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What is Christmas All About?Chaplain Ron Suarez, CTCA/Southwestern Regional Medical Center
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:8-10 It’s really easy to get all caught up in the festivities and busyness of the Christmas season and forget what Christmas is all about. I know in times past we’ve had the distractions of a sick little girl we had to care for, three Christmas play practices, and then three performances in a weekend. On top of all that, I had to put up a tree and then finish buying presents, because my sister-in-law bought my wife The Santa Clause I & II before I got out to do so. Then, on Christmas week, we had family coming in from out of town, a family and kid’s birthday party for my daughter to plan, and then Christmas itself. It’s enough to make you ask, “What’s Christmas all about?” Is it about the Christmas parties, plays, lights, trees, decorations, consumerism, presents, getting stuff and being with family? When we think this way, however, we tend to limit Christmas to just children, to parents with small children, to people who can afford the presents and gifts, to the ones who can get out and enjoy the holiday or to the ones who have family to share it with. But then if that is what Christmas is all about, what about the homeless and destitute? Is it Christmas for them? How can they celebrate Christmas? What about those whose children are grown and gone, don’t have any family, are far away from their family or the ones who are isolated by their feelings of suffering and depression? Is there any Christmas joy for them? It was questions like these that led me to re-examine the meaning of Christmas. For probably 80 percent of the world’s population, Christmas is just another day. There’s no hope, no joy, and none of the things I just described. It would seem so unfair to me that so much of the world’s population is excluded from Christmas, because they have nothing to give. It would seem unfair that religious, political, and economic oppression and illness would exclude people from enjoying Christmas. The good news for you today, the Good News of Christmas, is that it is for the humble and lowly of estate! The angels didn’t make themselves known in Rome, the seat of power for the known world. The angels appeared to the poor shepherds hanging out in the middle of a field. And Jesus didn’t come first to the palaces and power brokers of the world. First of all, He revealed himself in Israel, to an enslaved state of the Roman Empire. And even then, He didn’t make himself known to the movers and shakers in Israel, to the chief priest at the temple, or in the palaces of Herod were one would expect a king to be born. No, quite the opposite. God doesn’t appear to those who think they can take care of everything themselves or to those who think they have means of their own or to those who feel they’re self sufficient and powerful. Those who believe such things about themselves rarely see any need for God’s help or presence. So the angels didn’t appear to the able, the proud, and the powerful. Instead the God of all eternity and power became flesh when He was born to a lowly Jewish peasant girl and his birth announced to shepherds in a field. Jesus chose to come as Immanuel, God with us, so that we all might have access to Him and so He could share in our sufferings. The point, then, of the Advent to the shepherds and Mary and Joseph is that God became Immanuel, because He cares for those marginalized by society. He cares for the weak, the poor, the oppressed and afflicted. He’s quick to hear their call and eager to come to their aid. So what does that mean for you and me? First of all, it means God designed the Advent as a marker, a memorial, to help us remember that He is with us in the circumstances of our daily lives. Your lowly circumstance, rather than excluding you from Christmas, qualifies you to enjoy it. God would have no occasion to be near you if you didn’t have a need. It means that God comes near when you don’t have any family to spend the holidays with, when you or your loved one can’t get into the mood of Christmas or when you have no money to buy gifts. God sent His Son to provide you with comfort in your situation. I can look back on that first Christmas night and know that if He cared for the lonely shepherds, who were shunned, forgotten and abandoned, He will attend to my loneliness. He will attend to my needs, because He personally came to attend to the needs of the hungry, sick, and homeless of His day. And, I can know by Jesus’ life that He knows just how to help me. He didn’t just come to earth take a quick look around and go home. Jesus knows how I feel, because He stuck it out on earth and experienced the wear of daily life. Now I can say with the Psalmists: Jesus is Immanuel … not just in the past, not just on Christmases that you feel festive, but every day; even if we can’t see how He’s affecting our day. Therefore, be assured that Christmas is for all people, at all times. |
