The point of the above rant is that we are becoming so bogged down in “the season” that we forget about the “meaning for the season.” Christmas celebrates the coming of God to earth in order to begin the painstaking task of saving humanity. Oh..of course you know. You went to Church on Christmas eve. You say Merry Christmas. But do we (you and me)…do we really get it? I mean…there seem to be lots of people left out in the cold while we sit inside in the horrible pajamas that grandma gave us (again…note: nothing against grandmas or pajamas) and drink cider and open iPods, clothing that we don’t need and candy. The real meaning of Christmas? Jesus, the Christ, coming to earth. In Colossians 1: 15-16, Jesus is described as the “firstborn over all creation.” For him and by him all things were created. This is God (for those of you who believe less I encourage you to read The Case for Christ…I have a copy if you want it). God stepping down, out of heaven into a manger to be among people… Whoa..forget redemption, a cross all of that…there is tremendous sacrifice and mercy in the Christmas story before we even get to Calvary. Jesus, the firstborn of all creation could sit in heaven and rule but instead, he comes to be on earth with his creation. Name another religion where God leaves his Kingdom and comes to dwell among mere humans? You will be hard pressed to find one. Why leave? To tell the little humans that they are being bad and need to repent? Sort of. Really, he came to love people. Flip to the middle of Luke (who is widely believed to me the most methodical in recording the life of Jesus) and the middle 2/3 or so of the book are Jesus hanging out with misfits, tax collectors and other “sinners” (not like you and me of course…we aren’t in need of Grace..just iPods.). And we he isn’t dining with the “sinners” he is healing the lame, giving sight to the blind and raising the dead. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus ministry..which consisted of loving people. My question then, is in what part of his ministry is his love summed up in an iPod? Or a Garmin GPS? I understand your balk…but we give to demonstrate love. I get that, I do the same thing. There is nothing wrong with gift giving. The question is as Christians, are we celebrating the beginning of leading people to truth, helping the poor, healing the sick, causing the blind to see? Or are we celebrating another nice holiday? Christmas is much bigger than even celebrating the birth of Christ, it is celebrating the birth of Christ as the beginning of his ministry to world…a world full of normal people, like us, who need the grace of a savior. I think that the song that we sing in protestant Church services across this country with candles ( it is a beautiful sight really), silent night, really sums it up best. Christmas is a silent time for Christians. We focus inwardly instead of on the very people that Jesus came to save. I invite you to revisit the lyrics of Silent night one more time.
silent night, holy night
all is calm, all is bright
shepherds quake at the sight
shepherds quake at the sight
glories stream from heaven afar
love's pure light
love's pure light
radiant beams from thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace
All is bright, glories are streaming, people are quaking, the dawn of grace. What part of this is silent? I didn’t write the song but just maybe it should be re-titled “Loud Night.” Christmas should be the time for people to look upon Christianity and say man…they really love people. Not the opposite. We should be saying to the world, as followers of Christ, as we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating the work of Christ through loving the world. We are saying that we are bright and loud and different. As followers of Christ, the Challenge this Christmas is to remember the birth of Christ by loving the world, as Christ did. I am not sure what you specifically can do differently..but maybe you can just make a difference in the world around you at Christmas time.
