Note: It is recommended that you hand out to every one a wooden match as part of this sermon.

We are two days into the “Twelve Days of Christmas” countdown. This means you are either swimming in the “Christmas spirit,” or you have by now been swamped by the “Christmas spirit.”

Which is it? How many of you are swamped? How many of you are swimming?

We are supposed to be suffused with the “Christmas spirit” these days. But here’s our problem: the “spirit” that is touted as “Christmas,” as in “Christmas spirit,” isn’t necessarily “Christian.”

“Christmas spirit” has almost become synonymous with “schmaltz.” You know “schmaltz:” sticky sweet, sappily sentimental, laden with story-book scenarios that make the Hallmark Channel look like WWE Raw. What passes as “Christmas spirit” in twenty-fir…