A Sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

December 11, 2005

December 25 is the first day of Hanukkah. The menorahs will be burning bright on Christmas.

Jews will remember being forbidden to worship in their temple. Then, the Maccabee brothers captured the temple from their enemies, the Assyrians, who worshiped Greek gods. They had enough oil for one day. But miracle of miracles: The light lasted for eight – until new oil was brought to the temple. The miracle of light led to a renewal of their faith.

Christians will remember the birth of a child and stories of a light in the sky leading shepherds and wise men to a manger. The miracle of light led to a new religion.

What a joyous occasion, two religions sharing the same holiday. They have so much in common.

The miracles of the past are remembered. After the Hanukkah lights are kindled, the Hanerot Halalu prayer is recited:

We kindle these lights [to commemorate] the saving acts, miracles and wonders which you have performed for our forefathers, in those days at this time, through your holy priests. Throughout the eight days of Hanukkah, these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make use of them, but only to look at them, in order to offer thanks and praise to your great name for your miracles, for your wonders and for your salvations. [1]

The Christians sing “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; this is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.” The baby born that night was Jewish. The events of Hanukkah had happened

about 160 years earlier.

Think of a UU child born this year. A hundred sixty years ago, Thoreau spent the night in jail, practicing civil disobedience against the unjust war in Mexico. This story is told of a time not so long ago.

As Jesus grew up he probably heard the stories of Judas Maccabee, how he fought against the Greeks and how he established an earthly kingdom where Jews could worship in the temple. Judas Maccabee was a general who brought the Hasmonean family to the monarchy. The Hasmonean kings ruled Jerusalem for a century before the Romans came. The Romans conquered Jerusalem 65 years before Jesus was born. It was as fresh in the memory of Jews as Pearl Harbor is in our memory.

The last of the Hasmonean kings was deposed and survived until about 35 years before Jesus was born. His death was as close as the death of Martin Luther King is to us. The story of Hanukkah must have been familiar to Jesus and to the disciples who told stories about Jesus.

The word Hanukkah means dedication. It refers to the dedication and purification of the temple.

Listen to the scripture that describes the celebration of Hanukkah:

2Mac.10

(1) Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city;

(2) and they tore down the altars which had been built in the public square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.

(3) They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice; then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after a lapse of two years, and they burned incense and lighted lamps and set out the bread of the Presence.

(4) And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.

(5) It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev.

(6) And they celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the feast of booths, remembering how not long before, during the feast of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals.

(7) Therefore bearing ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place. [2]

Fast forward to the New Testament. Jesus enters Jerusalem. He is greeted with waving palm fronds and songs of praise. And what is the next thing Jesus did? Jesus cleared the temple, saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’" (Mark 11:17 NIV)

These words are similar to those found in the book of Maccabees. Before an Assyrian general went out to battle Judas Maccabee, he mocked the priests in the temple. They prayed:

            Thou didst choose this house to be called by thy name,

and to be for thy people a house of prayer and supplication.

            Take vengeance on this man and on his army,

and let them fall by the sword; (1Mac7:37-38) [3]

And Judas Maccabee was victorious.

It could be that Jesus was referring to the story of Hanukkah when he cleared the temple. Jesus lived in a country that was reoccupied. Lighting lights at Hanukkah would be a symbol of resistance.

Jesus preached:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matt.5:14-16)

When Jews celebrate Hanukkah, they do not hide their light under a bushel. They put it on a stand or menorah and put that stand in the window where it can be seen.

When Jesus used these words, he might have been referring to the celebration of Hanukkah, telling his listeners that they were lights of Hanukkah, the symbol of resistance to the powers that be.

With all this interconnection between the two religions, one would think that there would be great celebration. You would think Christians would be happy to share this time of year. Some are, but this year has seen the religious right work harder to exclude Jews from this holiday season.

John Gibson, a popular anchor for the Fox News channel, has written a book called The war on Christmas. He complains that Christmas has been forbidden by the likes of the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He encourages overtly Christian displays in schools and government places. He encourages people to boycott stores that say “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas, and to make Jesus the only reason for the season.

Even President Bush has been called to task for sending out cards that say “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness.”

"Certainly President and Mrs. Bush, because of their faith, celebrate Christmas," said Susan Whitson, Laura Bush's press secretary. "Their cards in recent years have included best wishes for a holiday season, rather than Christmas wishes, because they are sent to people of all faiths."

