The Gift of Christmas: Jesus

Charlie Brown cried in desperation, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about!?!"

Christmas Shopping in December

The Grinch, after stealing all of the Who's presents from Whoville, thought to himself, "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps...means a little bit more."

Our church has been in a sermon series this month of December called "The _____ that stole Christmas." The series pointed to four prime culprits in the theft of Christmas: stress, grief, schedule, and commercialism. Each in their own way distracts us from the true meaning of Christmas. 

But I wonder if some people have grown up never hearing why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. If you didn't grow up in a Christian home, you may have never heard. You didn't hear it at school. You didn't hear it on your sports team. You don't hear it from the majority of shows and movies that claim to be about Christmas. How would you know?

Thank goodness for Christian parents and families. And for the church. In our American culture, it appears the only place a child is going to hear the Christmas story is either at home or in Sunday School. Ironically, in a society that spends billions of dollars on this holiday and months advertising it, the spotlight is on Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, presents, pine trees, Hallmark movies, parties, and happiness. 

Truth is that Christmas is about God sending His son, Jesus into the world as a baby about 2,021 year ago. His birth fulfilled prophecies in the Jewish scriptures: He was born in Bethlehem. He was born of a virgin. His name was Emmanuel, God with us, because he was divine. He was destined to live a perfect life, and die sacrificially for the sins of all mankind. His resurrection became the central historic event upon which all of Christianity is based. 

God's invitation is to believe in the story of Jesus, make Him Lord of your life, admit sinfulness and be sorry for them, being baptized to "wash" those sins away, and living a life according to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament. 

So when the noise fades, the schedule slows, and the wrapping paper is thrown away, the real question remains: will we rediscover what Christmas is truly about? Christmas is not found in what we buy or how perfectly we celebrate, but in the gift God has already given—His Son, Jesus Christ. My hope is that this season would be more than tradition or nostalgia, but an opportunity to hear, believe, and respond to the greatest story ever told. Because when we understand who Jesus is and why He came, Christmas finally makes sense—and nothing can steal that away.