It’s finally December and every child is eagerly awaiting that wonderful morning when Santa has come and gone, leaving gifts to unwrap and new toys to play with. Parents are scrambling to buy presents for their children, while making plans to visit Grandmas and Grandpas and not leave anyone out. Houses are decorated with lights, and Christmas trees, and festive music is playing on every radio station. This is the wonderful Christmas season.
But this year, something is different. This year, December 25th falls on a Sunday. And what an opportunity that is! I love Christmas. I love giving gifts to our boys, love getting together with family, love the excitement and awe in my sons’ eyes when they talk about Santa coming down the chimney. Those are all fun parts of Christmas. And we will celebrate those things on Christmas morning.
But this year we have an important opportunity to teach our kids about Christmas. This year we can wake up early in the morning to look for evidence of Santa’s arrival. We can go through our stockings for little toys and candy. We can open our presents, tearing through the wrapping paper with a vengeance. Then, we can come to church and worship Jesus, who truly is the reason we celebrate. You see, I have no problem with celebrating Christmas with presents and Santas, but we must remember why.
2000 years ago, God sent His Son to earth as a weak, poor little infant. He sent Jesus to a young unmarried virtuous woman and caring gentleman. God sent this baby with the ex-
-press intent on sacrificing Him for all of us. So what better way for us to say thank you to Him than to worship Him on the day we celebrate His birth.
I know, you have your traditions. I know, you simply MUST have Christmas with your kids, then head over to Grandma’s to open more presents and have lunch, then go to the other Grandma’s for more presents and dinner. I know; we have our traditions too. But this year we can teach our kids that we’re not just running our mouths when we say that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” We can teach our families that as disciples of Jesus, our first priority is to Him over and above our own traditions.
Full disclosure: I have to be there - I’m the pastor. But that’s not why we’re coming to church on Christmas. As a parent of young kids, I am so excited to actually make Jesus the center of our Christmas celebration, instead of an afterthought that we mention so we don’t feel guilty. I’m excited to talk with our children about why we give gifts and who St. Nicholas was exactly. Because all those traditions point back to a perfect baby in a humble manger.
So join us in celebrating Jesus on His birthday. Let’s start a new tradition of putting Christ not only back in Christmas, but as the focal point of this and every season.
See you at the birthday party.
