Pastor's Corner

Posted in: Pastor's Corner
Pastor Doug Morton - Christmas is a birthday
By Pastor Doug Morton
Dec 18, 2008 - 2:36:24 PM

An ad run at Christmas time shows two pictures side by side. There is Jesus and then there is Santa Claus. Along with the pictures comes the question: “Whose birthday is it anyway?”

Christmas is all about Christ. It is his day. It’s not about the gifts we give to each other. It’s about the gift God gave to each of us in that small child born in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.

The real meaning of Christmas has to do with God giving Himself for a world trapped in its own sin. According to the Bible, the child born in Bethlehem was much more than a mere man. He was the Lord God himself come among us in that small baby. God took on flesh in the womb of Mary and lived among us in the person of Jesus. The human race needed rescuing and the only person who could actually do this was God. Thus, the child born of Mary is both God and man in one person.

God walked among us in the person of Jesus. He did it for a specific purpose. His coming was to be the Savior of the entire world. Even the name ‘Jesus’ means ‘The LORD saves.” In Jesus, God saves a human race that had lost its way and had fallen away from God because of its sin. The only way sin could be taken care of was for God himself to come in the form of Jesus and ultimately take all the sin of the entire world upon himself and suffer the judgment due our sin. The child born in Bethlehem came with one purpose in mind: He came to live and die for a world that could not save itself.

When you think of Christmas, don’t think of the gifts you give or the gifts you get. Think rather of the gift that comes from God to you in Jesus Christ. Jesus stated it very well. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Here is giving at its best. All the gifts we give at Christmas are simply small reminders of the great gift of God to you and me in Jesus.

I have no problem with celebrating Christmas with gifts and festivities. However, I fear we run the very real danger of overlooking what Christmas is really all about. You can take Santa Claus out of Christmas and you still have Christ’s birthday. You can even take out the gift giving and all of the holiday tinsel and you still have a special day to celebrate. However, take Christ out of Christmas and you have lost everything, even if you have a tree, a Santa Claus, and countless gifts.

Whose birthday is it? It is the birthday of the one who was God come in the flesh. He did this to rescue you and me. It becomes a day of true joy, not when we give presents to others, or even when we receive presents from others. It becomes a day of true joy when we believe that this child, born in a manger some 2,000 years ago, is God’s great gift of rescue for us. That’s the kind of Christmas you can celebrate even without Santa, trees, or presents, since Christmas is really God’s gift of rescue for all people in Jesus. And, when you believe Jesus came for you to forgive your sins, you have unwrapped the most enduring and special Christmas present of all.

Pastor Douglas Morton is pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Marengo. His email is pastor@forgiveninchrist.com.

The Bible verse for the above article is from John 3:16.

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