How to celebrate Christmas

Two more days until Christmas and the traffic bears witness. Some stores in our city are open 24/7 so shoppers can come in at their convenience. The flyers are fatter than the newspaper, as usual, but the weight of them would stop a charging bull. Statistically, this is a make-it or break-it time of year for retailers.

Many complain about the commercialization of Christmas, yet they are filling their shopping carts too. We like this time of year to gather with family, exercise generosity, and fill ourselves with turkey, special dishes, cakes, candy and cookies. Some will give to the poor that were forgotten the rest of the year. Even with a total lack of regard for the Christ child, Christmas has some good points, humanly speaking.

Today’s devotional ends with an affirmation about celebrating Christmas. He does not regard it as a religious holy day in the sense of being biblical, but a time to remember and celebrate that incredible event when the Son of God assumed human nature, so He could live a sinless and exemplary life and die as our Substitute to accomplish our eternal redemption. In other words, December 25 gives us nothing better than Immanuel, God with us. We will magnify our Lord, our Savior, our King for His birth!

This seems a sound opinion of Christmas, yet there are many other opinions, and many ways in which Christians celebrate the advent of Jesus Christ. Is there one that is correct? Hardly! It seems obvious that I cannot criticize anyone who puts up thousands of lights or the guy next door who doesn’t bother with a tree. The point is that we should respond to Jesus in great joy for this is part of the reason He came — to give us peace and joy.

The Bible describes the birth of Christ, but it also describes how we are prone to bicker over how we should do things, even whether we open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Focusing on such things shows how easy it is to miss the point.

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Romans 14:1–13)

If I translate this into the one area of celebrating the birth of Christ, I could say that some believe in doing the whole thing, but another might restrict their Christmas celebrations to watching Scrooge and Tiny Tim. Some might think Christmas Day is the best day of the year, while others consider it just another day. Some might prefer ham, while others insist that turkey is the only appropriate main course. All this misses the point; God looks at the heart and we give account to Him.

I can honor Christ any day of the year, eating peanut butter sandwiches, and loafing. I can honor Christ at a glamorous event, wearing a ball gown, eating gourmet food, and rubbing elbows with celebrities. God knows my heart. I can go also through the motions of ‘correct’ worship and be thinking more about my calendar or text messages than the God who became a man. Again, God knows my heart.

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Even so, Lord Jesus, this is a special time of year when the Spirit seems particularly close, drawing people to think of You, even those who grumble, “Bah, humbug.” As one who loves You, I am particularly delighted to sense Your nearness any day, so these days seem a bonus, a light in the darkness of a world going mad with the nonsense of trying to buy the right gift, or out-doing the Jones, or trying to rule over the country next door. Whatever our focus, You look at the heart, and You want my heart to reflect Your character, not engaged in anything that will trip up a soul that is seeking You, even in the hubbub of Christmas. Thank You. My focus is on You. Please keep it there!