Greetings from the Pastor’s Study.
What are some of your memories of Christmas? Are they fond memories of giving and exchanging gifts,
going to church on Christmas Eve with your family, singing Christmas carols and sitting down to a delicious Christmas meal? Or, do your memories of Christmas bring back difficult times for you? Sadly, this is the case for too many people. In what is supposed to be a season of joy and celebration, the opposite is what often actually occurs; frustration, anger, depression and disappointment.
When these types of occurrences become the backdrop by which Christmas is “celebrated,” individuals develop a distorted view of what Christmas is really all about. Efforts to simply cope with, or perhaps compensate for, these distorted views of Christmas generally make the problems worse instead of better.
So while neither denying that past difficulties occurred nor pretending we have a perfect family, let us go back to the basics . . . . what Christmas is really about. It is not about how much money you spend on presents for others. It is not about how much others spend on you. It is not about how many lawn decorations you have in front of your house, or how fancy your tree is decorated, or how sumptuous your meal is. . . or anything like that.
It’s About Jesus.
If the Christmases you have experienced in the past have been frustrating and disappointing and you dread each year as the season approaches, I genuinely am sorry about that. But, let me encourage you to put that aside the best you can and focus on the real meaning of Christmas.
It is about God making a provision for our lost condition. Like a disease, sin had spread without exception throughout all humanity. It was this terminal condition of sin which separated us from Him that would ultimately prevent us from ever experiencing any hope of restoration with Him.
So, when the time was right He sent Jesus, his only Son, to come to earth in the form of a baby . . . . born of a virgin . . . angels sang . . . shepherds witnessed . . . and we are the recipients of the greatest Gift ever given. For the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes grew to be the perfect man who would give His life on the cross of Calvary as the only means by which our terminal condition . . . sin . . .could be not just put in remission but eliminated. This is what Christmas is all about . . .remembering the greatest Gift ever given!
So my friends, as you enter the Christmas season this year, don’t get all worked up about the “stuff” that really doesn’t matter. Remember, accept and enjoy the greatest Gift that has even been offered to you.
God bless you richly. See you in church.
