As I sit here thinking about all the preparations made for one day each year, I’m overwhelmed at how we spend so much time coordinating with family members to meet for good times together and the annual gift exchange. Families from different areas drive through horrible traffic and finally arrive at the designated home. The fragrance of a real Christmas tree fills the house along with dozens of amazing dishes and desserts. The children run through the house and gradually get louder and louder as the time gets closer to opening gifts. Their excitement grows with each passing minute…but they’ll have to wait until the kitchen and dishes are all cleaned! Someone once said that patience is a virtue. As a child waiting for “present time”, I thought patience was just painful!
Gifts are given out and opened on Christmas eve. Many surprises are found and the fun begins. Plastic trash bags fill with torn wrapping paper and bows. Oh wait, don’t forget about saving the bows and boxes for next year’s exchange. You’ll save some real money! Here’s what will happen. Next year rolls around and you decide to use new wrapping paper and new bows because either you cannot find the old used ones or you like the new patterns.
Then comes the news that everyone has waited 364 days to hear. “Hey kids, if you aren’t asleep when Santa comes, he’ll just go by to the next house.” Parents love it because it is the one night a year their kids actually want to get in the bed and try to sleep. A child waiting for Santa is quick to go to bed, but very slow to sleep. Every parent knows what that means. It means a worn out and sleepy Christmas morning. Most parents can read between those lines. Some go to great lengths to allow their children to hear the pause of reindeer on the housetop. There it is….housetop. I bet you wondered when I was going to get there. That’s right. Up on the housetop reindeer pause. So goes the main story of Christmas for so many children across the world. They anticipate for the one who brings them gifts as they sleep.
Morning comes early and the kids wake before the sun. They rush to the tree and find the magic of Christmas happened as they slept. The kids are so excited and parents everywhere check off another successful Christmas on the calendar. But did they really experience a Christmas? Is Christmas about gift? Is Christmas about the receiver? Is Christmas about the giver? What really matters, and how did we get here?
Saint Nicholas was actually born in Turkey in 280 AD and became an orphan when he was 9 years old. In fact, he was eventually jailed twice for attempting to share Jesus with others. Tradition tells us that he was selfless, poor, and experienced great suffering in his life. It is told that Saint Nicholas would sneak into the windows of some of his poor friends while they were sleeping and leave gold coins so that their daughters could afford to get married. Saint Nicholas ultimately left a legacy of a simple life of generosity. Nothing up on the housetop. Nothing down the chimney. No Christmas trees. This true story of great generosity eventually developed into the legend of one who comes at night to give children gifts as they sleep.
The older I get, the more I realize that Christmas is so much more than what we, as humanity, make it to be. Christmas should be what God intended it to be. I’m not discounting the importance of celebrating time with families, exchanging gifts, and Christmas morning surprises. But, I am saying that when we focus on giving gifts to each other, we have traveled so far from God’s intention for this kind of day. Christmas is a day that we should ponder Jesus’ birth and what it means to mankind. It is a celebration of His birthday. How do you celebrate His day?
Luke says it best in Luke 2:8-20:
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Check out verses 10-11. When Jesus came as an infant, He came for all. Then the angel said, “For unto YOU.” The shepherds suddenly understood several things about Jesus.
Jesus was sent for all
While salvation is exclusive in that Jesus is the only way to God, the angel said this news was for “ALL people.” All people who receive the free gift of salvation will one day experience eternal life in the very presence of God. Isn’t that amazing news?
Jesus was sent for them
Jesus was a personal Savior. The shepherds were no longer outcasts in the temple. They were special and God loved them so much that Jesus was sent for them. Isn’t it interesting how Jesus can make an outcast a saint? That’s what Jesus’ love for us does. He loved us so much that He bore our sins on the cross so that we would not experience God’s wrath for our disobedience.
Jesus was Christ the Lord
I don’t want to get too technical, but finally, the angel said that Jesus was Christ the Lord. Jesus was, is, and always will be God. We should recognize Jesus as our Lord. He is not just someone who provides salvation, but someone who is our Lord. This means we should submit to Him daily. This means we should place Him first in our lives. This means we should not relegate Him to a manger scene two months a year. Jesus’ birth was truly about God breaking through the heavens and coming to earth to live a sinless life and die for us. How will you celebrate His day?
Christmas is not an amazing time of the year because of reindeer paw prints in the front yard, the pause of reindeer up on the housetop, different colored twinkling lights, and gifts. Christmas is an amazing time of the year because of what it means to humanity. We are left with this piercing question. How will you celebrate His day?
Maybe we should celebrate His day as the shepherds did. They returned to the fields and worshiped God. If we use that standard, how do we measure up? The question might be painful, and the answer may be even more painful. However, do not let this year go by without worshiping God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. The best way we can do that daily is to tell others about His love for us. How will you celebrate His day?
So, where does the mountaintop come? Right here. I want to challenge you to go and tell others about Jesus. Use this season to begin the conversation with others about the real meaning of the day. It’s a day of celebration for a Savior who is Christ the Lord. He is our Lord. Is He your Lord?
Go, Tell It On the Mountain , by John Wesley Work, Jr., 1907
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born.
While shepherds kept their watching over silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.
The shepherds feared and trembled, when lo! Above the earth,
Rang out the angels chorus that hailed the Savior’s birth.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.