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.
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.
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.
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