[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10165-H10167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Russell) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Speaker, we are told it is the most wonderful time 
of the year: Christmas. As a Nation, we have celebrated it with family, 
with breaks from work, and with a bit of pomp in our Nation's Capital. 
But why? It has not always been the case.
  When Americans began to settle in the Colonies, they came with varied 
religious backgrounds. To the Pilgrims and Puritans, the idea of 
celebrating a holy day associated with the churches that had persecuted 
them in Europe was repulsive. But to those high churches long 
established--such as Anglican, Episcopal, and Catholic--Christmas was 
observed widespread.
  In the fabric of our Nation, the low church settlers dwelt more in 
New England, where Christmas was not observed, and the high church 
settlers were more in the South, where it was. Still, it was not until 
1837, when Louisiana made Christmas a State holiday, that Christmas was 
officially recognized.
  In time, more States began official recognition. In 1870, Christmas 
became a national holiday. Its lack of recognition was not for a lack 
of understanding for the importance of the birth of Christ. Rather, it 
was out of respect to the various Christian beliefs making up our 
national fabric.
  It was not until 1889 that a Christmas tree adorned the White House, 
and the first official Christmas tree lighting ceremony did not occur 
until 1923, under President Calvin Coolidge. The first White House 
Christmas card did not appear until 1953, under President Dwight 
Eisenhower.
  Still, our Nation and our leaders have always made great effort to 
express the importance of the birth of Christ. Here is what a few of 
nearly all of our Presidents have said about the birth of Christ:
  Calvin Coolidge: ``For many generations, Christmas has been joyously 
observed . . . because on that day was born one who grew to be the only 
perfect man and became the Savior of the world. No other influence in 
human experience has compared with the birth and life of Christ.''
  Franklin Roosevelt: ``Here, at home, we will celebrate this Christmas 
Day in our traditional American way--because of its deep spiritual 
meaning to us; because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our 
lives; and because we want our youngest generation to grow up knowing 
the significance of this tradition and the story of the coming of the 
immortal Prince of Peace and Good Will. But, in perhaps every home in 
the United States, sad and anxious thoughts will be continually with 
the millions of our loved ones who are suffering hardships and misery, 
and who are risking their very lives to preserve for us and for all 
mankind the fruits of His teachings and the foundations of civilization 
itself.''
  Harry Truman: ``In love, which is the very essence of the message of 
the Prince of Peace, the world would find a solution for all its ills. 
I do not believe there is one problem in this country or in the world 
today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of 
the Sermon on the Mount. . . .
  ``In the stillness of the eve of the Nativity when the hopes and 
mankind hang on the peace that was offered to the world 19 centuries 
ago, it is but natural, while we survey our destiny, that we give 
thought also to our past to some of the things which have gone into the 
making of our Nation. . . .
  ``In this day, whether it be far or near, the kingdoms of this world 
shall become, indeed, the kingdom of God, and He will reign forever and 
ever, Lord of Lords and King of Kings . . .
  ``Since returning home, I have been reading again in our family Bible 
some of the passages which foretold this night. . . . We miss the 
spirit of Christmas if we consider the incarnation as an indistinct and 
doubtful, far-off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the 
purport of Christ's birth if we do not accept it as a living link which 
joins us together in the spirit as children of the ever-living and true 
God. In love alone--the love of God and the love of man--will be found 
the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today.''
  Lyndon Johnson: ``We were taught by Him whose birth we commemorate 
that after death, there is life. . . . In these last 200 years, we have 
guided the building of our Nation and our society by those principles 
and precepts brought to Earth nearly 2,000 years ago on that first 
Christmas.
  ``In a few days, we shall all celebrate the birth of His Holiness on 
Earth. . . . We shall acknowledge the kingdom of a child in a world of 
men. That child, we should remember, grew into manhood Himself, 
preached and moved men in many walks of life, and died in agony. But 
His death, so the Christian faith tells us, was not the end. For Him, 
and for millions of men and women ever since, it marked a time of 
triumph, when the spirit of life triumphed over death.''

