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The Joy of Christmas
Don't you love Christmas? You know, except for a few Scrooges, I would say that most people in our culture, in our country, love Christmas. And why is that?
Romans 6:23, Matthew 1:20-21
Ah, Christmas time. Don’t you love Christmas? You know, except for a few Scrooges, I would say that most people in our culture, in our country, love Christmas. And why is that? Why do people love Christmas? It’s because of how much joy the holiday brings us. With all of the decorations, with all of the gifts, with all of the special treats that are made, with all of the wonderful music that is sung, with the time spent with family and friends. It’s a wonderful time of year that brings so much joy to our hearts.
But is that all Christmas is? And are those the reasons, the only reasons, that Christmas brings joy to us? If that were the case, then why can’t we have that joy all year round? Why do we need to observe it at a certain time of year or for this special holiday? Well, it’s good for us to consider the name for that day. That name Christmas Christ mass. Has the name Christ. We think of Jesus’ title, Jesus Christ, right? And then mass, which was considered to be a high festival or high feast in the church, celebrating oftentimes the birth of an important individual. And so Christ mass is the celebration of Jesus Christ birth. And again, why is that significant? Let’s go again to his name. In Matthew chapter one, as Joseph is determining whether or not he should divorce Mary, who’s he engaged to, and he believes that Mary has been unfaithful to him. An angel comes to him and he says this
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)
The angel talks about the name that’s given to this child, that name Jesus. It’s the name that means the Lord saves. And how does Jesus save? Well, he saves people from their sins. Now you might say, why do I need that? Isn’t sin just something that the church kind of made up? To make people feel guilty, to make them act in a certain way, and maybe a much more traditional way than we’re used to in our modern era? Is sin actually real? Yes. I want you to think about the ways in which you have not just gone against what the Word of God says concerning the way that you are to live your life. But I want you to think about the ways in which you have hurt other people in your life.
How have you hurt your spouse? How have you hurt your children? How have you hurt your best friend, or your neighbor, or your coworkers? What are things that you have done in your life that maybe you feel ashamed of because you acted in a very selfish way, seeking joy and pleasure for yourself, but at the expense of other people. We certainly recognize those things as bad. We recognize those things as sin. And what does God say in His word? In Romans chapter six, verse 23, it says,
The wages of sin is death, (Romans 6:23)
It says that what you deserve for the bad things that you have done, the way in which you have caused damage and harm to other people, you deserve punishment. You deserve eternal death. But the good news is that the passage doesn’t stop there. The passage rather continues on.
…but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
You see, that passage talks about God’s gift to you, his gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That’s the real reason why Christmas brings so much joy. Is because we know that Jesus comes as our Savior from sin. We realize that without him, we are filled with guilt, and we are filled with dread and terror of what God is going to do to us when we stand before him in the judgment. But because of the little baby born in the manger, because he comes to give his life as a sacrifice for you and for your sins, we know that God has granted you and me the gift of eternal life in him.
Yes, there’s a lot of joy that can be found in all the trappings of Christmas, of the gifts and the carols and the sweets and the time with family and friends and so much more. But let us especially find joy this Christmas in the gift that is given to you in the manger, in Jesus Christ, your Savior. Amen.
