Christmas Time

 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Nothing consumes our lives and thoughts more. We may shop for ghoulish costumes before Halloween, and cook for what seems like days on thanksgiving but the entire month of December (and parts of November and January) are taken up with thoughts of the Holy holly jollies. We have countless movies reminding us the true meaning of Christmas, unfortunately they are interrupted by commercial breaks distracting us from it once again. We get mass emails reminding us once again of its meaning but web advertisements asking us to buy more stuff (sometimes included on the same email). Caught in this pull between the possibility of greater things (GIFTS!!) and the reflection of glorious things (Christ) the mass find themselves torn apart. 

    

      Who would have guessed that those wise kings two thousand years ago would of caused such a stir? There is a dark illusion about Christmas, a false hope of toys and family. We expect that we will be surrounded by a perfect loving family who will just for this one day, not fight, or argue, but sing fahoo fores, dahoo dores, welcome Christmas around a tree. Even in the Grinch a story about how Christmas comes without ribbons! without tags! without packages, boxes or bags, they end up celebrating with all those presents! 

        Maybe that is why people too often end up more depressed on Christmas. They feel like if they don’t have the presents, or the family to share it with they are missing out on Christmas. I have some shocking news for you. Christmas is not about presents, nor is it about FAMILY (at least not your earthly family). Sure we all tend to gather as a family to celebrate and its a great time to express our love for each other, but Christmas is NOT about family. It IS in fact about Jesus. It is a celebration of not only the fact that He was born, but a celebration of why He was born, and what that means for us.

    

        Christmas shockingly is about Christ, and He is there just the same for every man women and Child. We do not have to be good or “nice” to earn his love, and we do not have to be rich to celebrate it. We do not have to have either a perfect family or one at all. We are NOT celebrating the fact that we were born to the man we call father and the woman we call mother. We ARE celebrating the fact that a baby was born and they call him Emanuel which means “God with us”.

    Now we have a family, that we can celebrate this glorious event with. They have almost as many buildings as Starbucks. There is one on almost every church corner, and there is type built for every kind of man, woman, and child. It’s church, and not just the building but the gathering of those who celebrate Christ wherever they may be. My family celebrates Christmas in our home by reading the incredible story of our Lord and singing songs to honor Him. However you choose to celebrate, remember that it isn’t only not about presents, it’s also not about family. It’s about Jesus. It’s about a love story. A love that was so strong for each one of us, that a savior was born. A little baby, a king, a warrior, God with us, and time has never been the same.