December 22, 2017
The year was 1914. It was Christmas Eve on the Western front, five months after the outbreak of World War I in Europe.
Earlier that fall, Pope Benedict XV had issued a statement requesting there be a hiatus of war to honor Christmas day. The warring countries refused to back down in response to a holiday, but the soldiers themselves had a differing opinion. That opinion led to action. That action led to an event that has yet to, and most likely will never be, replicated.
It was coming on midnight, and the German soldiers were celebrating Christmas amongst their camp. On the other side of “no man’s land”, the ground between opposing trenches, the British, Belgians, and French were doing the same when they heard a familiar sound.
A Christmas carol rang out into the night from the German trench, and shockingly, the British decided to sing along in response.
Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade described it this way:
The next morning, the allied soldiers heard shouts of "Merry Christmas” in English coming from the German camp. The British soldiers warily responded in kind. In one account, it states that signs were waved reading “You no shoot, we no shoot”, leading to a timid meet up in “no man’s land” and the laying down of arms.
Before they knew it, all sides were joined together, shaking hands and celebrating Christmas Day. Carols were sung, presents of food and buttons were exchanged, even a translated church service broke out. There are stories of a pig roast and make-shift soccer balls being kicked around. Some soldiers used that time to retrieve and bury the fallen bodies of their comrades between the lines. “No man’s land” was now inconsequential. There were no sides, no enemies here. For 24 hours, these soldiers were just men celebrating the birth of a King and honoring familial traditions.
There are countless documents and journal entries detailing the events of the Christmas Truce of 1914, everyone with a different perspective or story. Legend has it, over 100,000 troops participated that day. It was a beautiful nod to chivalry amongst enemies of war, and has yet to be repeated. Today, there are severe consequences for any form of holiday ceasefire, and it is unlikely we will see soldiers honor their humanity again in that way.
This event remains significant because it illustrates the heart behind the Christmas holiday. The original intent of Christmas was to unify, to offer hope, to profess the love of a King. So much so that soldiers in the midst of a world war laid down their arms to salute that King as a unified front. No other day of the year is so revered.
And yet, there’s never been a time in history when that significance has been so attacked. For the past 50 years, the sanctity of the Christmas holiday has been on a steady decline. The secular attack on this sacred Christian holiday has been relentless.
This week in the small town of Oscada, Michigan, the traditional Christmas nativity that stood in front of the local township hall was asked to be removed or paired with secular Christmas figure due to a fear of offense, an approach the Supreme Court likes to call “split the baby.”
In 2005, the ACLU filed a suit against a Covington, Georgia school district simply because their class calendar referred to December 25th as “Christmas.”
This month, the University of Minnesota sent a memo to all staff reminding them of the repercussions of any “inappropriate religious celebrations” during the holiday season. While on campus they are not to use any religious iconography of any kind. This includes the Star of Bethlehem, nativity scenes, doves, or even red and green decor as they represent the Christian holiday.
A Christmas tree was ordered down in Italy this week for fear that a Muslim group would be offended. Is America next?
So why is it that our generation has seen Christmas Trees replaced with “Holiday Trees”, government employees forbidden from greeting others with “Merry Christmas”, nativity displays ripped down in the public square, and even college professors declaring that the singing of “White Christmas” is racist and should be wiped from our traditional Christmas carols?
Why is there no attack on their freedom of expression or religion to the degree of the persecution of Christianity? Why must the battle be waged on the birth of a baby?
This also begs the question: If that baby was so insignificant, so inconsequential, so falsified, why is there any outrage at all?
The answer is simple. That baby WAS significant. He WAS consequential. He was hope personified. For any institution seeking power, that truth trumps even the mightiest government or the most evil tyrant or dictator.
Why? Because if they can attack an ideology, if they can marginalize our Christian principles then their job is done. Their path is trod. If they can force Christians to be embarrassed and retreat from their beliefs, then the entire agenda driven by secular humanism will flourish without question.
Unrestrained abortion, open borders, the spread of narcotics, and gender issues will all be encouraged under the influence of a world without virtue. The only faction that offers serious push-back against social re-engineering are Christians and the Church. Without that voice, the liberal agenda is pushed forward and morality takes a back seat. The very foundations of liberty and freedom are threatened without the strong pillars of virtue, morality and religion.
Our early American leaders felt very strongly that the freedom and liberty envisioned by our American founders cannot be separated from God’s design for mankind.
John Quincy Adams, 6th President of United States, was invited as keynote speaker to a large patriotic celebration in Newburyport, MA on July 4, 1837 (61st Anniversary of Declaration of Independence). He asked the question of the audience, and answered his own question:
According to John Quincy Adams, on 4th of July, 1776, the Founding Fathers had taken the principles that came into the world through the birth of Christ and used those principles to birth the nation, thus joining Christian principles and civil government in what he called an indissoluble bond.
The remaining founding fathers were equally outspoken about the importance of maintaining Christian principles IN, not OUT of the civil arena.By the first battles of the War Between the States, most of our shared Christmas traditions were set, and the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly featured a drawing of encamped soldiers receiving Christmas gifts from home.
General Robert E. Lee wrote one wartime Christmas:
Christmas is a pin-hole, a tiny leak in a destructive storm of power and control being forced upon the American people. Those attempting to eradicate the manger do not do so because of disbelief. They do so because they understand, maybe better than some Christians, the meaning of that night so long ago.
“For God so loved the world…” That’s how the story began. That alone is a shocking realization. The God of the universe loved this broken, disparaged, angry, contemptible world that He sent His only Son. He didn’t send Him in the form of strength or brawn. In His supreme brilliance and understanding of humanity, He sent a King in most humble form we could comprehend: a baby.
Born in isolation, amongst animals, surrounded by hay, how could anyone recognize this scene as a royal entrance? This was the miracle. This baby represented more than authority. He represented HOPE. He came to bring peace on earth, good will to men. He was, is, and will always be the only one the world can turn to for peace and salvation.
This truth does not bode well for anyone pandering an opposing ideology. For an entire nation to give that amount of reverence to a God strips the critic of his power. The “War on Christmas" has nothing to do with corporate mandates or political correctness. It is about the entrapment of hope and the absolute obstruction of the Gospel.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 recognized the hope surrounding Christmas Day. The soldiers celebrated in unity because of the supernatural peace that embodies the sanctity of the nativity. Today we see that sanctity abused, removed, and belittled. In the midst of the holiday, remember that Christmas at its core is a gift. A King was born, a world was saved, and humanity has been fighting for that power ever since. Instead of resting in that ever-present hope, we compromise the truth for offensive protection.
May we never forget the ultimate sacrifice of that King. This holiday, may we fight for our right to worship at His feet. May we display our belief in His reign no matter the consequence. May we stand on the hope of His salvation. May we join together in unity, just as the soldiers did 100 years ago, and fight for more than just a country. May we fight for peace. May we restore hope. May we teach our children the real miracle of Christmas. May we sing the carols in freedom, declaring our King has come!
Posted in The Liberty Dispatch Blog By Defender Gear
My fath in our Lord was remewed in the war zone of Veitnam. Not from fear of death but for the mericals I saw while I was there.
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