Christmas can be complicated. For centuries we have recognized it as the remembrance of the Savior’s birth. Why is it complicated? How is it possible in those days before In Vitro fertilization could a virgin have a baby? Why would a man engaged to a woman continue to keep her when it is not his child in her? What kind of fanciful imaginations believe in voices and visions as excuses for her apparent immorality? Why would a man travel for a week over rough roads with a nine month pregnant spouse? Who would have a baby in a animal stable
and be able to understand why strangers would bow before him? Why would rich men travel thousands of miles to give great treasures to an unknown little child? Why would one insane man demand that all babies be slain just to protect his family power? And how does that brightly lit evergreen tree with all the gifts underneath it have anything to do with all that mess?
But ask any child about Christmas and you will find that Christmas is simple. They will tell you that Santa Claus will only travel thousands of miles in just a few hundred minutes to bring millions of homes joy and glee for a few minutes on one day of the year. So simple it happens only one day a year.
The simple joy of Christmas is anticipation. The simplicity of Christmas for many can be complicated because adults lie to their children for as long as they can get them to believe the lie and then the children lie to their parents about believing the lie as long as they can so the pretense of the lie can be preserved and the gifts keep on coming. It’s not so simple when we exchange gifts in obligation and expectation and then complain about the failure of someone else to read our minds and satisfy our greed.
For the unbeliever, the story of Jesus as the gift from heaven to cleanse the sin of man is a ridiculous myth. To the unbeliever both accounts are lies. Because there is no Santa Claus, there is no Jesus. There is only the internal drive to be their own God and practice the traditions of men instead of the commandments of a God they do not accept. It is good for the economy and a season for shopping and cooking and eating and seeing relatives not seen since last Christmas. For many Christians the story of Saint Nicholas is a convenient excuse to participate in the greedy traditions of lust and desire. It is a time to argue whether an unbelieving ungodly antagonistic world should be forced to say Merry Christmas so our piety can be soothed.
Christmas should be a time for true believers to focus on the Love that God exampled. It is a time for kindness and sharing and doing whatever might possibly be useful to help unbelievers believe. We call it Christmas and say that Christmas without Christ is just a mess. Christmas is all of this and yet none of this.
Let’s go back to simple. Nicholas was a priest in the third century after the resurrection of Jesus. His reputation was that he shared gifts with the poor and performed miracles. He is the assumed basis for our modern day Santa Claus. Good people giving good gifts to people in need just for the purpose of doing good; that’s simple.
The Bible declares that Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem of Judea, two thousand years ago to a virgin named Mary. He came as a gift from God to live as a man and die for the sins of all men. God’s Christmas gift to us; simple. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.“
Thirty three years later He hung on the cross of Calvary and cried out “It is finished”. He was wrapped in burial clothes and placed in a borrowed tomb. Three days later He rose from the grave to live forever more. We as believers celebrate His birth and give thanks to God the Father. That is what we believe Christmas to be.
Each year we recommit ourselves to His service and to telling unbelievers about His free gift.
Since it is His birthday celebration we give gifts to Him. We also give gifts to each other to celebrate His remembrance. To some we give candy, or tools or toys or whatever else we think might please and excite them. To Jesus, we give the one thing He desires. We give ourselves. We give our time, our talent, our finances, our desires and our very purpose for living. In reality, we are only agreeing with Him and giving Him what is already His.
It is Christmas. It is His birthday remembrance. He should get the best gifts. If you are not a true believer, He offers you one more gift. “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” He says you are a sinner because you have broken His law. He says you deserve to pay the penalty for your sins. He offers you the free gift of salvation from that payment if you will accept His free gift, He will make you His child and give you eternal life. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It is Christmas. It is simple. Ask Jesus to forgive you and give you his free gift of Salvation.
He would like that and you will too.