In our study of the book Christmas is not your birthday by Mike Slaughter, He makes a very bold statement on Page 4 saying,
“The Ideal, magical Christmas experience is unattainable. We stress ourselves out and even go into debt to create that warm and fuzzy feeling for our families and ourselves. But that feeling doesn’t last. The real meaning of Christmas gets lost in the Chaotic clutter of shopping, spending, escalating debt, making exhausting preparations and building stacks of gifts that most of us don’t need or will ever use… In the chaos of the holiday season, we miss the true gift of Immanuel, God with us.” (P.4)
This statement hit me hard when I read this book a few years ago and then again today. We are searching for heavenly joy by giving items that only bring earthly happiness. We are looking for the right things in the wrong places. As I stated in Sunday’s sermon, we are replacing Jesus' presence (the one thing that can bring us true joy and hope) with human presents/Gifts. We as a culture have it all wrong but how can we move in the right direction? It is by presence! First off, when we look at the gift of Christmas being Immanuel, God with us, we see that one of the many reasons for Jesus was to be present with humanity. Live in that statement for a minute God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to live with humanity. Second, we must imitate Christ and be present. Maybe this looks like freeing up your schedule for a game night with family or maybe it means making time to invite a friend out for a cup of coffee. Plain and simple if we want to get back to the main focus of Christmas, we must be present not just gift presents.
Agape,
Pastor Connor Morrison