Decorations and lights, trees with ornaments, gifts and presents, celebrations and dinners with family and friends, with more smiles and less ugliness. All this describes Christmas for many of us. But what follows? The trees, decorations, and lights all will come down. The gifts and presents all get (eventually) put away or given away or broken. The friends and family come and go. The smiles and ugliness will continue to fluctuate in the bipolar ups and downs of our lives. Life just goes on. For most of my life this is what Christmas was for me. An annual tradition.
For me, this tradition included a church service to talk about the birth of a baby that occurred 2,000 years ago; the baby was supposed to be a “savior”. His name was Jesus. You have probably heard of him. But to me, all this talk of the birth of Jesus was really not real. It was just abstract. Can you relate? “Jesus was just a good teacher. Jesus didn’t really rise back to life after he was put to death on a cross. Who needed a savior; my life is pretty good. Was he even really real or just a myth?” This was me. This was my abstract view of Christmas.
But something changed. I began to read. Books. A lot. In my spare time. For leisure. Not for school or for a test. I was never a “reader” before (hence the somewhat dramatic description of what happened at that time), but now I was reading a new book every few weeks. Books about theology, life’s meaning and purpose. And then, the Bible. What?! I didn’t know or understand it then, but I now see it was my “The Hound of Heaven” moment of God coming to me to find Him. To make Him real to me. To save me.
I don’t know where you are in your life, but you may or may not be as lost as I once was. Everyone around me will attest that I’m not perfect. But I am saved. Not because I read the Bible, go to church, or am generally (but not nearly often enough!) a kind person. I am saved because I realize I need a savior. I am saved because I now know Jesus was not just a good teacher. I realize history confirms his life, death, and resurrection. And all of life, the good and beautiful, and even the bad and ugly, rest on the reality of Christmas.
All of us and our world are destined for death. The last 200 years of “enlightenment” has clearly demonstrated we as humankind can not fix the problems. We need a savior.
The story of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus. Christmas. Is. Real.
The invitation is open to all. “Jesus said to them ,’Come and see’” (John 1:39).
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”, John 3:17 (NIV).
