Commentary…. Finding meaning in Christmas

As we approach another Christmas, the birth of the Christ Child, how should we celebrate? It is more than Santa and his reindeer, more than sugar fairies dancing in our heads, more than the estimated $1.1 trillion spent in 2023 and more than the annual pilgrimage to church.

As we examine the story in the Bible, what are the implications and how shall we then respond to the child in the manger? Let me share with you four practical implications that the gift of Christmas can have in our lives to make our communities more fruitful:

The Apostle John introduces his biographical story of Jesus in chapter 1 by saying, “the Word was God…, …everything that was made was made by Him. He was light and life…, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1-4, 14). God became human.

There were many ideologies and multitudes of gods at the time. There were Epicureans, Stoics, Hedonists, and Self-Righteous Religiosity, all looking for the ultimate reality and purpose to live a more meaningful life. Christmas tells us there is a logos, a reason, to live that can bring light, love, and fullness that dispels darkness. God becoming human teaches humans how to live with purpose. The Christ child gives us an intentional way to live that is logical and meaningful. We learn to connect with God. We all could benefit if we found that gift under our tree, a purpose driven life. This is the first implication.

The second implication is Christmas teaches us to get involved by serving others. Christmas is about loving your neighbor. It is about getting involved, serving others, helping the poor, the homeless, the aged, cultivating a caring community. It is about loving those who disagree with you and you them. Our community will flourish when we genuinely care about others and seek ways to serve them. We are better together with motivations of healing and serving. This is why a child is born on Christmas Day. He came to serve. It was the gift of example. Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve and give His life for others. We are to be the gift that promotes others at our expense. These are the values of the child in the manger. This is His gift to us.

The third implication is Jesus brings comfort amid our suffering. We often ask why God allows so much suffering if He is so good. We see brokenness and grieving all around us. We see people mistreating one another in multitudes of ways and we ask “Why.” While we don’t often know the why of suffering, we do know it is not because God doesn’t love us. God sent His beloved son. Jesus enters our world and takes on all the suffering, abuse, misunderstanding culminating in being beaten and crucified for loves sake, for us. God understands and cares about our sufferings.

Christmas can be a difficult time for many who have lost loved ones. As God grieves with us, we learn to grieve with others. The God who brings comfort in identifying with our pain has too suffered and died. We can find comfort in Him who died for us and share the comfort with others in their grief and suffering.

The fourth implication is the gift of hope the Christ Child brings. In His life He gave us an example of how to live. In His death and resurrection, He reveals the power to do it. He brings hope for the future, a transcendent hope that brings us courage, confidence, and change. Thru His death He made a way to live a life of freedom. He showed us that reality is not limited to the material world that we taste and touch, but He is the Ultimate Reality. We can know Him! We can experience new life thru His resurrection. Can we make Him known not in our rhetoric but in the living hope of a resurrected new life.

My prayer, my gift this Christmas is a commitment to make Jesus Christ matter in a world that desperately needs what His gift of Christmas can mean for us all. This is God becoming human. Author Bruce Milne puts it this way: “worship Him without cessation, obey Him without hesitation, love Him without reservation, and serve Him without interruption.” Oh yeah, and “Love your neighbor as yourself!”

Merry Christmas!

Steve Stratos is a pastor at Sisters Community Church