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There’s Something Missing

Monday, November 23

Christmas season 2015 is about to begin; yet, it feels as though something is missing. According to the U.S. Department of Language, the acceptable and politically correct holiday greeting is “Happy Holiday”, not “Merry Christmas”. Christmas Carols, nativity scenes, and even Christmas trees have been banned from most public schools and government properties. Retailers and employers in most secular workplaces have instructed their employees to refrain from saying Merry Christmas. Starbucks has joined in by removing all Christmas images from their coffee cups. Even if we were to reverse all these, I would still say something is missing.

Christmas is missing something. It is the same thing that is missing in many families, communities, and all over the world. It is that same missing thing we notice in broken friendships, partnerships, marriages, or when we observe children fighting. It would stand to reason that the missing something could be found in the local church but sadly, it cannot be found in many churches today. Here is the problem, what is missing is considered weak, unrealistic, and even foolish. Some would hesitate to add it to their lives and relationships thinking it would be a mistake. Perhaps that is why it is missing from the Christmas celebrations. What is interesting is that without that missing thing there would be no Merry Christmas just happy holidays.

What is missing today is what poured out of Jesus the most when He walked the earth. It is Christmas’ most important ingredient, without it there could be no Christmas greeting, decorations, or carols; we simply could not have a Christmas without it. There were those who were troubled by this ingredient while others ran to Him in multitudes. This ingredient is precisely what is missing in many Christmas celebrations today and worst of all what is absent in many Christian lives.

John 1:14,16 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Out of his fullness, we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

This Christmas story is the story about God who sent His son in a tangible way, a man of flesh and blood who died on the cross for all the sins that we committed. The Christmas story is about God pouring out His grace over the entire human race when not a single person was deserving of it. This is incredible, many of us are part of the Christmas story because we have been the recipients of Gods grace upon grace. However, that same grace is precisely what is missing from the Christmas celebration. While some may consider grace to be weak or even foolish, it is that same grace that when applied is so powerful. This grace has the potential to heal the deepest wounds of the heart; it can heal marriages, families, communities, churches, and the world.

The secular world can remove all references to Christmas, its symbols, and practices from the season celebrations. What it cannot remove is the grace of God being manifested in and through our lives this Christmas season, all the time, everyday for the rest of our lives.

Merry Christmas!