Why don't we just cancel Christmas?

On November 20, NY Daily news reported that 45% of Americans wanted to “cancel Christmas”….

 

 

What if Christmas were cancelled?

No Christmas Songs or Carols

Silent Night, Joy to the World, O Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Hark the Herald Angels Sing - never inspired, never written, never sung. With no Christmas, the choirs are silenced, the carolers hushed, they are no more. More than that, they never were.

 

No Christmas Trees or Lights

Christmas Tree symbols like evergreen (eternal life in Jesus Christ), lights or candles (Jesus is the light of the world), boughs of holly with red berries and green leaves (Christ's shed blood at the cross and eternal life) and even the candy cane (the shepherd's crook speaks of Jesus as our Good Shepherd) all have a symbolism directly representing the Christian faith. The Christmas Tree actually originated in Christian Germany. It came from two Christian symbols found in homes at Christmastime. The first was a "paradise tree", an evergreen that was hung with apples which represented the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. The second symbol was a "Christmas pyramid." This was a triangular shelf holding Christmas figurines and decorated with a star. By about the 16th century these two symbols had been combined into the Christmas Tree.

 As a believer in Jesus Christ, if we decided to cancel "Christmas" or pretend it never happened we have some very serious consequences we would have to deal with:

1.       No Gift of Salvation

a.       ^16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16) God gave us a gift, He gave it without expecting anything in return.  A gift we cannot earn, cannot buy, and cannot repay.  He gave it to us for one reason:  Simply because He loves you and I.

b.      ^8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ^9 not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8,9) The merciful kindness of God is where He could see that you and I had a problem, and He wanted to fix it.  The gift is given to us because we can't do it on our own, and If we could all we would do is brag about it.

2.       No Immanuel

a.       ^14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Is. 7:14) “God with us” or “with us is God”.  That's Immanel.  Every other religion is us trying to get to a god.  God wanted to be with us.

b.      ^5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ^6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ^7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ^8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:5-8)

c.       ^12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ^13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ^14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ^15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. (1 Cor. 15:12-15)

3.       No Forgiveness of Sins (Matthew 1:21, 1 John 1:9)

a.       ^21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,  because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21)  Jesus whole purpose of the reason He came was revealed to Mary:  to save his people from their sins.

b.      ^8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ^9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ^10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:8-10) Here is our issue, we don't want to admit we need help.  We are stubborn.  We think we can do this on our own.  Let's face it, life is hard.  I need help, and you need help.  We need someone to eradicate us.

 

 

 

But Christmas Did happen, therefore It can’t be cancelled, Luke 2 cannot be denied, changed or ignored.  The majority of the 45% all said it was financial reasons they wanted to cancel Christmas.  More people go in debt November– end of December than any other time, so are we missing the point of Christmas? 

What is the point? 
What is the purpose?

Here is the point:  Three simple and yet profound words we use at Christmas that make the point.

a.       Hope - Defined: To cherish a desire with great anticipation (Websters).  Because Christmas DID happen you and I can have hope.  Hope that is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  Because of Him you and I can have desire and great anticipation.   “by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Ti 1:1)”

b.      Peace - Defined:  a state of tranquility or quiet: as, “calmness” (Websters).  Peace can only come through knowing that the creator of everything has us in the palm of His hands.  Therefore you and I can remain calm in the midst of trouble.   “79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace. (Lk 1:79)”

c.       Joy - Defined:  a source or cause of delight (Websters).  Happiness is based upon circumstances, aka if your teams with your happy if they don't your not.  Joy is not based upon circumstances.  Joy is what gives us stability.  Joy is what makes us keep going in the midst of bad circumstances.  Our Joy is found in the Person of Christ, He completes us.   “^4 We write this to make our joy complete. (1Jn. 1:4)

 

The next time you and I get frustrated about this time of year and throw our hands up and proclaim "let's just cancel Christmas", remember why it ever began.

 

Love to you all, and Merry Christmas.

 

Chris.

