Is it just me, or does it seem that everybody is really looking forward to celebrating Christmas? As I’m writing this, it’s only the Monday before Thanksgiving, and I’ve been hearing Christmas music and advertisements and seeing Christmas decorations and sales for a couple of weeks, since before Halloween. Unfortunately, a lot of that early Christmas hype seems to be driven by an extra emphasis on holiday business.
Over the next few weeks, a lot of Christians – especially preachers – will get a lot of mileage out of that observation, commenting on the condition of “the world” and how it has lost the real meaning of Christmas. Many will be saddened by it, and others will even get angry. How can the world not know? Perhaps it’s because we have our own Christmas business to focus on. We’ve made the truth plain as day, showing everybody our “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”™ hats, sweatshirts, mugs, plaques, ornaments, and hand towels. We’ve been vigilant, even belligerent to make sure everyone knows that “It’s Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays!”
Instead of focusing on how “they” don’t get it, perhaps we ought to focus on giving them what we’ve got. With all the emphasis the world seems to give Christmas, one thing becomes clear: people are looking for something in Christmas. People are hoping to find something valuable or useful in this celebration, whether they understand it clearly or not.
Hope is a good place to start. There’s a part of me that wonders whether this year’s early preparations for Christmas aren’t as much about getting back to normal as getting out of normal. For all the malaise that seemed to develop through the pandemic, it seems that there’s more today. People seem to need hope more than ever.
While that may be true, we must also recognize that this has been the condition of the world since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. Condemning the serpent for his role in the fall of mankind, God pronounced this curse, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). From that moment on, the world sinned, suffered the consequences of sin, but also hoped for their deliverance from sin.
We find that longing for deliverance, the hope of mankind, in the Christmas song “O Holy Night.” In the first verse, these lines describe that hope:
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,/ Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth./ A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,/ For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. (Adapted from French by John S. Dwight in 1855)
Sin and its consequences have plagued the world since the beginning, but when Jesus was born, there was a recognition of God’s love for us sinful people. In our celebration of Christ’s birth, we often, if not always, remember the angels’ praises, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). With the coming of Christ, God revealed that peace is possible! While this world has suffered and continues to suffer “in sin and error pining,” God revealed how much we are worth to him, giving this weary world a reason to rejoice.
So it makes sense that even though many don’t know why we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus set into motion a celebration of hope for all people. However, his coming prompts a response, not just hope, which the song tells us in its choruses: “Fall on your knees!”; “Behold your King, before him lowly bend!” Why? Because “Christ is the Lord, Oh, praise his name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!” We celebrate the coming of Christ because he restores hope among sinful people, because he has the power to save and he offers that salvation by God’s restoring love. Let’s share that hope and love with the people around us, both in the church and in the world.