The Christmas season is upon us. And I will have to admit, I love it. I like to go to the stores and see all the decorations and stuff. I have already bought my wife's gift (ha-ha!) and we have the house all decorated. We even got a new manger scene and put it beside the tree on the floor. It was a lot bigger than I thought.
But we are looking for a star to put at the top of the tree. In my estimation, you have to have a star, or at the least, a big fancy bow that looks kind of star like. Here at the church we have both.
The other day, I overheard two young women talking in a store. One said that she wasn’t sure what to put at the top of her tree this year. She had tried to get a stuffed bear to stay up there but he wouldn’t. her friend suggested a Santa Hat.
I grew up in a home that celebrated only the pagan side of Christmas: Santa, presents, reindeer, etc. we didn’t believe that it was the birth od Jesus so we ignored that part. It became to us a time of getting stuff.
That is the problem with the world. With Jesus, Christmas is worthless. It is nothing more than a commercial endeavor, pushed along by the business people as a way to get more money.
There are more and more of those now. Valentine’s Day starts in January with decorations, Easter starts right after Valentine’s Day, then comes Fourth of July, then Halloween, then Christmas. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Thanksgiving all come in there between all the other stuff. And they all come with decorations and presents and all of the trappings.
And they almost make you sick. You become tired of the commercial hoopla surrounding each and every “holiday” and before long they become meaningless. Oh, Halloween is over? Time for Christmas. From one to the other with no real break. One is in the bargain section while the other is being loaded up.
I suppose that sounds curmudgeonly, but I really can’t help it. The whole point of it all is gone.
Here I wrote about Halloween and its Christian origins. Of course, Easter is the high holiest day of the year, Valentine’s Day is somewhat trivial when you get out of school. Fourth of July is important, but only to our country.
When Christmas becomes just another season, it becomes sad. It is no wonder people dread it. It has been leached of all of its beauty.
What is Christmas for? The Christmas season celebrates the birth of the eternal, yet human Word, come to experience creation.
That is why we celebrate Christmas. Jesus, the God-man, came to earth to be with us and to experience what it meant to be a human. He also came to offer the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we could once again boldly approach the throne room of God.
He didn’t come to help merchants get a better bottom line.
We were wrong to not celebrate his birth at this time of year. After all, the entire world makes at least lip service to it. When else do you hear young singers who live absolutely appalling lifestyles sing his praises? At least for a little while, his name is praised.
I love Christmas. Glory to God. Merry Christmas. More later.
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