“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6)
What happened to Christmas? Along the path of human history, where did we lose it? Did we wrap it in a pretty box with a big red bow on top and forget to open it? Did we hang it on an evergreen tree with all the garland and assorted ornaments and forget to take it off? What happened to Christmas? Perhaps we wrote it on our grocery list, along with the ham and pumpkin pie, then accidently crossed it off. Or maybe we took it to the family celebration, hung it in the closet with our coats, and left it there. What happened to Christmas? Did we inadvertently lay it down on the counter while holiday shopping at Macys or Target, or Kohls? Or did we perhaps leave it on the chair at the children’s nativity pageant at church? What happened to Christmas? Where did it go? Did we lose it? Did someone steal it?
We are entering this Christmas week with an unwanted virus labeled Covid. That changes everything about how and where we celebrate. Our large family gatherings are reduced to a select few. Our holiday shopping is done on our laptop, phone, and computer. Our choice of attire includes what mask we are going to wear.
A pandemic has changed everything in our lives, our nation, our world. Yet, in the middle of the fear and anxiety this virus can bring, something good can also emerge. The old Grinch was right: “Christmas came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.” Christmas came to the other side of the world, in a small, obscure town called Bethlehem. It came traveling with a young man and a very pregnant young woman. It came in a manger filled with sheep, and goats, and cows. It came in a feeding trough, surrounded with straw. It came through a God who wrapped himself in human flesh and descended to this fallen planet, with one sole purpose in mind – to die for the sins of the people he had created. What kind of a God does that!!!
What happened to Christmas? I am afraid the answer to that question is simple – We gave it away. We walked away from what Christmas is truly about and replaced it with the glamor, glitz, and glitter of the “Holidays”. And in the process, we abandoned the true meaning and value of Christmas. No one took it from us. We cannot even blame the devil for this one. We gave the real worth of Christmas away!
So, this week, let’s take it back. Let’s allow the difference in our circumstances make a difference in our hearts. Let’s celebrate with great joy the real reason for Christmas – Jesus Christ! “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Celebrate Jesus! Darlene