Christmas And All Its Wrappings

“Gods Greatest Gift to the World” – R. Nelson 

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6;

ENCOURAGING WORD:

We are once again entering the time of year when people are planning for Christmas parties, social gatherings, parades, and other events to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When I was a young child, Christmas time was a time when I truly felt good will was in the air. Eddie Arnold sang a song that is special to me, one of my all-time favorites, “Christmas Can’t be far Away.” The song truly sums up the way Christmas used to be.

“A neighbor tipped his hat to me this morning, the landlord even smiled and said good day, and I want you to know a stranger said hello, ‘Christmas can’t be far away’ Old tight-wad down the street is buying candy, To pass out to the neighbor kids at play, The town is on the go the weather man said snow. ‘Christmas can’t be far away’ The small fry on our block have all been saving, And now they’re hiding things and looking sly, Mom will get that do-dat she’s been craving, And dad will get his usual Christmas tie, Both young and old are planning sweet surprises, They’ll soon be tied with ribbons bright and gay, Good will is in the air you feel it everywhere, ‘Christmas can’t be far away.’

I want to share these lyrics with you because, to me they hold a lot of meaning! It used to be the simple things in life were what mattered, but now, I feel a dark cloud has come over what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. When we were growing up in the 50’s through the 70’s the following verse was very meaningful to all Christians. We heard it at every Christmas program that we went to. Luke 2:8-14. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” For those of you that have watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” you’ve heard Linus tell the Peanuts Gang that “this is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.” I’ve been watching a Charlie Brown Christmas for about 55 years and I still love it when Linus takes the stage and brings the meaning of Christmas to all of us.

But, like I said, Christmas has now taken on a whole new meaning. Over the last ten to twenty years I have noticed the falling away from the true meaning of Christmas, and honestly, it pains me to see our country falling away from our Biblical roots! Jesus Christ is the only reason for the season and it’s because of our Biblical faith that has kept America the greatest nation in the world. But we have truly turned away from our true Biblical routes. People have taken the concept of gift giving to an unprecedented level that far exceeds anything that we could have ever imagined. People are running back and forth in the malls in search of that special gift for someone that in some cases may not even appreciate it. They are spending money they don’t have to buy gifts that will be soon forgotten, and the bills that you rack up, will sometimes take a whole year to pay off. I am not saying that buying gifts for people that you love is wrong, but the reason for those gifts is not being tied in with what Christmas is all about.

When we read about the gifts of the three wise men from the East, most people don’t have a clue what those three gifts represented. “The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death. This dates to its original origin, “gold, as to a king; myrrh, as to one who was mortal; and incense, as to a God.”

What really grieves me is the lack of biblical knowledge that surrounds this time of year. I talked with an atheist a few years back and just out of curiosity, I asked him, “Why do you celebrate Christmas if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ?” I have to say, the answer made me sick! He said, “Because I’m just celebrating giving presents and getting together with friends.” But what is even more disheartening to me is that most of the people that call themselves Christians have fallen into the same category. It’s all about the parties and the presents. Let me ask you a question, “If you knew about a group of people that were going to get together to celebrate your birthday, but as it would turn out, you were not even invited, how would you feel? That is exactly what is happening every time we gather for Christmas and don’t invite Jesus Christ to the celebration. I can tell you with certainty, with the Bible as my authority, Jesus Christ grieves as well, only on a much higher scale. Millions of people all over the world are celebrating our Saviors birth and yet very few, if any invite Jesus Christ into their homes. I have been to quite a few Christmas parties over the past 40 years and I can say without hesitation, I have never heard anybody mention the name of Jesus Christ once. Even though this is very appalling to me, it is no surprise at all. We read in  1 Timothy 4:1, where the Apostle Paul tells us, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” We, as a nation, have fallen away from the true doctrine of the scriptures. But with that being said, there is a very comforting scripture that we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14; “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Even though this was spoken to the Hebrews of that day, it also refers to us as a nation. If God is in charge, and He is and always will be, there is always hope. We need to bring Jesus Christ back into our homes not just on Christmas, but in every day of our lives.

There is another reason that I heard for people not celebrating Christmas. People are arguing about the day that Christ was born. It is causing a division in the Christian body, which, in my opinion is ridiculous. We, as Christians quite often find something to grumble about and our target is usually each other. Let me give you my opinion of the day that we celebrate Christmas, December 25^th. I am one of many that believe that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25^th. You can come to that conclusion by just understanding the scriptures. It is more likely that Jesus was born sometime in late September or early October. But this is just my opinion, not fact! But to me that is not important, the day should not be an issue, we are to celebrate the birth of Christ, whether it be in September or December. Why, and who decided it should be December 25^th, I don’t know, but if you feel that celebrating on December 25^th bothers you, then celebrate it on a day that you feel more comfortable. It is not the day that we celebrate, it’s what we are celebrating, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In all honesty we should be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ every day. But if you are one of those that call people a heathen because they put up a Christmas tree or some other decorations around the house to spruce up the season, stop it! Even though there are a lot of pagan routes associated with Christmas, most people are not aware of what they are, so when they go with the Christmas traditions that they have been brought up with, it’s just something that they feel brings them closer to the emotions of the Christmas season! They are not intentionally honoring the pagan routes. If Jesus Christ is not the reason for the season in our hearts, then it really does not matter what else you do. At that point, then it becomes pagan rituals. God knows what is going on in the hearts of man, He knows why we do the things we do, and He alone will judge us for the decisions that we make.

