Thursday 24 December 2009

The True Meaning of Christmas

Year after year we hear Christians complaining and griping that 'Christmas isn't what it used to be', that it has become far too comericalised and consequently we have moved further and further away from the true meaning of Christmas. Perhaps now would be a good time to take a glance upon your fireplace or window-sill where the Christmas cards you have recieved from all your friends and relatives sit - how many of them have a 'religious' theme? I would estimate less than fifty percent. With that presumption it seems almost shameful that we are celebrating the biggest event in world history - when the Word became flesh - and yet, we have started to ignore it and create Christmas into our own humanised festival: has Christmas simply become winter? Do young boys and girls walk the streets knocking on doors to sing 'We wish you a Merry Christmas', do we decorate our Christmas trees with colourful lights and decorations and, do we buy presents for our loved ones so that we can share in their happiness just because, it's winter? Somehow, I think not.

I think that the reason people don't think about Christmas from a faith-based point of view anymore is because they don't know how to. Do people know that the tinsel we wrap around the tree is a symbol of God's love around the world? Do people know that the lights represent the Light of the World - Jesus Christ? Do people know that mince pies are a symbol of the manger that Jesus was placed into as a baby or that the gifts we exchange are a sign of what the wise men did? Perhaps they don't know.

The reason that God sent his only Son to this earth, in the form of a most vulnerable baby, was because he knew that Jesus Christ would save us from all the things that we have done wrong in the past, are doing wrong in the present and will do wrong in the future. He came, because he loved us. The true meaning of Christmas is about remembering how much God loves us - and what better way to do that than to love one another? Rather than us mourning about what Christmas 'is not' anymore - let us rejoice and celebrate in what it has become! All of the things that we do at Christmas time are done out of love for our family and our friends - and we love, because he first loved us.

1 comment:

  1. 'Do people know that mince pies are a symbol of the manger that Jesus was placed into as a baby' - - No, I didn't know that one!

    I think it's important that Christians talk about these things - about the symbolism of things we do at Christmas. We need to pass that information on to people - they won't just figure it out for themselves!

    Good to see you the other day at the Christingle service!

    ReplyDelete