“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know …”
For some, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. For others, it’s mostly a painful time of year for racking up debt and working on your Santa body, white hair included. Perhaps that’s the hidden meaning of that familiar Christmas song. The “white Christmas” is really talking about all the white hairs that spawn from stressful days spent scouring endless stores for the perfect gift for everyone you’ve ever met.
Maybe this sounds a bit like the Grinch but I don’t often share in the magical feelings regarding Christmas. My love language is neither receiving gifts nor gift-giving. I’m not a fan of cold weather. And I generally dislike hearing endless variations of only about 8 songs for a whole month. So, other than some time off and good food, the season is not the most wonderful time of the year. That is except for one thing. Despite all the accumulated cultural trappings, we look to that time of the year because it celebrates the birth of Jesus.
Actually, although I’ve never really been a big Christmas fan, becoming a Christian did significantly change that perspective. In some ways, I think my conversion actually fueled my dissatisfaction with the Westernized, commodified, super holiday. I mean let’s be real. It is certainly is the hap-happiest time of the year for all those retail corporations, bursting annual profit margins in one month. They seriously make bank on this important “religious” holiday. And slowly but surely, Jesus has been getting squeezed out with Santa, his reindeer, and peppermint everything taking his place.
I really don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but what I do mean to say is, how in the world has such a uniquely humble event become the most outrageous holiday?
Despite my humbuggery attitude, I actually think the problem is that we have not made a big enough deal out of Christmas! I mean, the event that took place those 2000 years ago was so unimaginable that even to this day it is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for any sensible mind. The story says that the infinite creator God became human. Now, if that doesn’t sound absolutely ridiculous then you really have not tried to understand it or perhaps have been watching too many Marvel movies. The truth is, even the most astute minds on the planet cannot even begin to figure out how such a thing might happen. Subsequently, the outrageous-ness of that event has caused tremendous debate ever since.
In a relevant quote, G.K. Chesterton once said,
“Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction; for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.”[I]
In other words, while the human imagination is certainly capable of some wild ideas, they are ultimately restricted to the human realm and experience. So, paradoxical things like the Trinity (3 persons – 1 being) are basically beyond our reasonability to imagine. And so too then, the Son of God becoming human (both as fully man and fully God) is not even imaginable to us. We can imagine some hybrid thing, like a Minotaur from Greek mythology (half man and half bull), but the paradox of Christ is far more creative than our feeble minds could conjure.
The fact of the matter is, though, that Christ’s incarnation (becoming human) was an essential move on God’s part. Sadly, humanity had chosen to go their own way with Adam and Eve and in doing so has been perpetually caught in a sinful state. This state of sin though is not just bad morally or impractical for living your best life now (wink, wink), it is a state of being cut off from the knowledge of God. In God’s perfect and holy existence, mankind cannot coexist in a sinful state. But he is tragically unable to make himself holy. The ultimate catch-22. This is like a boy covered in motor oil trying to wipe himself clean with only his oily hands. He will only end up moving the oil around, not a bit cleaner than when he started. Such a predicament is where Jesus comes in. His breaking into the world and merging humanity with his divine nature made it possible once again for mankind to know God. But as it is probably apparent now, you can only know God if you know Jesus.
A theologian said this of him,
“Jesus Christ is of the same essence as the Father … John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ makes the Father known, that the Son exegetes, or interprets, the Father for us in the intimate and loving manner that previously only the eternal Son, in the eternal communion of the Spirit, has known him (John 1:18; 17:25-26). There being no true knowledge of God as Father independent of or remote from God the Son, Christ causes us to participate with him in his own relationship with the Father; thus Jesus insists that no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son graciously chooses to reveal the Father (Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22).”[ii]
So, although the work was not finished at his birth but required the sacrificial and substitutionary death of this Son, the birth was nonetheless an incredible and necessary first step. Simeon, the priest who dedicated Jesus according to the Law of Moses in the Temple, exclaimed upon seeing this child,
“My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:330-32).
Wow, what a joy it would have been to be at the Temple that day!
I don’t know where the modern expression “down-to-earth” came from but I can’t think of a more down-to-earth scenario. The creator-God and king-of-all chose to be humbled and be born as a little helpless human baby to a poor nobody family from a small rural town called Nazareth.
So, why is it that our Christmas holiday has become anything but down-to-earth? Well, the most obvious answer is that our culture has side-stepped the one who was the epitome of this phrase. The only way to really recapture that reality is to rethink the way we go about this holiday.
