Pastor Passages

Did you know there is a “War on Christmas”? If you are on some of the social media or follow certain news outlets, I am sure you have heard the stories, some old and some new. Every year about this time there will be a story on the local television news reports about the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) going after some community, threatening a lawsuit, because someone has dared to place a crèche on public land. There are the frequently repeated stories of certain mean-spirited stores forbidding their clerks (tsk, tsk) from wishing customers a “Merry Christmas,” replacing it instead with the more generic “Happy Holidays.” The most recent “tempest in a tea cup (or, more appropriately, coffee cup)” was with Starbucks replacing their festive holiday cups with plain red cups this year!

While we may not take these versions of the “War on Christmas” seriously, the real War on Christmas is the one to which we ourselves have often surrendered. It’s the war in which the story of a humble couple having to leave their home, go to Bethlehem, be counted for tax purposes, and stay in a stable the night the woman gives birth to her first child has been replaced by the story of “what I want and expect for Christmas this year.” It’s the war in which the story of how that baby grew up to be the man who took upon himself the sins of the entire world, sacrificed himself in our place, all to bring salvation and eternal life to us has been replaced by the countdown reminder of how many days are left until Christmas, with the Christmas music blaring and the Christmas decorations going up in the stores before Halloween, all to inspire us to spend more than we can afford on gifts for ourselves and others. It’s the war in which some folks now have to sacrifice spending Thanksgiving with their families so some other folks who are addicted to shopping can get their fix by having the stores open on Thanksgiving. It’s the war in which giving has been replaced by getting—and what we get is never big enough, glitzy enough or enough to satisfy us!

Paul does an amazing little comparison in this brief verse from his Letter to the Romans. Whereas the selfishness and desire to be his own god earned for one man, Adam—and all of his descendants after him—the judgment of God: alienation from God, condemnation for our sin, and the resulting punishment of death; the self-sacrifice of another man, Jesus the Messiah who was born in that stable in Bethlehem and died on the cross to take our well-deserved judgment in our place, has given us the graciously free gift of reconnection with God, salvation, and eternal life. Jesus is our gift, given to us by God—a gift we don’t deserve and could never earn. The salvation he has won for us on that cross is our gift—a gift we don’t deserve and can never earn. Do you get the theme here? Our celebration of Christmas, the birth of our Savior and the beginning of the road to the cross, is ALL about celebrating the gift we have already received and then passing that gift along unselfishly to those who are looking for a sign of hope.

If you want to win the real War on Christmas instead of just surrendering to the materialism, commercialism, and consumerism of what passes for Christmas, here’s a suggestion for a battle you can win: Do something or give something totally unexpected and undeserved for someone in the name of Jesus while expecting nothing in return. It’s a gift not a trade! And it’s better when your “gift” is given to someone who would NEVER even think of giving YOU something! You see, dear reader, THAT is the true meaning of grace and of Christmas.

Shalom,

Pastor Jay

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"PUTTING IT TOGETHER"