                              {time}  1745

  Gerald Ford: ``In our 200 years, we Americans have always honored the 
spiritual testament of 2,000 years ago. We embrace the spirit of the 
Prince of Peace so that we might find peace in our own hearts and in 
our own land, and hopefully in the world as well.''
  Ronald Reagan: ``The Nativity story of nearly 20 centuries ago is 
known by all faiths as a hymn to the brotherhood of man. For 
Christians, it is the fulfillment of age-old prophecies and the 
reaffirmation of God's great love for all of us. Through a generous 
Heavenly Father's gift of His Son, hope and compassion entered a world 
weary with fear and despair and changed it for all time.''
  Reagan continues. `` . . . I have always believed that the message of 
Jesus is one of hope and joy. I know that there are those who recognize 
Christmas Day as the birthday of a great and good man, a wise teacher 
who gave us principles to live by. And then there are others of us who 
believe that He was the Son of God, that He was Divine. If we live our 
lives for truth, for love, and for God, we need never be afraid.''
  George H.W. Bush put it this way: ``At Christmas, we, too, rejoice in 
the mystery of God's love for us--love revealed through the gift of 
Christ's birth. Born into a family of a young carpenter and his wife, 
in a stable shared by beasts of the field, our Savior came to live 
among ordinary men. Yet, in time, the miraculous nature of this simple 
event became clear. Christ's birth changed the course of history, 
bringing the light of hope to a world dwelling in the darkness of sin 
and death.
  Today, nearly 2,000 years later, the shining promise of that first 
Christmas continues to give our lives a sense of peace and purpose. Our 
words and deeds, when guided by the example of Christ's life, can help 
others share in the joy of man's Redemption.''
  Bill Clinton: ``The Christmas story is dear and familiar to us all--
shepherds and angels, Wise Men and King Herod, Mary and Joseph, and, at 
the heart of it all, a Child. This Child was born into poverty in a 
city too crowded to offer Him shelter. He was sent to a region whose 
people had endured suffering, tyranny, and exile. And yet, this Child 
brought with Him riches so great that they continue to sustain the 
human spirit 2,000 years later: the assurance of God's love and 
presence in our lives and the promise of salvation.''
  Barack Obama: ``More than 2,000 years ago, a child was born to two 
faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among the 
cattle and the sheep. But this was not just any child. Christ's birth 
made the angels rejoice and attracted shepherds and kings from afar. He 
was a manifestation of God's love for us.''
  Even with all of their flaws, the political and party tensions, the 
times of national prosperity and crisis, our Presidents have been 
consistent in expressing publicly their belief on why Christ's birth 
matters. Bold Presidential statements: the only perfect man, Savior of 
the world, immortal Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords who will reign 
forever, His Holiness, Son of God, the light of Hope, God's love and 
presence in our lives, a manifestation of God's love for us.
  No other human being has ever been accorded such accolade by our 
Presidents.
  Indeed, even in our national Congress, well over 90 percent of 
elected officials associate themselves with the

[[Page H10166]]

Christian faith, and give similar words as to why Christ is important. 
But even all the words of Presidents and national leaders are not as 
important as the words of the man himself, whose birth created all the 
fuss. What did Christ claim about himself? We have bold statements by 
Jesus. Here are some pretty astounding ones:
  John 6:35:

       I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never 
     hunger.

  John 8:12:

       I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not 
     walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

  John 10:9-11:

       I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, 
     and he will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does 
     not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have 
     come that they might have life, and that they might have it 
     more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd 
     gives His life for the sheep.

  John 10:14-17:

       I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known 
     by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; 
     and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have 
     which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they 
     will hear My voice and there will be one flock, and one 
     shepherd. Therefore, My Father loves Me because I lay down My 
     life that I may take it again.

  John 11:25:

       I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, 
     though he may die, he shall live.

  John 14:6:

       I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the 
     Father except by Me.

  John 15:5-13:

       I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, 
     and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do 
     nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a 
     branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them 
     into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and 
     My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it 
     shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that 
     you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the 
     Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If 
     you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as 
     I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 
     These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in 
     you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, 
     that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love 
     has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his 
     friends.

  Ponder this. These are bold claims. The bread of life, the light of 
the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection, the way, the 
truth, the life, the vine. Only God could make such claims.

  John 3:16 explains it this way:

       For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten 
     Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but 
     have everlasting life.

  As human beings, we understand life because it is real to us. We 
live. We also understand complexity and order. We arrange our days, our 
clothes, our homes, our diet. God has created us with a sense of order.
  Created. One only has to look at the complexity of the human eye to 
see a design. One cannot fathom the circulatory system, and organs, and 
all the things that make up life and not see the hand of a master 
designer. One cannot look at the miracle of birth and not see a clear 
designed creation.
  A junkyard full of car parts does not self-produce a new car in any 
amount of time any more than a jumble of proteins make life by 
accident.
  We have been fearfully and wonderfully made. When one considers all 
of the world, how it works together, how it is perfectly placed in our 
solar system, we can see God's hand. With slight deviation of the 
Earth's axis, we would be dead.
  With just a few more miles closer proximity to the Sun, we would be 
burned to death. With just a few more miles away from the Sun, we would 
freeze to death. We are not some accident, some purposeless blob of 
proteins that has no meaning. Nature speaks to God's hand. We see the 
grandeur of a designer all around us. The giver of life, God himself. 
But what of His Son, Jesus Christ? The Gospel of John explains:

       In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
     and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All 
     things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was 
     made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the 
     light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the 
     darkness did not comprehend it . . . That was the true Light 
     which gives light to every man coming into the world.
       He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, 
     and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His 
     own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them 
     He gave the right to become children of God, to those who 
     believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the 
     will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And 
     the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His 
     glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full 
     of grace and truth.

