We have arrived at the Christmas season once again and once again in the morass of crass commercialism we are trying to “keep Christ in Christmas.” We find ourselves working overtime to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. A lady told me recently that she was glad to see all the decorations and lights, and to hear the music put her in “the Christmas Spirit.” As we ponder Christmas this year, there is a question that keeps coming to my mind: what is the spirit of Christmas? Depending on whom you ask you will get a variety of answers, and some of them actually have little or nothing to do with Christmas.
When you read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol you get the idea that for Scrooge the spirit of Christmas is a ghost. So, we’ll automatically dismiss that notion. The liquor industry certainly has their idea of the spirit of Christmas, to the tune of about $30-50 million in December alone. A young boy determined that the spirit of Christmas is sportsmanship. The idea is that you don’t always get what you want; you don’t always win, as it were. Some feel the spirit of Christmas is spreading cheer, so we’ll pass back and forth some four billion greeting cards. For most people the spirit of Christmas is fellowship and family. They’ll gather together and consume incalculable amounts of turkey, dressing, fruit cake and eggnog. For some the spirit of Christmas is gratitude; we are grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator. G.K. Chesterton once remarked, “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmas tide. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”
For some this season of Christmas is marked with a spirit of sadness. The year 2020 has been a year like no other before. A pandemic, lock-downs, shuttering of businesses, closed restaurants, theaters and even churches have sent many people into depressions and anxiety. Doctors tell us that sadness and depression are heightened during the Christmas season, and we can only imagine what this year’s season will bring. Especially is this true for those who have lost loved ones during the year and this is their first Christmas celebration without them.
Perhaps the most common response to the question of the spirit of Christmas is that this season is all about giving. Most have the understanding that giving to others is the highlight of the season. Giving with out expecting anything in return is becoming a fleeting notion, however. A large majority of people give in order to get something back. So we’ll exchange gifts that range from a $6 candy bar to a $600 gold lace Gucci blouse to a $6000 plasma television and everything in between.
And Christmas is also the time for some to engage in their own spirit of denying the deity of Christ. For them the spirit of Christmas has nothing at all to do with Christ, from Whom the holiday derives its name. They start to crawl out from under their rocks around Thanksgiving and attempt to keep the focus off the Truth.
Indeed, there are a lot of things that distract us at Christmastime. All of these suggestions concerning the spirit of Christmas have been posited by untold millions of people. And there are probably a host of other things that could be offered as the true spirit of Christmas. But all of them come at Christmas from the wrong direction. They are man-focused, man-centered, selfish motivations for the Christmas spirit. Even the well-intentioned and noble offerings of love, joy, peace and goodwill toward men miss the mark. Some of these suggestions are bad, some are good but all are wrong. I suggest to you that the true spirit of Christmas is worship.
We find this to be the most dominant attitude of all the major participants in the first Christmas ever. From Elizabeth to Zachariah to the angel & heavenly host, the shepherds, the wise men and even the hypocrite Herod we see the main spirit that permeated them was worship. Best of all is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her song, known as the Magnificat, is recorded in Luke 1:46-55. It is a song of adoring worship for the birth of the Savior. Christ came to “save His people from their sins.”
So, this Christmas remember to worship. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of Christmas interfere with your heart’s rejoicing. Don’t let true worship get lost in the fake message sent by so many at this time of year. Look beyond the light, the garland, the tree and the gifts to remember the greatest Gift, and turn to Him with genuine worship from your heart. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas. And if you don’t know Him Who is the inspiration of Christmas, contact us and we’ll help you. That’s why we’re hear……
That You May Know.
1 John 5:13
That You May Know Ministries 