While a pastor in northern Minnesota I was preaching through the book of John when Christmas rolled around. Jesus' birth is important but the real message was his conquering death and resurrection from the dead in order that we might do the same. I was at a point in my preaching where the Scripture was all about Jesus' death and resurrection. My choices were to stop the series and do the traditional stuff or to continue through the series. I chose the latter. Needless to say, the message was dead on for the Christmas day celebration of Christ's birth in light of his death and resurrection. I'm sure that someone has preached the same way somewhere. Well, maybe not. It was unorthodox. The message we have from the world, and in some cases fellow Christians, is for us to be traditional and not rock the boat. Sorry but I'm not that kind of Christian. The Gospel message is what it is and should cause those unsure of their faith to confront whatever makes them uncomfortable. We entered Christmas this year in a way that didn't change much of how others think of Christians and Christmas. The holiday has become a reason to celebrate commercialism and selfish greed. Traditions trump the Gospel and Jesus is just a byline to the season. This shouldn't be. People should be confronted and left with a decision to make. That would be for Christian and non-Christian alike. Instead the Christian (for the most part) participate in the lies conjuring up visions of Santa Claus at every turn. Christians even teach their children that Santa Claus is real and they had better be good!
There I go again raining on someone's parade and spoiling the fun. While the nation spends billions of dollars trying to trap politicians, organizing hate groups, and failing to do what they need to do; the image of Santa Claus delivering gifts to little children everywhere dwarfs the message of Christ Christians are supposed to be presenting. Christians miss the opportunity to set their faith apart from other's beliefs and sell the enemies message in Christian messages. This shouldn't be the case for the Christian. Post Christmas the Santa is dropped from our lives and will be replaced with the Easter bunny. There will be groups that put the special direction of their message on the blessing of pets and of course various political dialogues will be present in many circles. Just what does "fix our eyes on Jesus" mean to the post Christian? Are we so lukewarm that we no longer are in love with the one who first loved us? Our words and actions seem to reflect this. Where is the Spirit of God in your life? That Spirit is one which we are to listen to and incorporate into our lives on a daily basis. The spirit of Christmas we see all around us isn't the Spirit of God at all. When, if ever, will we wake up and take our commitment to Christ as seriously as he took his mission of love for us? You matter to Him. Does he matter to you? Old school says put up or shut up.
This post Christmas season why not let the Spirit of Christ reign through to Good Friday and then on to Pentecost followed by another celebration of the birth of Christ. This post Christmas season why not retell the story and continue to do so until he takes us home or you go home? This post Christmas season why don't we teach our children the truth since no one else seems interested in doing so, Let's not honor false gods with any part of our lives. Instead of looking towards what we can get for ourselves, let's look at all the ways how we can give to others in word, thought and deed. The difference will show fruits in the lives of others as well as yourself. As always, it's always your choice.
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