I am sure at some point in the next three weeks you will find yourself asking, is Christmas worth all the fuss? Is it worth celebrating in such an enormous way, with all the presents and people, the shopping expeditions and the traffic jams? Should we just ignore Christmas altogether?
I want to encourage you to see afresh that Christmas is absolutely worth all the fuss because at Christmas we celebrate an event of enormous proportions.
The Bible speaks of some shepherds who were responsible for the welfare of their master’s sheep. One night, angels appear to them and announce that a child had been born – no ordinary child – it was Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.
When they hear the announcement, the shepherds hurry off, leaving behind their sheep, to find the child. They think it is worth risking the sheep and therefore their livelihood to go and find out more about this child. It is worth leaving everything to seek this child.
When they find Mary and Joseph, and the baby, they discover that the arrival of this child is good news of great joy for all people. They discover that Jesus came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He came to secure for us a relationship with God. This is huge news. This is gigantic. And it is this news that we miss amidst the fuss!
We can be so busy tending our sheep, doing all that is required of us at Christmas that we miss the point; that we miss the news; that we fail to ponder what it is all about. We end up making a big fuss over everything except what we should make a fuss over. We end up so wearied by the sheep, that we miss the shepherd.
Can I ask you, to just make sure this Christmas, you stop, amidst the fuss, and consider Jesus Christ, born to bring you to God.
Three ways to do that:
- Get onto some Advent Readings – even a few days late – and spend time each day reading your Bible and reminding yourself how awesome Jesus is.
- Peel back some of the fuss – make one less salad; buy one less present; go to one less event. Make some time to have some time to remember what it is all about.
- Invite a friend who does not know Jesus to church or carols. Sharpen your Christmas by remembering that there are many for whom the true meaning of Christmas is hidden behind Santas, wrapping paper and queues. Take the opportunity to introduce a friend to the real reason for the fuss.