We read in Matthew 1:21-23; “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” This little child that was born in a manger was God in the flesh! He came to this world for one reason and that was to redeem mankind back to God. It was the only way for man to be saved. Let me ask you this, do you think He really cares what day you celebrate His birthday on? He requires fellowship throughout the entire year, not just one day out of 365.

ACTION POINT:

With all this being said, please take the time this year to focus on what Christmas is truly all about. Jesus Christ was born in a manger and came to this world to save you from your sins. It cost Him dearly, the pain and suffering that he had to endure was the pain and suffering that He saved us from. If you have a hard time sharing the good news, then take it into your prayer closet and spend some time alone with Jesus. Let’s all focus on bringing a huge smile to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ this Christmas season. Invite Him to every gathering that you are a part of, He will be happy to make His presence known. Here is a very heartwarming verse from the book of 1 Peter 3:8; “Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, [be] pitiful,

courteous” Let’s take this verse to a whole new level, lets show the world what true Christianity is all about. Jesus loves you, all He wants in return is for us to love Him back. Is that asking too much…if it is asking too much, then you need to re-evaluate your heart because Jesus is returning one day, and it could be soon? So, my heartfelt wish this year is that we all remember the real reason for the season which is the birth of Jesus Christ and have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! “To the glory of God.” Amen!

Commentary from our Chaplin – R. Fritz

We spend too much time debating what people should be doing. It has to be in their heart. The Holy Spirit is what gives people their values, conscience, and the wisdom to do what is right. Without that, people will do what they have always done. We should remember Jesus Christ every day, not just a couple times a year. We should have respect for Jesus Christ and his love for us. The truth is Jesus came to set us free. Jesus is the reason for the season. I see people trying to be extra nice during this time of the year. The truth is, we should be extra nice every day of the year, not just during the Christmas season. We should be giving time, love, and money to people year around and not during the holiday season. We have fallen into the marketing and business culture of trying to make money off the season rather than truly helping others. We need to look at our sanity and the anxiety that happens because everybody is in a rush to get that perfect gift for someone special.

With Christmas and the Holidays, there is also a spike in depression, anxiety and other illnesses that can sometimes lead to suicide. Holidays are a depressing time for many and as a result suicide tends to show up more during this time year in comparison to other times of the year. It speaks to people about the belief that life isn’t always fair. They start to believe that they are alone, and they start believing their thoughts, thoughts that the devil uses to give them an opinion about their situation, like how bad life is. Satan gets them believing that there is no “Hope.” Anxiety comes because we try to do something, we have no control over, but we think we do. We need to put it in Jesus hands, whether it is money we don’t have or if we are trying to find that perfect that will most likely be taken back for something else. This is where the Christmas spirit shows up.

I believe that the devil uses that mind set and our inner feelings for that reason, to give people a false sense of how much they are loved. We should show true love year around, not just at Christmas time. Why should we be judged by how much we love somebody just by what we give them? What does the Bible say about Love,” Love is Patient, Love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs”  I pray everybody would remember this verse. Does this verse match our version of Love and the Christmas holiday season?

Jesus was sent here for an example for us to live by. Love is what the New Testament is all about, we need to remember Jesus Christ every day. Do not let the season change your attitude on Life. Treat people every day like you want to be treated. Focus on Jesus 365 days a year. That will change your life! The Bible talks about “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” What Christmas spirit do you have, Jesus’s “Love” or what the devil wants you to believe is “Love.” You make that choice. I learned for myself from that expectation of gifts. I choose Jesus “Love.”

In Closing – R. Nelson 

-My friends, Christmas time is a very special time of year for so many people, but for some, it is a very emotional time of year. We need to reach out to those that are alone, to those that have very little. We read in Proverbs 19:17; “He that hath pity upon the poor lends unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.”  We also read in James 2:14-17; “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Here is where we need to put our trust in God’s Word. The scriptures tell us that whatever we give in the name of God, will be given back. If you say you love Jesus Christ, then show the kind of love that Jesus shows. This is the time of year that we should go out of our way to help one another, regardless of what it costs us. Make it a point to do something special for someone in need. And then when you get a taste of how good it feels to help someone, then maybe you might consider helping others throughout the rest of the year! “Written To the glory of God.” Amen!