The Great Lesson of Christmas

The Puritans did not really celebrate Christmas. It is not that they didn’t believe in the birth of Jesus or that they wanted to eliminate the infancy narratives from the Bible, but they did believe that a huge celebration of Christmas was paramount to missing the point about the coming of the Messiah.

Much of our celebration of Christmas comes from Germany. Gathering around a Christmas tree and singing carols comes from beloved German traditions that have become a part of our lives. Christmas is not just for Germans any longer.

A friend of mine once went to Japan and he said that in Tokyo they celebrated Christmas in a huge way. Christianity has never really been accepted in large sectors of Japan and the influence of Christ on that country is minimal. However, the influence of Santa Claus is huge and so they celebrate the “Santa Claus Christmas.”

In all reality there are two Christmas celebrations. One is about the birth of Jesus and the other is the coming of Santa. They run concurrently and we celebrate both, something as one, but, in many ways, separate. Often we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Eve and Santa Claus on Christmas morning.

In the Gospels the birth of Jesus is not as huge an event as often perceived. In the four Gospels, Jesus’ birth is only mentioned in two, Matthew and Luke. And, if you read the two Gospels you’ll find remarkably different stories.

In Matthew and angel tells Joseph, in a dream, what is going to take place in Mary’s body. In Luke the angel comes and tells Mary and mentions nothing to Joseph.

In Luke there is no room at the Inn. In Matthew Jesus is born at home in Bethlehem.

There are shepherds in Luke; wise men in Matthew.

John the Baptism is Jesus’ cousin in Luke but Luke has no star. Matthew has a star, but there is no mention of John the Baptist being related to Jesus.

There really are only two things the stories have in common. They have common parentage with Mary being a virgin and God being the Father; and the birth takes place in Bethlehem. We generally meld the two narratives together to develop the beloved story, often missing the fact that the story is less about grandiosity and awe, and more about the humble and anonymous birth of the Messiah.

The people had prayed for a Savior and God heard their prayers. And while looking to the Heavens waiting for the Messiah to show up on a cloud surrounded by singing angels, the Messiah was born in an occupied land to a peasant couple with no fanfare and little notice to anyone.

At the time people who knew how God was sending the Messiah. They were all wrong. God moved as God chose to move and people missed it.

I am constantly reminded, at Christmas, never to presume I know all that much about God and what God wants and how God is going to move. I hear a lot of people who know all of this, who know God, who know what God wants, and who will tell everyone they know how God is going to move.

But I am reminded that on the most important issue of all, the coming of the Messiah, the people who knew were all wrong. The only people who truly ‘got it’ were a peasant couple no one had ever heard of. And such is the great lesson of Christmas.