The Gospel for today is Matthew 11:7-15, headed in the NRSV "Jesus praises John the Baptist."

An e-mail discussion list to which I belong received a post containing verses lamenting the decline, even suppression, of public celebrations of Christmas. One of the list members labeled it "hate mail," and then the battle was on. We hear this kind of argument every Christmas, and I personally find it troubling and unhelpful, even unfaithful to the Gospel call. Jesus didn't claim privilege, and neither did John. Rather, they both called on those who claimed privilege to abandon those claims, and to seek only the will of God.

Christians ought not force our celebrations on other people, just as they should not do so to us. (Isn't that the Golden Rule in action?) If the marketplace avoids specifically Christian symbolism at the risk of offending non-Christians, what is that to us? The last time I looked, Wal-Mart's mission did not include proclaiming the coming kingdom of God! That's the Church's mission, one that began with John and the Christ for whom he was the forerunner.

Christians have had it pretty good for many years, assuming a privileged position in North American culture. It has made us lazy and complacent about our task of proclamation. We cry "foul!" when that privilege is eroded. It may be foul, but that's the environment in which we are now called to minister. So let's get on with the job, and stop whining about non-Christians in our midst.

I was invited to speak on this topic to a men's ecumenical group last year. The question they put to me was phrased in the negative, but I turned it around to a positive, titling the talk "Celebrating Christmas in a Post-Christian World." I will freely share the PowerPoint from that talk with any who ask.