Christians Celebrating Christmas

Light Through the Cross The day after tomorrow, Christmas will herald joy to the world, hosted by Jesus followers from every corner of the Earth.

Normally this is a time of great rejoicing for Christians. We lay aside any minor grievances to sing carols and drink eggnog. We celebrate what we believe to be the greatest news in human history: that God Almighty sent his Son to save us from our sins. We welcome anyone and everyone to join the celebration, and many cultures around the globe do just that. Here in the United States, we suffer no fear of persecution for celebrating our faith. With all its glitter, glitz, and overwhelming sugar overload, we as a community of faith remember the birth of our newborn King. He is, as we say, the Reason for the Season.

But do we ever stop to ask ourselves this question:

What to give Jesus for Christmas?

We Evangelicals claim the Bible to be the true and inspired Word of God. It is only from this book that we know of our Lord’s love for us, and the sacrifice of His Son for our sin. Jesus’ birth signified what we consider to be THE turning point in history: God’s wrath on this sinful world would fall, eventually and in its entirety, on this sinless baby. Born a refugee, Jesus grew up to be a homeless, Middle-Eastern Jewish carpenter and itinerant rabbi . The religious establishment of his time despised him, eventually leading to his murder. In his short ministry, He stood up for all the hated and downtrodden folks of the time: tax collectors (who were actually extortionists and thieves), adulterers, prostitutes, women, children, and more. The only folks on His naughty list were the Pharisees, with whom He took very vocal and public exception.

As believers, we have given our hearts to Jesus in exchange for His saving grace. We cling to the promise that our hero, our Savior, will be standing between us and God Almighty when we walk into eternity. He asks nothing of us except for our love, our trust, and our surrender. To the outlaw on the cross dying alongside our sinless Savior, Jesus granted this one request: “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” (Luke 23:39-43)

This criminal, by his own admission, was only receiving the punishment that he himself deserved. Asking Jesus for this one favor may have been the only right decision he ever made.

First note what Jesus did not say. He did not say, “Are you sorry for your sins?” He did not say, “What country are you from, anyway? Are you here legally?” He did not say, “you should have worked honestly for your living- you don’t deserve any help. This is your own fault.” He said only this, which is the greatest promise ever made:

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Now there are a bunch of folks in Scripture who seem to deserve this promise. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 is called “the roll call of faith.” Countless Old Testament saints are remembered for their courage and their refusal to give up, even when faced with impossible odds. In reading the New Testament, we encounter more heroes; those who walked with Jesus, and those who never met Him but still believed, even to persecution and death. I find great comfort in knowing their stories, all of them, because each provides a particular precedent. Their individual challenges, enriched with the details of both the beauty and the brokenness of their lives, provide examples of how to live, and give us hope for tomorrow.

But in truth, aside from Jesus Himself, my favorite character in the Bible is the criminal on the cross. To our knowledge, he never performed a selfless act. We don’t know his lineage, his nationality, his age, or even his name. He was never mentioned in Scripture either before or after Luke 23. Seemingly inconsequential, you might wonder why I love him and his story.

I do, because Jesus did. I do, because it reveals the very heart of God towards “the least of these.”

God’s Heart Towards “The Least of These”

I believe Jesus wants me to act exactly like that when it comes to helping Hand holding cross in water people. The refugee, the criminal, the poor, the persecuted. These were the people He loved, and this story shines like a breaking sunrise on the Good News we’re supposed to live out.

So what can we give Jesus for Christmas?

We can obey his commands in Matthew 25:31-46, without asking people where they were born, or do they belong here. Without looking down on them because they speak a language other than English, or dress differently than we do. Without passing judgment on why they can’t afford health insurance or medical care. Without judging why they need food stamps or help to feed their children. We can stop the current administration from further tormenting the poor by suspending the programs they need to survive. We can vote out the politicians who steal from the poor to give to the rich.

And for those who believe that Matthew 25:31-46 does not apply to those of us who are already “saved”- that this will be a judgment for those left behind-I pose this question: Do you not believe that Jesus Christ, who welcomed a filthy criminal to accompany Him to Paradise, would want us to treat “the least of these” with the same compassion He showed? Our Savior was, and is, the most consistent character in history. He is, after all, God.

So Merry Christmas to all. We can still rejoice, because Jesus is now, and always will be, the King of Kings. We can lay aside any minor grievances to sing carols and drink eggnog. We can and should celebrate what we believe to be the greatest news in human history: that God Almighty sent his Son to save us from our sins. We welcome anyone and everyone to join the celebration. Here in the United States, we suffer no fear of persecution for celebrating our faith. We can overdose on sugar and remember the birth of our newborn King. He is still, and always will be, the Reason for the Season.

I’m grateful beyond words for Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross for me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine God would love me, and it’s taken me over half my lifetime to even begin to grasp it. As the old hymn “Rock of Ages” goes, “In my hand no price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.” I have no gift to give Him. I can only offer my love and my best effort to do what He asked, which is to attempt to love others as He does. And for this special season, that is resistance enough.