Loneliness

Loneliness 

Isolation

Helplessness 

The life of a leper.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. (Mark 1:40-42 NIV)

Leprocy  was a death sentence, your body would rot and u will die.  At the very outset of a slight inclination of someone having leprosy they where immediately kicked out of their own home, abandoned by their loved ones, and having to depend on themselves.  Leprocy is a disease that still to this day there is no exact known reason as to how it is contracted (Wikipedia). 

So a leper has to lead this life of loneliness, isolation, and helplessness due to no fault of their own.

If the leper comes into the town for any reason they are to yell "unclean unclean", so people will run in the opposite direction.  Why? Because they don't want to be seen, associate, or contract.  Can you imagine how a leper feels if he has to go into his hometown and he sees the ones he loves, but instead of coming to his aid, finding out how he feels, or even acknowledge him they turn away and act as if they never knew him.  

Have you ever felt like the leper.  Lonely.  Isolated.  Helpless.  Scared.  Hopeless.

For this one leper the story doesn't end with those feelings.  He comes to Jesus.  Wait, he straight up walked to Jesus.  He fell at the feet of Jesus, and he asked to be healed.  We must pause to see Jesus reaction, he was indignant (better translated as full of compassion).  It's interesting to note here that it was not the ones closest to him that met the leper in his greatest time of need, it was Jesus.

When everyone else turned their back on him, Jesus faced him.  When everyone else would run the opposite direction, Jesus stayed.  When no one would listen to him, Jesus did. When he felt his loneliest, Jesus was there. In the hour of his greatest need, Jesus was there.  When no one one would associate with him, Jesus became his friend.  When he asked to be healed Jesus did.  When the leper needed someone to believe in him, Jesus did.

And when the rest had given up on him, Jesus didn't.

Sometimes we feel like a leper: lonely, isolated, helpless, scared, and hopeless.  

We must remember 

When everyone turns their backs on you, Jesus faces you

When they run Away, Jesus stays

When no one will listen, Jesus does

When you feel your loneliest, Jesus is there

When you are at the hour of greatest need, Jesus is there

When no one will associate with you, Jesus is your friend

When you need to be healed, Jesus will

When you need someone to believe in you, Jesus does

When everyone gives up on you, Jesus doesn't 

victory

Sunday I celebrated my spiritual birthday.  What is that you may ask?  on Sunday November 30, 1997, my life was forever changed.  On that day I asked Jesus to come into my life, I made Him my savior.

Some days, Some times, I lose site of that victory.  Some days, sometimes, things catch you or me off guard.  Some days some times things spin out of control.  It's these times, those days that we must remind ourselves, I have victory.  Some days are dark, dreary, and concerning.  Other days are beautiful, sunny, and encouraging.  Whether the days are dark, or the days are sunny the fact remains:  I have victory.

Not because of who we are, not because of some great and wonderful thing that we have done, but because His (God's) love goes far beyond what you and I could ever imagine.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)

I don't deserve the life I have right now, I don't deserve my family, I don't deserve my career, I don't deserve my friends, the fact of the matter is:  you don't either.  It is the gift of God.  That's powerful if you think about it.  Everything that we have, every person we know, and every breath we take is a gift from God.

It never ceases to amaze me when I read the Story of Jesus about what He was willing to do for me.  I wished every day I kept my eye on that but I don't.  Try as I may to keep that in the forefront of my pursuit of this life He gave me, we can all get distracted (squirrel)...

Sometimes we ask "Why me?", The response I usually get is, "why not".  Why shouldn't I have to deal with adversity, Jesus Did.  The gift, it came with a hefty price.  Jesus' life.  He knew the cost too, In Luke scripture tells that Jesus was so overcome with stress, grief, and anxiety that "He sweat drops of blood" (Luke 22:44).  I've been under unbelievable stress before, but never like that.  The gift.  He did that for me.

He suffered, died, and resurrected so I can LIVE.  That is what makes me victorious.  I may not always feel victorious, and you may not either.  The victory is not based upon you or me.  The victory is the gift of eternal life.

God, thank you for the victory...