Christians and Hanukkah

Lately, I've been getting a backlash of folks who don't support us celebrating Hanukkah or the other Jewish feasts. Expecting it doesn't really make it easier, especially when it comes from within the church. I began searching Christian churches who are celebrating Hanukkah and found:

• Gateway Church in North Richland Hills, TX,
• this booklet from the Evangelical Association that might be of interest,
• and this blog from ChristianPost.

I am pleased there are Christian churches and organizations out there doing this sort of thing. And I am distraught by the mocking and ridicule our family has received mostly behind our backs and entirely from believers.

Worldly Hanukkah

The other day I was in a conversation with my mother about getting Hanukkah books for the kids. I saw some on Amazon and was somewhat interested as an alternative to the Christmas movies and cartoons all over TV these days. Really I am uncomfortable buying these books without reading them myself first though. I would love for the kids to have some Hanukkah books, but I also want to make sure the Hanukkah being presented is not as worldly as the Christmas junk out there. If we are switching in order to avoid the worldliness, I don’t want to trip into it all over again!

As I explained that I wanted to make sure the Hanukkah books we picked were not straight worldly celebration books, she commented that Hanukkah is a pretty worldly celebration anyway. This is nothing against my mother, who I credit as the one who got me heading in this direction in the first place! Her understanding of Hanukkah is fairly worldly, and I can certainly understand why! The world’s presentation of Hanukkah is worldly, and unfortunately, many Jewish families who still celebrate Hanukkah celebrate it in a fairly worldly way. We even include some worldly aspects as gift giving too, so we’re aren’t exactly purists!

Yet, Hanukkah is NOT a worldly celebration. Nor does a Jewish feast with celebration aspects mean that it is strictly worldly. Many of the feasts have celebratory aspects – Passover in particular. God has done great things and we should celebrate! We should party and rejoice and dance and play games! We should be happy! Happiness does not equal worldly. To be fair, I do not think this is at all where my mother was going with her comment. It is just something that occurred to me later on. I know many Christians who frown on Jews because they drink wine! I mean, really?! Jesus made wine! Frown on that!

Hanukkah from a historical perspective is a time to rejoice that God provided for Israel as they were faithful in immediate obedience to rededicate their Temple even when it wasn’t convenient (too little oil). Hanukkah is also a time to consider Jesus as the Light of the World, to re-dedicate today’s Temple – ourselves, to consider what we do as individuals to keep the Lamp of God burning in our own lives…. The list could go on. We could easily focus on family togetherness, presents and parties. In this world, distractions are easy to come by. But Hanukkah is rich with meaning and significance for Christians, much more so that I even attempted to put into this post. Jesus wasn’t born in December. The Feast of Dedication did in fact occur on the 25th of Kislev. More likely Jesus was born during one of the other Feasts. I’ll celebrate His birth then, and celebrate Him every day in between.

Hanukkah Surprises

As Hanukkah approaches closer and closer, I’ve been surprised by a few things. For one, as we have explained to friends and family, I have gotten raised eyebrows from the least likely suspects and gotten nods of approval from the other end of the spectrum of least likely suspects. People who appear to be weak believers nod with approval commenting how Christmas is so pagan anyway, why not do Hanukkah; and then those who would appear to be the ones to best understand the celebration, shirk from it citing simplistic explanations and excuses for Christmas celebrations.

A while back it occurred to me that when you are an expert on something, and by that I mean trained and people seek you out for advice, and you have long supported an idea in ignorance, I think it is more difficult for those individuals to admit the truth to themselves than for those who aren’t a so-called expert. Let me explain it a different way. If I was a well renowned health department official and I pushed a certain water additive that later proved to be the cause of several impairments and diseases, I would have a hard time admitting to myself that my error could have hurt people, and therefore I might be less likely to ever admit the error even to myself; whereas a common person can likely read a label and recognize that poison has been intentionally placed in our water supply. It is not a criticism. I understand it. In anything I pour my life into, I find it difficult to see the mistakes I’ve made as well. It is a human weakness.

That said, it still surprises me that *some* of the most educated ministers can see all the evidence of a pagan celebration and continue to explain away the pagan ritual because it’s culturally acceptable, because it’s tradition, or because it doesn’t matter what the origins are as long as WE know it’s Christ’s birthday, even if it we know it isn’t Christ’s birthday. Let me be clear, though too, some people, ministers included have been very receptive as this truth has been presented by us or by others we have heard of on the same journey. Let me also be clear, that we have not been trying to persuade people ourselves. When people ask, we explain. We don’t hide the truth, but we don’t cram it down people’s throats either. It must be a work of the Holy Spirit, not a work of mine.

The second surprise I have encountered is a feeling of worldly outcast-ness. I don’t know how to word it any other way really. I’ve been trying to maintain a sense of fun for the kids and not include Santa hats and Christmas trees, yet I find it incredibly difficult to do! I was fortunate to find a dreidel set at Target and some gift bags at the Dollar Tree, but aside from that Amazon has been my best friend and even there I find so little. I’m getting a deeper sense of what it must be like to be Jewish trying to live in this world and yet keep separate from it. If for no other reason, I think this lesson is worth this struggle. My children are actually excited about Hanukkah and I have some special things planned for them, but their school is offering pictures with Santa as a fundraiser. They’re doing a holiday shop for the kids, but it starts after Hanukkah has ended. I know they feel left out in ways and they’re all handling it beautifully, but it is a reminder that we are to be separate from the things of this world. We are supposed to feel like outsiders because we are! We are not of this world. Our home is elsewhere.

Thirdly, I have been surprised by people trying to lure my children, tempt them into compromise – even at church. Maybe the others at our church think we’ve backslidden or that we’ve lost our minds, but to enlist our children into a Christmas production without our consent is truly deplorable. I am sure they have the best intentions because I know these people and they are good Bible believing people, but giving my children speaking parts in an act that we don’t approve of and then explaining how important they are to the production, leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Is this what people feel like in foreign countries when we trick their children into participating in activities for Jesus without getting their parent’s permission? Is this what it feels like when we give medical care to the poor while shoving a track and a prayer in their hand? I am all for missions! I love missions and I support missions! And while loving people can be a great gateway to a conversation about Jesus, I wonder if the people feel manipulated when we do it wrong, when we love the people only for that gateway and not because we actually love the people.

I am also maybe slightly surprised by the number of people who agree with us, but won’t give up their beloved Christmas tree, or Halloween costumes, or whatever it is for them. I get it! I did it myself, so I understand, but I also thought for the longest time that it was just me. I thought it was just me who could see something as wrong and still do it anyway, that in spite of knowing the truth, I could refuse to obey. I thought it was just me. So that part is encouraging and sad at the same time. I do pray that more people who know the truth will come to a place of trust in Jesus to cast off all worldly things and press on toward Jesus. I also pray I can continue to see the worldly things I still cling to, so I can cast those off as well.

I’ve also been surprised at how much of a movement this is already! My mom recently told me of a woman thousands of miles from us, who I haven’t even seen since I was in 5th grade I think, who is on the same journey as us. She told me of the perhaps wrong approach she is taking with sharing her ideas, and the public criticism she has received for it.

We are not alone as Christians returning to the original feasts and celebrations, yet even in knowing this, the separation from the world that we experience is still palpable. And it’s all ok. My kids are handling it beautifully, we are trying to remain understanding of others and the misunderstanding of it all. And we’re still on the journey. Happy Happy Hanukkah!