The Opportunity of Christmas

Christmas is a great opportunity to share the love of Jesus with those around us. Each of us needs to find ways to point past the glitter to the Christ-child. For me, one of those ways is putting up Christmas lights at home, hoping these will speak of light, hope and joy, and be at least a talking point that may open conversations about Jesus.

We could easily just give in to the commercialism of Christmas, just letting Christmas pass us by. This rampant commercialism could depress us entirely and lead us to reject a celebration of Christmas. Yet this would be such a waste! This would certainly be ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ or perhaps ‘throwing the baby out with the manger hay’. Let us not miss what is of eternal worth, just because we are discouraged by the temporal distractions. In the midst of all the hoopla, lies a baby in a manger who became the Saviour of the World – the shepherds saw it, the ‘wise-men’ knew it, and they each paid homage. The destiny of our lives is tied up in our response to this scene, and how the Jesus story played out in Palestine 2000 years ago.

On the other hand, another threat would be that the commercialism angle could actually catch us in its net, such that we lose track completely of higher priorities. We could fall for creating debt for ourselves at Christmas – that will take years for us to pay off! Some people may feel warm and cuddly around Christmas as they get presents – eat, drink and spend time with family and friends, only to return to gloom during Boxing Day. How sad when thoughts of Jesus, the one who’s birthday Christmas is about, are all left behind by December 26th. We have to live outside the net of commercialism, showing that Jesus is important to us 365 days a year.

Then the busyness of Christmas might tend to overwhelm us to the extent of hating Christmas – we can’t afford the presents, we haven’t got the energy to deal with all our family, there are so many functions to attend! If this becomes our concern, then we have to re-centre ourselves on Jesus, and allow all these other things, and any stresses of the season, to be put into the perspective of our relationship with Jesus. If we are truly Jesus followers, then it will be Jesus that sets the agenda for our Christmas celebrations – and Jesus is not the bringer of anxiety, but rather the "Prince of Peace".

Some people, even some Christians, will devalue Christmas because it was adapted from a festival around the pagan worship of a sun-god. Such people will note that Christmas wasn’t celebrated in terms of Jesus’ birth till the 4th Century. But so what if it took 300 years to wake up to the need to celebrate Jesus’ birth on an annual basis. So what if the date of December 25 is unlikely to be the historical date of Jesus’ birth. So what if the festival was originally celebrating something different. The fact is that God loved the world so much that God’s Son Jesus was sent to take up human form and bring the possibility of salvation out of the dark circumstances of life on earth. God understood the lostness of humanity okay, and sent Jesus to bring light to that darkness! Why wouldn’t we take every opportunity to celebrate that!

Some might even say that Jesus’ death on the cross should be our primary focus, and thereby undervalue Christmas. Well – without Jesus’ incarnation and the challenging life he lived, there would not have been the sacrificial death. My point is: without the frame of reference of Jesus’ life, we would not know what we are being saved towards. The life of Jesus is worth celebrating in its own right. This is of course not manger worship – adoration of a cute baby; but rather a reverent and wholehearted allegiance to the Son of God, who calls us into his service!

In reading and re-reading the early chapters of Matthew and Luke we recall how:
· The baby born will be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins
· This is good news of great joy for all the people, for this Saviour is the long-awaited Messiah – the anointed and sent one of God
· He will also be known as “Emmanuel” because he brings God to us (in the midst of our trials)
· The shepherds witnessed this event, spoke about it, and praised God for everything they had seen and heard
· The wise-men gave the very best of themselves to the Christ-child – gold, frankincense, myrrh.

Christmas gives us a marvellous opportunity – an open invitation to engage with people in the world, and show that there is hope and purpose in life beyond the peripheral. Their gift within the wrapping paper might just be reinterpreted to symbolise the gift of eternal life (that can be received with humble gratitude). I personally see modern-day Christmas, not as a frustrating perversion, but as an opportunity for the church to engage in mission with our neighbours and in our families.

Christmas is also a good opportunity to check on our own relationship with Jesus. Is this as good as it could be? Could I have lost touch with Jesus over the last year? Is there more about Jesus I could learn to appreciate? No better time to reassess these things, before another new year arrives!