  But why? Why did God's Son have to come into the world? When God 
created man and woman, He created us with choices. He gave simple 
instruction, but the choice was still Adam's to make. God did not 
create a robot. He created a human soul. Adam, the first man, chose to 
disobey God in that simple but uneasy choice. That choice gave us sin, 
the knowledge of good and evil.
  Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that because of this choice:

       Through one man sin entered the world, and death through 
     sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

  Sin perpetuated from that moment into all mankind. We see it 
ourselves if we take the time to consider it. We do not have to teach a 
child how to do wrong. It comes naturally, with the arching of the 
back, and the shouting of the word ``no'' as one of those first 
uttered.
  As they mature, we labor to teach them to do what is right, guided by 
the conscience that God has placed into us. Why do we feel guilty when 
we do things wrong? Romans tells us that God wrote that moral law into 
our hearts, a conscience. We were created with it. We are unique among 
living creatures in this way. We have a soul. We get a basic sense of 
God's moral right and wrong, yet, we fail that standard because of our 
sinful nature.
  We fall short. We don't want to, but we do. We want to do what is 
right, but often, we make a different choice because of our sinful 
nature. Because of this failing to meet God's standard as He created 
us, we are unable, by ourselves, to fix it.

                              {time}  1800

  For a time, God communicated through His word and His prophets the 
need to make an atonement for our shortcomings, to cleanse our sins by 
sacrifices. Christ came to be the final and total sacrifice, erasing 
the sin in our lives, if we would receive it. Christ's birth was the 
fix. But how?
  God, as the master programmer, if you think in modern vernacular, 
made us perfect. But we became corrupted with a sin virus that we 
voluntarily put in, ignoring the warnings. Once a perfect operating 
system, now we were destined to crash and eventually destroy ourselves. 
Jesus would become the fix, the patch, the update, to take away the sin 
virus and to make us whole again before God. But the fix would not be 
automatic. It has to be installed voluntarily in our hearts.
  When Christ came into the world, He did not come by Adam's seed. 
Christ could not become the fix patched to a sinful, virus-corrupted 
operating system. Instead, God sent His Son to be born of a virgin--
Mary--bypassing Adam's seed and the sinful nature that would come with 
it. Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. Fully God, yet becoming 
flesh, acquainted with all our frailties, but not corrupted through 
Adam's seed. If He could be obedient even unto death, ultimately 
embodied in a death on the cross, then His sacrifice would be available 
to all who would receive it as a new operating system for life.
  Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrates His own love toward 
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
  Romans 5.18 says:

       Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to 
     all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's 
     righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in 
     justification of life.

  That is why Christ came.
  Isaiah 9:6:

       For unto us a Child is born,
       Unto us a Son is given;
       And the government will be upon His shoulder,
       And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty 
     God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
       Of the increase of His government and peace there will be 
     no end.

  Christ tells us in John 3:


[[Page H10167]]


  

       For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
     Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but 
     have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the 
     world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him 
     might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but 
     he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has 
     not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And 
     this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the 
     world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because 
     their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the 
     light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds shall be 
     exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that 
     his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in 
     God.

  Christ makes a direct appeal to us when He says: ``Come to Me, all 
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''
  We come by making a simple, voluntary confession. Paul tells us in 
Romans 10:9:

       If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe 
     in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will 
     be saved.

  Harry Truman was correct when he said that in the love of God and the 
love of man will be found the solution to all the ills that afflict the 
world today. As much as we may wish to make our Nation strong, it will 
never happen without observing the truth in Proverbs 14:36:

       Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
     people.

  In a world of strife, we could use some peace and encouragement. 
Christ said:

       These things have I spoken to you, that in Me you may have 
     peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good 
     cheer, I have overcome the world.

  In a world of hatred and suffering, we could use some love.
  Jesus said: ``This is My commandment, that you love one another as I 
have loved you.''
  In a world that tells us there is no hope, we can find it in Christ's 
commitment to us. Romans 5:3 through 6:

       Tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, 
     character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint 
     us, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts 
     by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were 
     still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the 
     ungodly.

  It started 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.
  Luke 2:11: ``For there is born to you this day in the city of David a 
Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.''
  As I close my service in Congress in what may perhaps be the last 
time I am privileged to speak in this august Chamber, I am grateful for 
the privilege to have done so and to the Oklahomans who made that 
possible. As I bring to a close more than three-and-one-half decades of 
military and public service to our Nation, I do it with a simple prayer 
that you may find the true meaning of Christmas: of hope, of salvation, 
and of celebration.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________