The Christmas Season is supposed to be a season of celebration, a special time of gathering together with friends and families, decorating the Christmas tree, having hot cocoa by the fireplace, opening presents, and watching the glow on children's faces as they excitedly open up their gifts, eating delicious food, and singing your favorite Christmas carols.
However, if you are a member of a house church in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Christmas season is anything but magical and joyous. In fact, it can be a very frightening experience!
You meet secretly in a small apartment building with several other men, women, and children. You remove your shoes, gather together in a circle, and open up your copy of a small New Testament, that is forbidden in Iran.
Blankets are pressed against the doors to muffle the sound. Believers are instructed to worship quietly for security reasons because you never know if the neighbor next door might report your gathering to the police.
Someone in the group begins to softly strum his acoustic guitar. You begin to quietly sing some worship songs. After a few minutes, the singing stops and the house church leader delivers a brief message on the birth of the Messiah.
Suddenly, your Christmas celebration is rudely interrupted as 10 plainclothes officers burst through the front door, separating the men from the women. They begin conducting strip body searches and confiscating Bibles and computers. Frightened and terrified, your children begin crying and are forcefully pulled away from your hands by security officers. You are handcuffed and arrested, accused of acting against national security, and then hauled away in waiting vans to prison.
Pastor Farhad Sabokrooh, who was arrested in 2011 during a Christmas gathering in his home in Ahvaz, recalls how celebrating the birth of Jesus was a mixture of both joy and trepidation.
"For me and my family, the days of Christmas and New Year are always a reminder of our arrest, going to jail, and finally being forced out of Iran."
Amin Afshar-Naderi is also tormented by memories of arrest and imprisonment during the Christmas season. Alongside his pastor and a Christian convert, Amin was sentenced to ten years in prison for his role in the house church movement.
"I spent one Christmas and two New Year's Eves in prison and as another holiday approaches, I am reminded of the sadness and loneliness of the prison cell and the reality that this fate can await other Christians, who despite the risk of arrest, want to celebrate the birth of Christ."
A day of happiness and celebration for many former Muslims who have found their hope and freedom in Christ has instead been transformed into a day of great dread and anxiety because the agents from the Ministry of Intelligence deliberately have them under surveillance targeting their group, especially during the Christmas holidays.
Christians are intimidated, harassed, persecuted, and arrested because of their faith in Jesus. If you are a Christian in Iran and do not evangelize and do not advertise your religion, you will not go to jail. However, Iranian Christians who have discovered the love and forgiveness in Christ, are excited about sharing their faith. They are unashamed and unafraid to tell others and because of their zeal, they are arrested, placed in solitary confinement, and tortured for converting to Christianity.
Iranian Christians refuse to allow the government to control them through fear and intimidation. The government accuses them of "engaging in activities contrary to the holy religion of Islam by establishing house churches." They risk losing their jobs, their families, and in some cases, even their lives, and yet these bold Iranians still gather together to celebrate the birth of a Savior.
The glorious proclamation by the Angel of the Lord to Joseph was to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife for "she will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
The Shepherds of Israel were astonished when an angel appeared to them one night, announcing to them, "Do not be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)
The Christians in Iran are overwhelmed with great joy at the good news about the birth of Christ. Why? Because as former Muslims, Jesus was only a prophet and not a savior. They spent their entire life with no assurance of salvation or forgiveness. They were taught in Islam that Jesus wasn't crucified for their sins. To be righteous before Allah, they would need to fast, pray, give alms, and hope that on the day of Judgment, they would be worthy enough to obtain paradise.
It is no wonder they are filled with inexpressible joy when they open up their Bibles and read the life-transforming words of Jesus who declared, "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. He does not come into the judgment but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)
These former Muslims are astonished by the good news of Christ. They are no longer burdened by the rituals and demands of Islam to perfect themselves but have discovered a living savior who lavishes his love and forgiveness on them as a free gift of grace, that cannot be earned.
This Christmas, as you gather together with your family or friends underneath the Christmas tree, to open presents, remember the Christians in Iran, and don't take your freedoms for granted. While you are peacefully singing your favorite Christmas carols, say a prayer for the suffering Iranian Christians, who are very likely spending their Christmas in a dirty prison cell separated from their family and friends, and facing a death sentence for their faith.
