Christmas time is here! What a wonderful time
of the year. With Christmas trees
and Santa Claus, Christmas has become a symbolic holiday.
Should we have trees in our homes?
Should we speak of Santa to our children? What is the right thing to do?
How
do you celebrate Christmas? How
should we celebrate Christmas? Do
all these things have any meaning? What
is the meaning behind the traditions we celebrate?
Scripture
Text:
Luke 2:8 And there were
shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at
night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them,
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for
all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
Matthew
7:8 For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or
if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
When the armies of Christianity invaded the heathen nations of the
world they introduced Christ to the world.
Instead of trying to completely undo years of heathen or Godless
traditions they gave new meanings to the celebrations of the pagans.
These new meanings brought new life to old Godless traditions.
Each of us must decide for ourselves how will we celebrate the birth of
the Savior. The important point
is that we do celebrate and remember that Jesus came and He is coming again. The traditions that many hold can loose their significance
unless we remember to tell the stories. Think
about the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree and the tradition of Santa
Claus.
What about the Christmas tree? Should we have one? The
first tree was decorated during Spanish-American war. In 1851 a Lutheran church in Cleveland OH put up a tree.
Does the tree have a rightful place in the church, home?
Yes, the tree represents Christ. The
tree takes time, takes space, but some are unwilling to give up that time and
space for the tree or the Lord. Will
we make time and space for God in church, home, and life?
The Shape of the tree is significant.
It is pointed and has an arrowhead shape.
It always points upward. Christians
should be sharp, pointed, so that we may point others up to the Savior. The
tree is an evergreen that speaks of everlasting life.
Most of the time we don’t decorate dead trees. We are reminded of the
life that we can have in Christ.
Even the decorations point to Christ.
Do you have lights on your tree? Do
you put angels or stars on your tree? Can
you see the connection? We have
to look for the significance and make the connection to make our Christmas
celebration significant and not just another holiday.
What about Santa Claus?
Don’t treat Santa Claus like he is God and don’t treat God like He
is Santa. Santa is also known as
Father Christmas. I think that we
can even see significance in this jolly man who gives gifts to all.
We have a heavenly Father who sees all, knows all, and loves all.
He gives gifts to all who believe in Him and follow His plan for their
lives. Doesn’t this sound a lot
like Santa? God has a list that
is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. Is
your name written there? It could
be if you would believe
Think
about the celebration that you have during Christmas. Have you made the connection to the Savior and the
Scriptures? I believe that it is
there if you look for it. If we
make the connection and tell the stories it will give new life and meaning to
what we are celebrating. After we
have made the connection for ourselves then we need to make the connection to
others. Tell the story of Jesus
and his love.
How
about starting a new tradition at Christmas?
A few years ago our family began to read the Christmas story from the
book of Luke before we opened our gifts.
This has helped us to remember why we give our gifts to one another and
to God. It is good to remember
and tell the children that God has given us His one and only Son.
Keep telling the story until He comes.