If you haven’t noticed, Christmas is upon us. Personally, I am a bit of a Scrooge about Christmas. It is not so much about Christmas as it is the presentation of Christmas. I could elaborate on the historical accuracies (e.g., Jesus was most likely born in September/October) but that would be a moot argument. I could argue that one does not usually receive gifts on his or her “birthday”, but again someone will make a case for the exchanging of gifts. In reality, the traditions—whatever their origins—are, indeed, rather benign. So, by all means, celebrate—but celebrate for the right reasons.
This season, “Christians” will celebrate the birth of their Savior. Many will get quite depressed, frustrated, and sometimes violent celebrating the birth of their Savior. I would, however, prefer to emphasize that, in the Christian tradition, Jesus is the Savior–the Christ—the Messiah.
I would prefer to emphasize Jesus’ role as the Christ and the Messiah—as the King of kings. If anyone is a fan of sports, they know John 3:16 (even if they don’t know what the verse says—”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”). From this, we claim Jesus as our personal “Savior”—whose birth we celebrate. We tend to stop at verse 16 and ignore what is written in John 3:17—“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (NIV). Indeed, Jesus came to introduce a new humanity—a new way of being human. This is the “reason for the season”.
How, then, can we say we are “celebrating Jesus” when we ignore the very purpose of his birth—when we ignore that his message was on of “love your neighbor”, “love your enemy”, “forgiveness”, etc.? If we focus on an innocent child lying in a manger (and skip to an empty grave in the spring), we miss the “reason for the season”. The reason is not in the message that Jesus came and died (for our sins). Rather, the reason is that he came and lived—and taught—a new way of being human.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!