The unbelieving world doesn’t know what to do with Christmas. It’s too big to ignore, but the world doesn’t know what it’s for. Sort of like Stonehenge. They stare at Christmas in perplexity. “It must meansomething…”
And so, they try all sorts of things on for size: Maybe if we involve a magically generous old man in a red suit, that will make sense of things. No? Add reindeer. Still no? Well shoot. Okay, well, let’s try to borrow the trappings of a Christian age and see if that will help. It’s like setting the table with your grandparents’ chinaware and hoping that will make food appear. When all else fails, go for the sentimental; appeal to the feels. Just go for what makes you feel warm and snuggly. Fill the dishes with whipped cream. That’s what Christmas is for. It’s for warm and snuggly feelings. Ahhh. Glad we got that figured out.
But it’s not. And this is a warning to us as well. We can give way to a certain self-indulgence around holidays. We can try very hard to capture a particular feeling and become very uncharitable and impatient with anyone who impedes us in achieving those feelings.
This is a putting of carts before horses. We ought to feel a certain way, but as a result of bedrock truths. So as we gather round our tables, let there be peace, not a veneer of peace or an impression of peace, but true fellowship that flows from peace with God. Let there be joy, not coziness or frothy sweetness, but true gladness of heart that is the result of God’s joy in us, the joy that Christ looked to when He was on the cross. Let there be charity, not niceness, but the true fruit and outworking of the Holy Spirit.
In short, the truth that the unbelieving world is blind to is that Christmas means sins forgiven.
Joshua Edgren – December 24, 2023
