Spirit of Christmas

As this past Christmas was approaching, I found myself overwhelmed with the feeling that I might miss out on the true “spirit of Christmas”. It’s an odd feeling for someone who knows full well the real Christmas story and the significance of the coming of Christ. At first I couldn’t figure out what the thought really meant. It did strike me at one point, though, that there can be a tension between the more joyful aspects of the holiday (at least in the way that we tend to celebrate them) and the true gravity of why Christ came (O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel). And the “spirit” I didn’t want to miss was seeing the entire picture – that what made the celebration so joyful was because of the need for a Savior. This may seem a bit profound to some, but I’ll admit that it is easy to go through the motions (even the “religious” motions) without giving much thought to the depravity of the world - of my own soul – that requires salvation.

Just yesterday I was reading on a blog by C.J. Mahaney something that really does this better justice than I have. (http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/Disturbing-Christmas-2009.aspx)

Mahaney quotes a 1992 World Magazine article on being “disturbed” by Christmas. Here are some excerpts:

Many people who otherwise ignore God and the church have some religious feeling, or feel they ought to, at this time of the year. So they make their way to a church service or Christmas program. And when they go, they come away feeling vaguely warmed or at least better for having gone, but not disturbed.

Most of us also have not come to terms with the baby in the manger. We sing, “Glory to the newborn King.” But do we truly recognize that the baby lying in the manger is appointed by God to be the King, to be either the Savior or Judge of all people? He is a most threatening person.

What should be just as disturbing is the awful work Christ had to do to accomplish the salvation of his people. Yet his very name, Jesus, testifies to us of that work.

That baby was born so that “he who had no sin” would become “sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The baby’s destiny from the moment of his conception was hell—hell in the place of sinners. When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins.

That’s the message of Christmas: God reconciled the world to himself through Christ, man’s sin has alienated him from God, and man’s reconciliation with God is possible only through faith in Christ…Christmas is disturbing.

Only those who have been profoundly disturbed to the point of deep repentance are able to receive the tidings of comfort, peace, and joy that Christmas proclaims.

After reading this, I realized what I was really feeling was a little disturbed – and rather than being concerned about that I could embrace it as part of the true spirit of Christmas.

Randy