I am always astounded by the craziness that erupts at Christmas time. Not the usually condemned craziness of shopping, parties and ridiculous amounts of sugar. That craziness I love. No, it’s the craziness that erupts in Christian circles. This obsession with making one day out of the year the super most holy spiritual experience of life. While I’ve taken a break from facebook, my email has been bombarded with people telling me where I should be spending my money if I really love God. If I love God, I won’t buy presents. If I love Jesus, I would give everything I have to the poor. It’s funny that I don’t get these emails in July. Are there no poor people in July? And what makes these people assume I’m not giving to the poor? Why is it any of their business? Because somehow at Christmas time Christians feel they have the right to tell everyone the best way to worship. Well-meaning traditions become our religion as we bow down to the god of self-righteousness. As soon as you tell me that the only way to celebrate my savior is the way you do, then we have a heaping dose of full-fledged religion.
My favorite is the unceasing debate over Santa Claus. I find this discussion quite humorous. It’s as if all the evil in the world manifests itself in one make-believe man, and he is responsible for all things un-Jesus. I recently heard someone say that Jesus just can’t compete with Santa Claus. Why would kids choose Jesus when Santa is an option? Whoa, my friend! If this is the case, then I have one question: What Jesus are you giving your kids? The Jesus I know calms the sea, walks on water, heals the sick, rose from grave, conquered sin and death, and sets people free!! If your Jesus can’t compete with Santa, then maybe you have the wrong Jesus. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a debate on whether or not you should celebrate Santa. Frankly, I don’t care if you do or not. I don’t care if you have an opinion on if I should celebrate it or not. But if the Jesus we are celebrating this Christmas can’t compete with Santa, then what hope is there for a world lost in darkness? What hope do we have for our brokenness, our addictions, our hopelessness, or our fears? Perhaps a baby in an manger can’t compete with Santa. But the incarnate God, word-become-flesh, death-conquering, life-giving, chain-breaking, life-giving, miracle-working, closer-than-your-skin, fear-shattering JESUS can compete with ANYTHING!! If you really want to use this argument, then we must apply it to the rest of life. Can your Jesus compete with your schedule...with sports...with your kids...your responsibilities...facebook...with the things that make you feel important? If he can’t, then we have the WRONG Jesus! Maybe that’s the problem, though. Maybe our kids see the baby in the manger and run to Santa because he’s more exciting. Maybe I do that too. After all, I can stare at the computer for an hour and claim to be too busy to spend time with the ONE who ransomed me from death.
I think that if we saw Jesus as HE REALLY IS, then we wouldn’t be so worried about everything else. This man, who came full of glory and grace, is not a feeble baby. Yes, he came as one, but that is not the Jesus I am celebrating this Christmas. Funny how he never asks us to remember him that way. Remember his death, yes. Remember his resurrection, with every breath. Maybe we like the baby in the manger. After all, a baby can be contained. A baby can be held. A baby can be controlled. I don’t want a Jesus who can be contained. I want the Jesus who went to hell and back for me. I am celebrating the Jesus who lives and breathes within me. I am celebrating the conquering hero who set me free from my fears, my insecurities, and my brokenness. I am celebrating the Jesus who rescued me from the kingdom of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of light.
What if we took all the fervor that magically appears in the month of December and actually applied it to our every-day lives? What if we stopped anticipating his coming that starry night, and began basking in his closeness right here and now? He is already here! What if we stopped living in preparation for his birth and started living with the giddy joy of a bride for the day he comes back for us!
However you celebrate Christmas is up to you. That’s the beauty of grace. There is no right way to worship. If your traditions bring you closer to the REAL Jesus, then do them with wild abandon. But, if your traditions make you feel more spiritual than someone else or entice you to believe that they will somehow make you more holy, then watch out! The thief comes to steal and destroy, especially by giving you religion instead of Jesus.
If we meet with the living, breathing, death-defying JESUS this Christmas, December 26th will be just as magical as December 25th. Do you remember the shepherds? Our nativity scenes show them looking fondly on the sweet baby Jesus. Maybe someone should make a nativity where the shepherds are running through the town SHOUTING THE GOOD NEWS!! That’s what happens when we encounter Jesus as he truly is. Life will never be the same.
2 comments:
Love it. Love you.
well said. :)
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