Wishing you a Merry Christmas

Just don't forget the reason for the season.

When you see this, it will be Christmas Eve.

Traditionally when I did monoblogue I would leave the site dark for Christmas and put up a holiday greeting post on Christmas Eve. Now that I have a Substack where I post each Wednesday and Saturday (with the occasional Sunday) it turns out in my first year that Christmas Eve is a Saturday, so I’ll be back to my old habits for one more year. This will read a little more like a special Sunday post, though, as I tend toward the spiritual with those.

In some year past, I quoted at length from the Book of Luke where it tells the story of our Savior’s birth. This time, in the interest of brevity and of making a point, I will quote the Book of John:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, KJV)

This is not to pick on John, as he opted to write his book focusing more on the works of Jesus Christ. But that quick passage, compared to the more vivid description of our Savior’s birth featured in other books of the Bible, is a good analogy for our world today: we tend to gloss over the reason for the season in a headlong rush to buy presents, attend holiday parties, and try and figure out how to accommodate the family that might be flying in. (Or you may be debating the risks of traveling in blizzard-like conditions, such as those found in my hometown this holiday.)

Having those secular aspects of Christmas - particularly the demand to purchase presents - foisted upon us from the moment Halloween is over is what turned me off Christmas for years. Even before I was saved, I realized that Christmas was so much more than just a way for retailers to salvage their annual profitability - so I resist having the “Christmas spirit” being forced upon me and get warmed up for the season at my own pace. (Usually my church’s annual Cantata does the trick, and we enjoyed that last Sunday.) I’m still not a big fan of trimming and decorating the tree, but I put up with it for family’s sake. (Back in my single days, all I had was a Christmas card tree. I still have it somewhere, although there’s far fewer cards being sent now.)

When I was a kid, there was a TV movie that imagined Christmas without Santa Claus. But imagine if Jesus had never been born.

First of all, there would be no Christmas to celebrate. I suppose we would just slide from Thanksgiving into Hanukkah (assuming Judaism was still present, given the longtime persecution of the Jewish faith) then to New Year’s Eve.

But more importantly, we would have no way to recompense our sin, for Jesus came onto the Earth as the sinless lamb without blemish or spot, eventually sacrificing Himself for our sinful nature.

Each day I’m reminded that I am a sinner, not worthy of grace. If I don’t get a single present or have a overly filling Christmas meal (or two) with family and friends, I’ve still received the greatest gift of all - the price for my sin was paid in full by a baby born of a virgin on Christmas Day.

Now that’s something worth celebrating - not with hoopla, but with a time of saying a silent prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.