Where’s Your Christmas Spirit?

Which describes how you view the month of December? Are you counting the days until December 25 with joyful anticipation? Or are you counting the days till December 26 when the hoopla will finally be over?

Are you having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit? What is the Christmas spirit, anyway?

Some think the Christmas spirit is found when you decorate a huge Christmas tree in your living room, shop for the perfect gift for everyone on your list, & wear Christmas-themed clothes you wouldn’t be caught dead in the rest of the year. Or when you watch the myriad Christmas movies running on television for the next 3 weeks, listen to Christmas carols 24/7, & dress your house in dazzling lights that blind the neighbors.

Others say the Christmas spirit is found in becoming a generous giver. Still others say it’s found in the Bible—in reading the Christmas story describing the birth of the Savior.

Is that all there is to it? Just read the Bible and find the Christmas spirit on its pages? Many Christians do know Jesus is the reason for the season, yet still struggle with finding the Christmas spirit throughout the month of December. Each year we say it will be different, and each year the Christmas spirit appears as elusive as ever.

This year, let’s be intentional about finding the Christmas spirit. And let’s begin with the traditional themes of Advent—the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day.

Hope

Every year, we hope for the idealized, movie-perfect Christmas of our dreams. And every year, reality intervenes. Jobs are scarce, money is tight, and the more we wish for change, the less probable it seems.

Sort of like what the nation of Israel must have been feeling 2,000 years ago. From the end of the Old Testament to the birth of Jesus, 400 years had passed since any prophet had spoken the words, “Thus says the Lord.” The people’s hope had been sapped. But the very nature of hope is that it hangs on in the most dire circumstances. Even when things are at their bleakest, a spark inside us burns—at times barely a flicker, but it burns nonetheless.

Fast-forward 2,000 years. The first week of this season initiates a time of anticipation; a time of hope. Christmas is coming, a day when we celebrate the birth of the One who has saved us from sin and from ourselves. A day when God became man, Emmanuel. God with us.As we wrap the presents (or not), & bake the cookies (or not), let’s rejoice that the hope for a coming Savior has already been fulfilled. & He’ll be back – because He promised.

Peace

Ever wish for more peace? I have. The problem with wishing for more peace is that it implies peace is a commodity—something we receive in measured amounts. But peace is not a product to be purchased or an item packaged in a bag or box. And it’s also not merely the absence of noise or violence.

Peace is a Person. More than 2,700 years ago, Isaiah wrote of the coming of One who is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). The Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, entered this world of sin and discord for one purpose. He came to reconcile us to God – to restore a relationship broken by sin. The Prince of Peace came so we might have peace with God, with ourselves, and with others.

Have you known the peace of being reconciled to God? If not, then celebrate this Christmas by giving yourself the best gift possible—the assurance that you belong to your heavenly Father through the gift of the Prince of Peace.

Joy

How joyful are you feeling right now? Are you rejoicing in everything about the Christmas season? No? Not so happy about the long lines in the stores, the extra traffic on the road, the additional expenses resulting in more month left at the end of the money? But it’s Christmas! Joy to the world. God rest ye merry, gentlemen. Tidings of comfort and joy.

Some say the rational, intelligent thing to do is to face reality, put aside the manufactured holiday happiness sold in the big box stores, and realize that our messy world is reason enough to wipe the grins off our faces.  They’re right. The world is a mess. We can’t purchase happiness in the gift aisle of Walmart. And walking around with a permanent grin plastered on our faces will label us naïve and oblivious to reality.

But joy is not the same as happiness. Joy is not dependent on the calendar or the number of gifts under the tree or the state of current events. Joy is the fruit of a life that confidently trusts God’s sovereignty & understands He’s in control, despite appearances

Joy is not found in circumstances, it is found in God Himself. He is our joy and our delight. Joy springs from the knowledge that God has provided for our greatest need – the need to be restored to Him. When the angel proclaimed Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, he introduced his news by saying, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” This good news was the announcement of the birth of the Savior—the Messiah—who would save us from our sins.

All You Need is Love…Not!

The Beatles’ hit song, “All You Need is Love,” became a theme for the 60s and 70s. Love was all the world needed to solve its problems, or so the song claimed.

About that time, another refrain became popular: “God is love.” It’s one of the few Bible verses quoted with regularity by those who aren’t even sure God exists…but if He exists at all, He must be love. From there, it’s a small step to claiming that since God is love, nobody will go to hell because a loving God would never let that happen.

We sometimes forget that God is not just love. He is holy too. And all the love in the universe will never make up for the stench of our sin that rises to a holy God. There is a coming judgment, but love reached down in the person of Jesus Christ, stepped into the darkness of a creation marred by sin, and paid the price for our sin. We don’t have to face the judgment that awaits all sin. Because the baby in a manger who grew up to be a sinless man on a cross, we need never fear again. The perfect love of God that is God has cast out fear forever.

What is the Christmas spirit? It is the personal assurance of a personal relationship with the God. It is the knowledge that the Christmas story is real. Not just historically real, but real and relevant to our lives today. It is hope and peace and joy and love…all wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ.

Are you celebrating this Christmas with the assurance that you do, indeed, have the Christmas spirit? If not, why not?