One of the popular Christmas songs is “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” That’s how a lot of people think of Christmas. We have the beautiful decorations, we have the songs, we have the programs, we have the presents, we have the parties, we have the time spent with family and friends. There are all kinds of things that happen at this time of year that really make us feel good.
Now, this is not going to be a complaint about the commercialization of Christmas, because for a lot of us one of the things that makes Christmas special is this. The Christmas Eve service. A lot of us make a special point of coming to this service. It’s part of what makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s okay to enjoy the Christmas season and all the things that come with it. Even the secular things are fine, as long as we keep them in their place. The thing is, though, that in a couple of weeks, we’re going to move on from Christmas. We’re going to “get back to normal.”
The reason we’re going to do that is not because we’re bad or evil or anything. It’s because we’ve been looking at Christmas the wrong way. We look at it as a season, the Christmas season. We look at it as something that’s here for a little while, gives us a good feeling, and then goes away. Christmas is not supposed to be just about a good feeling. Christmas is not supposed to be a just season. Christmas is not supposed to be just a time of year.
In our Sunday services, we’ve been talking about the various characters in the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph and all the rest. The thing that all these people had in common is that for each of them, the birth of the Savior was a life-changing event. For each of them, the birth of Jesus and the events surrounding it were something that changed their lives forever.
That’s what Christmas is supposed to be for each of us. It’s okay to have good feelings, but Christmas is supposed to be more than a feeling. Christmas is not supposed to be something we celebrate for a little while, and then move on from. Our lives are not supposed to get back to normal. Christmas is supposed to be a life-changing event. Once we celebrate Christmas, our lives are never supposed to be the same again. If Christmas does not change us in some way, we’ve missed out on what Christmas really is.
At this point, some of you may be thinking, “Well, that all sounds good, and it sounds like the sort of thing we expect a pastor to say, but how do we actually do that? I mean, we do have to get on with our lives, don’t we? I still have to make a living. I still have bills to pay. How can we avoid having our lives get back to normal?”
Well, let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. I’m not saying everyone here should quit their jobs and go become foreign missionaries or something. Not that it would be a bad thing to do that, but God does not ask or expect everyone to do that. After all, even Mary and Joseph eventually went back home. Joseph went back to his carpentry work. Mary went back to taking care of the home and doing the things she did. That’s not what we’re talking about when we talk about not getting back to normal, but having our lives changed.
When we talk about Christmas being a life-changing experience, what we’re talking about is an attitude. It has to do with feelings, but it’s more than a feeling. We’re talking about how we go about living our lives. We’re talking about, no matter what we’re doing, living our lives with an awareness of the presence of God. We’re talking about living our lives in the knowledge of our salvation through our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
What we’re talking about, really, is having our faith be a part of everything we do. We’re talking about our belief in Jesus influencing our every thought, our every word, our every action. We’re talking about our faith in Christ changing the way we drive a truck. We’re talking about our faith in Christ changing the way we work in an office. We’re talking about our faith in Christ changing the way we watch the high school basketball team. We’re talking about our faith in Christ affecting every single thing we do.
At this point, some of you may think I’m exaggerating. You may be thinking, “Now, how in the world can our faith in Christ change the way we do these mundane, everyday things?” When we think about it, though, these mundane, everyday things are the first things our faith in Christ should change. If our faith in Christ cannot even change the simple, everyday things we do, how is it ever going to change the big things in our lives?
Our faith in Christ needs to change the way we look at life. It needs to change the way we interact with others. It needs to make us treat people better. It needs to make us kinder and more tolerant of people. It needs to make us notice when people are hurting, and do things to help them. Those are things we need to do every day, no matter what our job is or even if we don’t have a job.
When we look at Christmas as just a season, as something that gives us a good feeling for a while and then goes away, we’re missing out. We’re cheating ourselves. We’re settling for temporary happiness when we could be gaining eternal life.
Tomorrow is Christmas Day. I hope each of us has a very happy Christmas. I hope, though, that for each of us, Christmas is more than just a happy feeling. I hope this Christmas will lead to a new attitude of faith and hope for each one of us. I hope that attitude and faith will last longer than just through December 25th. I hope that this year, for each one of us, Christmas truly will be a life-changing experience.
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