But the White House's explanation does not satisfy the groups -- which have grown in number in recent years -- that believe there is, in the words of the Heritage Foundation, a "war on Christmas" involving an "ever-stronger push toward a neutered 'holiday' season so that non-Christians won't be even the slightest bit offended."

Alan Cooperman of the Washington Post wrote in the Dec. 7 editions: “One of the generals on the pro-Christmas side is Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss. ‘Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this is sinister -- it's the purging of Christ from Christmas -- or whether it's just political correctness run amok,’ he said. ‘I think in the case of the White House, it's just political correctness.’"

I say that sometimes political correctness is just plain correctness.

The American Religious Identification Survey reported:

The percentage of the population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86 in 1990 to 77 in 2001 . . . the greatest increase in absolute as well as in percentage terms has been among those adults who do not subscribe to any religious identification; their number has more than doubled from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001; their proportion has grown from just 8 percent of the total in 1990 to over 14 percent in 2001. [4]

So almost a quarter of Americans are not Christian, yet the government is only supposed to sponsor Christianity.

Fran Quigley of the Indiana ACLU writes

Of course, there is no "Merry Christmas" lawsuit, nor is there any ACLU litigation about U.S. currency, military chaplains, etc. But the facts are not important to these groups, because their real message is this: By protecting the freedom of Muslims, Jews, and other non-Christians through preventing government entanglement with religion, the ACLU is somehow infringing on the rights of those with majority religious beliefs.

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As part of our justice mission, we work hard to protect the rights of free religious expression for all people, including Christians. For example, we recently defended the First Amendment rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets in southern Indiana. The ACLU intervened on behalf of a Christian valedictorian in a Michigan high school, which agreed to stop censoring religious yearbook entries, and supported the rights of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at their school. [5]

I believe that the so-called war on Christianity is a lie created to marginalize religious minorities in this country. The most ludicrous are those who complain about a Christmas tree being called a holiday tree. It shows complete ignorance that the tree is first and foremost a pagan symbol.

If they want to purge the holidays of non-Christian influence, they’d better get rid of their tree.

We as Unitarian Universalists must stand up for religious diversity.

The anti-Jewish sentiment may be another reason for this insistence that only Christmas be celebrated this December 25.

If the Book of Matthew is to be believed, the very first Christmas was an interfaith celebration.

Astrologers from the east brought gifts to celebrate the birth of a Jewish kid.

And the Christmas season would be much duller if it wasn’t for Jewish songwriters. Irving Berlin wrote “Happy Holiday” and “White Christmas.” Other Jewish Christmas songs include (w stands for words, m for music):

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, George Wyle (w&m) with Edward Pola (?)

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Sammy Cahn (w) and Jule Styne (m)

My Favorite Things, Oscar Hammerstein II (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeet, Johnny Marks (w&m)

Silver Bells, Jay Livingston/Ray Evans (w&m)

We Need a Little Christmas, Jerry Herman (w&m)

And most surprisingly O Holy Night.

O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel) was composed by Adolphe Adam, who was Jewish. The author of the lyrics was Placide Cappeau (1808-1877). Notwithstanding its intrinsic beauty and initial success, the song was later attacked by churchmen in Cappeau's native France. The reason was not because of the nature or subject of the song. Rather, the attacks were based on the reputations of the lyricist and composer. Late in his life, Cappeau was described as a social radical, a freethinker, a socialist, and a non-Christian. Indeed, he adopted some of the more extreme political and social views of his era, such as opposition to inequality, slavery, injustice, and other kinds of oppression. The best known English translation is " O Holy Night" authored by John Sullivan Dwight (1818-1893), a Unitarian minister, an American music critic and journalist who made his home at the Transcendentalist community of Brook Farm, MA. It was first published 1855 in his Journal of Music, and was reprinted in songbooks of the period. His strongly abolitionist views were said to have influenced aspects of his free translation, including

“Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,/And in His name all oppression shall cease. [6]

As UUs we are a religious minority. We should fight against oppression not only for ourselves but for all religions and for non-believers. By acknowledging Hanukkah, we are not fighting a war on Christmas; we are taking a stand for religious freedom.

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1. http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media.asp?AID=103874

2. http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Christianity/Deuterocanonical/ii_book_of_the_ maccabees6-10.htm

3. http://www.piney.com/1Macc.html

4. http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm

5. http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1206-23.htm

6. http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_holy_night.htm