Christmas is a very secularized holiday. Personally, I don't mind the majority of the secularized holiday. I love eating great food and giving/receiving presents (I won't try to hide my selfish love of getting lots of presents to unwrap!). Even Santa has it's/his benefits. He stands as a symbol to the world of the generous, selfless nature of giving. He reminds us of--allow me to be cheesy for a moment--the spirit of Christmas. (For all you cynics out there, if you can't see the beautiful spirit of Christmas, read "A Christmas Carol" and put yourself in Scrooge's place. Then tell me there is no spirit.)
With all this secularization, Christmas has become a lesser holiday in the Church. Some people say that we shouldn't celebrate it and others say that it should only be acknowledged on December 25. My question to this thought is this: Why? Why does Christmas get so tainted by the world that we Christians are willing to diminish the incarnation of our Saviour?
This all hit me yesterday when my 94-year-old grandma prayed over our dinner. She thanked Jesus for sacrificing for us when He came to earth. How often do we think of the Christian Christmas this way? Paul says:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.
~ Philippians 2:5-8Jesus chose to give up His right to be sitting at the right hand of God the Father and came down to earth as a baby. He put Himself in a position where He could do nothing for Himself. The Creator of the universe is now at the mercy of His creation. Bathing and feeding, activities in which He never previously had need to participate, now become habitual and governed by the will of His parents. He now submits Himself to the limitations the fall has put on our bodies.
Without the incarnation, there would have been no child-Jesus teaching the Pharisees, no miraculous life of Christ, no temptation in the desert, no kangaroo-court trial, no crucifixion, no resurrection. No salvation. His sacrifice didn't come so late as the death of Christ, it came the moment He was born. The moment He entered this world, emptying Himself, and becoming the least of the people. To minimize the importance of His birth is to minimize the humility of Jesus throughout His entire life. Every moment of His life is characterized by servant-hood. From moment number one.
We should be celebrating Christmas all year round, just like we do Easter. We need to remember how amazing His birth is all year round. God considered it significant, so what right do we have to minimize it. I'm not saying we should sing Christmas carols all year or study the Christmas story constantly (although, there should probably be more study on this subject), but I am saying that we should talk about it a little more and consider it with more reverence. It is, after all, a Holy day we are remembering and we should treat it as such.
The gifts, feast, and traditions of secular Christmas are so much more wonderful when we remember Christmas with this reverence. The freedom we have with Christ allows us to experience joy like never before. We can give presents, eat tons of food, and participate in traditions with joy because our Saviour became human for us. This celebration of life would be so empty if Jesus never came to earth.
Why not participate in this tradition? Why not enjoy every moment of it? After all, life after death is going to characterized by the purest celebration of life possible. Why can't we start now?
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