Christmas is not everyone’s favorite holiday. For many it is a time of remembrance of bitter losses, failed family relationships, and lonely tears. For some it is a time of extreme stress with travel, decorating, non-stop shopping, gatherings, and trying to keep up with the expectations of friends and family. I’ve heard more than one person say, “We are just not doing Christmas this year.”
Maybe you have been tempted to skip Christmas. John Grisham wrote about a couple who decided to do just that. Their daughter was away at college and not coming home for the holidays. Their neighborhood traditionally went all-out on the Christmas decorations. It seemed idyllic to take a Caribbean cruise instead of going through all the holiday troubles. If you have read the book (Skipping Christmas) or watched the movie (Christmas With The Kranks), you already know it didn’t quite turn out the way they planned it. Even if you were to try, you probably can’t skip Christmas.
I don’t think we ought to. If there ever was a time when the world needs Christmas, it is now. How many people are in financial ruin? The world economic crisis seems to loom larger each day. Men send rockets to kill men, who send suicide bombers to kill more men. On and on I could go about the status of today’s world, but everyone knows. A sparkly tree nor a blow up reindeer in the yard can change this. It is certainly not the commercial trappings of the season that the world needs, but the reality and wonder of the truth of the season.
“I find this a great mystery and a great wonder. God has been here on this planet in person. What we are celebrating is not the feast of jolly old Father Christmas or good King Wenceslaus or a beautiful fairy tale. We are celebrating the visit of God. How marvelous!” ~J. B. Philips
The world needs Christmas because it reminds us that God loves us. We must always affirm that God loves us because our Enemy works in significant ways to attempt to get us to think otherwise. It is easy to think that the terrible things that have happened in the world – or even to us – prove that God is no longer observant of His people. We live in a cynical culture that doesn’t try to talk us off the ledge. In the movie Man On A Ledge, the lead character is threatening to jump off of a New York building as a distraction for a crime that is being committed nearby. The crowd that gathered to witness this fake suicide attempt grows weary after a while and begins to chant, “Jump, Jump!” If one becomes convinced that God no longer loves them, nothing in this world will even try to change their mind. Only God’s Spirit can convict the heart as it shines through the Scriptures and the lives of those living for Christ (or in other mysterious ways we may not perceive). Christmas reminds us of the great love God must have for us because of His willingness to dwell among men.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ~John 1:14
The world needs Christmas because it reminds us that God knows us. Loneliness pervades this season as those who have withdrawn into themselves see the cheerful gatherings going on as the world passes them by. Temptation looms large as inebriated party goers give in to urges often hidden by sobriety. Greed is accepted, gluttony is approved. Christmas without Christ leads us away from an awareness of God. Yet God was willing to step into an ungrateful humanity. A familiar song asks the question, “What if God were one of us?” He was! He understands what temptation, hunger, harassment, and grief feel like. He knows what we are without Him. He loves us through our weakness and frailty and calls us higher. God knows what we need so that we can become what He envisioned us to be. Christmas is the hope of those who are known and loved by God.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ~Matthew 1:23
The world needs Christmas because it reminds us that God hasn’t forgotten us. As the gospels unfold for us the incarnation, we are informed of the vastness of His plan. Before there was an “in the beginning” there was a plan. It was God’s eternal intention to save humanity. That message began to be dispensed early on to a shamed but forgiven Adam and Eve. Promises were made to Moses and Abraham and David. These are promises that God never forgot. He remembers. The world needs Christmas to let us know that God hasn’t forgotten us.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago)… ~Luke 2:69-70
The world needs Christmas because it reminds us that God saves us. For many the Christmas story ends with the nativity. In truth, though, there is much more. The Christmas story really will not end until we abide in Heaven with the Savior who came to die for us. Christmas is not just about what happened in Bethlehem that night long ago. It is about what is being formed in your heart as you follow Christ today. It is about facing death … or perhaps hearing that final trumpet call … and knowing that all is well because we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. We will truly know the glory of the Christmas story as we greet loved ones who have gone before and worship at the Throne of God. If you think we’ve seen all there is to see of Christmas, think again! Christmas … the coming of the Messiah … is about salvation. This is the message the whole world needs to hear. Maybe at this time of year the door of the heart is open to a hearing of the gospel.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ~Luke 2:11
The truth is that the world does need Christmas, and in the most desperate way. In considering this, though, let us not forget that we need Christmas too. We might get too old to believe in Santa Claus or any of the other Christmas mythology, but we never get too old to be reminded that God has gone to extraordinary lengths to assure us of his love and our salvation. When I think of Christmas in that light, there is the realization that we should never skip Christmas. We need Christmas. The world needs Christmas.
John Dobbs