This last week we had our last English Conversation before Christmas. We had a good group of 7 returnees that evening. Our topic of discussion was Christmas. Most of the questions and discussion were basic being about what we do for Christmas and what does the holiday mean for you. One person in my group insisted on turning the questions onto us, the Anglophones (someone who's first language is English). That got me thinking: What does Christmas really mean to me and to possibly many Christians?
Today, Christmas has been overly advertised and debated to the extent where we worry more about what we want or will get for Christmas and whether we are offending someone or not when we say "Merry Christmas." Yes Christmas has seemed to become a huge advertisement and another way to get more things; there was a Christmas tree up in the local mall three days before Halloween, and Costco has had Christmas decorations since September, apparently. We have fallen far away from the original meaning of Christmas and I don't want to discuss just how far we have fallen. I want to know what Christmas is all about.
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Please read those last two lines again! "What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come form a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." Dr. Seuss brought up an important question that I want to tackle.
Why do we celebrate the birth of Christ? And why do we celebrate it with our families and with gifts? Why even bother with gifts at all? I don't know where the origins of exchanging gifts at Christmas came from, and I don't think it even matters. What matters is what is in our hearts now. What is behind Christmas for you? right now, this year?
Why do we connect gifts with the birth of Jesus? I think it is because Christ Jesus was and is the ultimate gift from God.
- Romans 3:23-25 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."
- Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that n o one may boast."
- Romans 5:8 "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
- Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
- John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
God sent his Son to be born of flesh so that one day He would be the perfect, spotless, sinless sacrifice for the sins of the world. His death and resurrection gave us the free gift of salvation. All we need to do is have faith in Christ and we are able to receive this gift of salvation. I would call that an incredible gift.
So in the end "Jesus is the reason for the season" because He was, and still is, the ultimate gift that we could ever ask for. The gift of salvation. When we understand that, then we are able to show our gratitude to God by giving to others and sharing this gift with others. I hope that you will think about this gift when you are giving presents to people this year. We are able to give presents and gifts because of the gift of salvation through Jesus that has been given to us.
I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families this Christmas. May this remembrance of Christ's birth bring great joy to you this year.
Merry Christmas!!!
