Keeping Christ in Christmas.

For many years, I have heard the argument if you don’t say “Merry Christmas,” or you abbreviate Christmas “X-Mas,” you are a horrible person who is trying to take Christ out of Christmas. I have come to the conclusion that this is just ridiculous. I am all for people saying, “Merry Christmas,” but that also has very little to do with keeping Christ in Christmas.

If you say, “Happy Holidays” to me, I won’t be offended and scream at you, “NO, I say Merry Christmas!” That kind of hurts my witness as a follower of Jesus anyway. I could even argue that you are kicking Christ out of Christmas if you react that way. Nobody can take Christ out of your Christmas except for you. When I hear people talking about it though, I thought maybe there are some things we can do to keep Christ in Christmas? So here are just four of them that I came up with.

We Worship Him. – It is popular, especially this year because Christmas falls on a Sunday, to cancel worship services or to not attend them. If we want to keep Christ in Christmas we must worship Him. Christmas on a Sunday is a beautiful thing, because we actually get to come to Church on the celebration day of our Savior’s birth. If you are not going to a service, please worship Him on your own. Celebrate His coming. Remember what this day is really about. Read the Christmas story. Sing songs of celebration of His birth. This is the whole purpose of Christmas anyway isn’t it?

We Serve Others. – Christmas can become a time of year when we just focus on ourselves or our family members that we must buy gifts for. It becomes a time of celebrating us, and we kick Christ out of Christmas. I am not saying don’t buy gifts for people, or that it is even bad to want something for Christmas, but the more I look around the more I see good hearted people focusing on themselves and never on others. If we want to keep Christ in Christmas we must feed the hungry, care for the poor, pray for the sick, give to the needy, take care of the orphans and widows. I don’t think you can keep Christ in Christmas any better than when you serve the least of these.

We Offer Forgiveness. – Christmas is a time when we can lay aside our petty differences and seek reconciliation with those who we disagree with. We forgive even if people that have wronged you never ask for it. We offer forgiveness for all things and we love those who have hurt us. When we love our enemies and forgive those who persecute us we are keeping Christ in Christmas. If you really think about it, you can probably come up with a name or two of a person or people that you are holding a grudge against even to this day. What does it take to forgive them? How can start to offer forgiveness today?

We Pray for Peace. – There is a lot of war going on in our lives, and all-around the world for that matter. We must pray for peace and be a person who actively seeks to make peace. Or as Jesus called them “peacemakers.” Fighting going on anywhere is not the heart of Jesus, that is why His desire is to put the swords away and when the world gets redeemed there will be no more war. We must pray that God changes hearts and brings about peace in people’s lives that are hurting all over the world.

When we do these things I believe we are keeping Christ in Christmas. I am sure there are many others when you look at the life of Christ and see what He cares about and you make a conscious effort to care about those same things. When you have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus (Phil 2) then you will be keeping Him in Christmas.

~Blake

Hurry Sickness.

Everywhere we turn in our world today, people are in a hurry. People are proud to tell you just how busy they are in their lives, and I don’t think this is a good thing. We all live in a busy world, but have we missed the point sometimes because we are all so busy?

I think it is important to cure this hurry sickness because when we are not in a hurry, we can truly be present to the One who is always present.

The story that sticks out to me is found in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus is visiting Martha and Mary’s house and Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening, but Martha is busy, hurrying around the house, worrying, and being upset. Jesus tells Martha that Mary is doing what is good and right because He knows it is only at the feet of Christ that we can find peace for our worry.

We give Martha a hard time in this story, but most of us in this world are just like her. I wonder sometimes if we are so distracted by our busyness and we miss what really matters: hearing Jesus.

So how do we cure this hurry sickness?

1. We look to Jesus. – Jesus clearly understood His mission, and His own limits. He didn’t heal everybody. He set aside large segments of time for prayer, and the mentoring of the 12. These things became what mattered to Him and I think it was key to keep him from hurry sickness.

2. Know your person rhythms. – What part of the day should you work harder because you are more awake and focused? When are you more exhausted and need to take a break? Learn to rest when you need to rest and work when you need to work.

3. Get to your calendar before anybody else can. – Have good criteria for choosing what you put in your calendar and what gets left out. Seek simplicity and contentment. It is okay to say the word “No” sometimes.

I believe that we need margin and discernment in our lives to grow in our relationship with God. Because without it you cannot hear the whisper of the God that loves you.

Why do you think getting rid of hurry in your life matters? How can we do a better job of getting it out of our lives?

~Blake