“Festivus for the rest of us In 1997, the world was introduced to a new holiday invented by Frank Costanza from the TV show “Seinfeld.” The made-up holiday, called Festivus, took place on December 23. Intended to be an alternative to the commercialism of Christmas, Frank Costanza’s holiday included an aluminum pole, the airing of grievances, and feats of strength.
The Festivus episode of Seinfeld became one of the most beloved by fans. Even now, over 25 years later, many still celebrate the made-up holiday of Festivus - a holiday for the rest of us.
Some people today claim that Christmas, too, is a made-up holiday. On social media, they point out that no one knows the day on which Jesus was born. They talk about how the early Christians appropriated the celebration of the birth of the Roman sun god, Sol Invictus, held on December 25. They basically say that Christians made up Christmas to trick pagans into converting.
First of all, it is correct to say that no one knows Jesus’ birthday. Neither the Bible nor history have recorded it for us. It is also correct to say that during the AD 300’s, the ancient Romans began celebrating December 25 as the birthday of Sol Invictus during their popular winter festival called Saturnalia.
It very well could be that the early Christians chose December 25 because of its connection to Sol Invictus. It has also been theorized, however, that the day simply was picked because it landed nine months after the Christian Church celebrated Jesus’ conception (March 25), which Christians had been celebrating long before December 25 was selected for Christmas.
In the early Christian Church, believers from different parts of the world celebrated Jesus’ birth on different days, but most tended to celebrate it during the time between the Winter Solstice (December 21) and January 6. In the end, the Western Roman Catholic Church settled on December 25 and the Eastern Orthodox Church settled on January 6 for their respective celebrations of Jesus’ birth.
The date for Christmas, however, shouldn’t matter to us. We don’t need to know on what day Jesus was born, because on Christmas, we aren’t really celebrating Jesus’ birthday - at least in the same sense that we celebrate our own birthdays today.
Though many Christian churches today love to treat Christmas as a birthday party for baby Jesus, replete with cakes and candles and the singing of “Happy Birthday,” that was never the intention of the holiday.
Christmas was never meant to be a birthday party.
Christmas was meant to be a celebration of the incarnation. Christmas was meant to celebrate the miracle of God becoming human, taking our place, and suffering our punishment on the cross. Christmas isn’t about presents and piiiatas. Christmas is about the cross.
The holiday of Christmas is all about God’s amazing grace that led him to be born in this world as one of his mortal creatures in order to live and die as the Savior of all people.
In that sense, Christmas is truly a holiday for all of us.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion, ” on Amazon.
Andrew Schroer Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church
