Germanic form of a word, “murg,” meaning “short” (as in time). Linguists speculate this is because when one is celebrating, time seems short.
Of course, these original nuances embedded in the words have largely become lost in the sands of passing time. We say “Merry Christmas” largely because it is simply traditional. But having considered the etymology of the word, it is fitting that we use the word “merry” - for it is the stuff of celebration. Christmas is a feast of the church. The pastor leading the feast is known as the “celebrant.” And feasts involve food and drink. And the Christ’s Mass involves feasting upon His body and blood.
And in spite of the world’s loathing of Christ and the Church, and in spite of our own sinful flesh that results in bitter infighting within the Church - on this day, we make merry and feast on account of Christ’s birth, for “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And yes, He will confound the self-righteous Pharisees and the scolding Pietists by insisting on eating and drinking with us poor, miserable sinners: the very people He was born to save, and for whom He will die.
And so it is fitting that we make merry and greet one another with a hearty “Merry Christmas!” For as the hymnist Johann Allendorf (1693-1773) taught us to sing:
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