Here are a few ideas for bringing back the humble glory of Christmas.
Don’t get fat. Get free!
The point here isn’t to avoid eating or enjoying the great holiday delights that are so wonderful but rather to be careful that we are being filled more with the ultimate than with the temporary. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food – and God will destroy both” (1 Cor 6:13). Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34).
At this time of year, being self-indulgent is mighty easy and often excusable. But in light of the glorious truth of Christ’s humble incarnation, we should be filling our hearts and minds with him far more than our already bursting bellies. “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil 3:19-20).
2. Don’t give gifts. Give praise!
Again, the point here is not to be selfish or avoid generosity but quite the opposite. All too often gift giving in our culture becomes more quid pro quo or even socially obligatory than it is truly out of a loving heart. So, while we may be tempted to acquiesce to this flow of culture, we ought to rather turn our gaze from man-made gifts to God’s eternal gift. This gift was his grace and salvation through Jesus. A heart that has truly been saved and understands the gravity of their sin should be a heart full of praise. The Bible is full of great examples of when people burst into praise at the grace of God. In Revelation 4:8, the strange angelic creatures in heaven “day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And then it goes on to say in the next couple verses that whenever this happens the twenty-four elders in heaven fall down in worship saying, “Worthy are you our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
So, in light of this heavenly eternal procession of praise, we too should fix our gaze on the one who though was in the form of God did not hold on to that equality but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant instead (Phil 3:6-7).
3. Exploit the holiday for the Gospel!
There is almost no better, more accessible time for someone to share the message of the Gospel than at Christmas. It is one of the few universally shared experiences for those in America and the subject of much curiosity for those outside the US. The problem is of course that most only know the commercial and sentimental side of this holiday. But, people are far more likely to be open to talking about the Bible when the reason for the season is this weird mysterious story about an ancient Jewish baby. So, we should not exploit the holiday and all of its opportunities for interactions with family, friends, co-workers, and strangers to only get as much as we can for ourselves. Rather, we should reorient our thinking to view these as prime opportunities to exalt Jesus and marvel in the grace God has made available to sinful humanity through his life and death.
Listen to Paul’s final plea to Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 4:1-5).
Along with Paul and Timothy, our calling is to exploit every aspect of this world and life for the wonderful glory of God, forever captivated by his amazing grace.
4. Make memories around the greatest memory!
Finally, though the list could go on, we should be careful about our idea of memory-making and traditions. Around this time of year, I hear from lots of well-meaning and lovely people that they are looking forward to making memories with their family, or maybe friends. And though I don’t mean we should not have sentimental feelings about this time of year, we should be careful to make memories around the most important memory of all. This truth cannot be stressed enough. Our natural pull will be to form memories around temporary, good things like family and cookies while missing an incredible opportunity to form memories around the glory of God.
Perhaps setting aside some cherished traditions in order to focus on the amazing event that happened all those years ago would be a better option. Or maybe just incorporating some creative ways to foster meaningful reflection on Christ’s incarnation and the majesty of that truth in our lives now. This might look like reading through the gospels nightly or starting each morning with a hymn or song about the incarnation. Or instead of going around to look at lights inviting a neighbor over to share food and the gospel. I’ve even heard of families using their free time during the holidays to go on mission trips or serve in local ministries, the homeless, or single mothers. It’s hard to say what the memory situation should be but it would be far more honoring to our great God if we were to think less in terms of our temporary family and far more in terms of our eternal family.
You see, the Christmas story was not just about a cute little baby or some profound philosophical event but the beginning of a new world. The memory of Christmas is really a memory about the cross. And a memory about the cross is ultimately a memory about the resurrection. And a memory about the resurrection is truly a reminder to look forward, awaiting joyfully the return of our glorious and gracious King. The day when every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
The world needs Jesus. Thankfully, God sent him. Now the only thing standing between the world and Jesus is us. Just as Jesus was God’s only plan for redemption. So too, we are God’s only plan for spreading the message of that redemption. With that in mind, let’s have a merry Christmas. But, let’s make it a down-to-earth kind of Christmas.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:14-21).
[i] G. K. Chesterton and Michael W. Perry, Chesterton Day by Day: The Wit and Wisdom of G.K. Chesterton, 1st ed. (Seattle: Inkling Books, 2002), 99.
[ii] John C. Clark and Marcus Peter Johnson, The Incarnation of God: The Mystery of the Gospel as the Foundation of Evangelical Theology (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2015), 32.
