What Does Jesus Want for Christmas?
by Joe Leavell
Have you ever been to a birthday party that you were obligated to attend and didn’t even know the person? Perhaps it was a young child who wasn’t even old enough to know you were there. Maybe it was an obligatory work birthday and someone hands you a card to write sentiments to a person you barely know before you all sing “happy birthday” slightly off key. Worse, maybe your child got invited to a party of a school friend and to your introverted horror you find all the parents are expected to stay.
I sometimes wonder if Christmas is sometimes like an awkward birthday party that we really don’t want to attend. While there are variations from year to year, we remember the routine. The core of what we do is always the same every time. The marketing ads for presents started months ago and presents line the stores, reminding us that Christmas is just around the corner. We finally join the fray and begin listening to Christmas music while everyone jokes about the horror of hearing “All I Want for Christmas is You” for the 10,000th time.
Many of us put up Christmas lights and have Christmas trees. We overextend our budgets and prepare fancy dinners. The most diligent among us actually are on top of things enough to send out real Christmas cards! Some make Christmas cookies, and a few brave souls go out caroling.
We go to church this week, maybe even going to a Christmas Eve service. We gather together as family or at least call loved ones to remind them that we still care. We hear the Christmas story read from the same Bible passage every year. We hear a pastor tell us there was no room at the inn. We hear about the shepherds, the angels, the swaddling clothes, the silent night. We try to muster up the spirit of Christmas and have a cheerful and giving heart. Then, on December 26th, the 24-hour Christmas radio station goes back to pop music, and we shuffle back to work until next year.
Some of us are reluctant to join in the celebration, but of course, there are those people who absolutely *LOVE*the Christmas season! They love the traditions, the shopping, the lights, the bell ringing at the stores, the trees, the presents, the eggnog, the music, the family reunion, and the decorations. These are the people who begin singing “I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas!” at the top of their lungs in August. I’m sorry, I’m not a “Scrooge” in September for saying it’s too early.
Obliged to Celebrate
Whether or not you are a nut who loves to jingle all year round or are a humbug who just trudges through the holidays, have you ever stopped to consider God’s perspective on our celebration of Jesus’ birth? Do you think He likes it? Is this what He wants for Christmas, or does Jesus ever feel like our celebration of the Savior’s birth is kind of like a mandatory office party? Everyone stops for a few days because they get to be off work. They pay their obligatory homage of being more charitable. They buy loved ones presents, attend church, and then maybe after enjoying a day or two relaxing from the daily grind, they get back to work with a few extra pounds and a new sweater.
“Thanks, Jesus, for the break and the gingerbread cookies. Hope you liked what we did for you. Now, time to look at some new diets for the new year and get back to it.”
Does Jesus Enjoy Christmas?
While not specific of Christmas itself, the Bible does clue us in on a group of people (Israel) who look at celebrating religious feasts and giving God honor as an obligation. Rather than celebrating God, they celebrated the ceremony. They believed that through doing their religious duty, they were made right with God. They did not have hearts that loved God, and they had no desire to have a relationship with Him. Yet, they gave Him the obligatory religious dues that they thought they had to do because it was expected tradition.
God makes his view of obligatory celebrations crystal clear. He tells these party goers,
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies…Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. ”
In Isaiah 1:14, God echoes the sentiment again,
“Your new moons (holidays) and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.”
Wow.
That is strong language, especially for people who are supposedly doing something in your honor. Imagine someone saying those words at the next birthday party.
In Isaiah 29:13, God tells us why He’s sickened by these celebrations. He says,
“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. ”
Is this how God feels when we celebrate Christmas? Does He “hate” and “despise” our lights, our trees, our Christmas carols, and our eggnog? Are they a “burden” and is He “weary of bearing them?”
The question from God’s perspective is not whether He wants twinkle icicle or multicolored lights on the house. His problem doesn’t even seem to be with the festivities themselves. God’s issue with Israel’s feasting is the same issue now: the hearts of those celebrating. Do our hearts truly reflect a desire to celebrate the One we love? Do we celebrate the One who was born to die on a cross so that we might have life?
When Christmas does not reflect a life that has been celebrating and living out the Gospel through the entire year, our singing “Joy to the World” does nothing to honor Christ. When we celebrate Christ’s birth simply as an obligatory tradition with our lips and not from our hearts, God finds our celebrations less appealing than a group of virtual strangers who are forced to sing “Happy Birthday” at the office.
Even for those of us who get excited about Christmas celebrations, are we all about the “joyous holiday spirit” to the neglect of the Giver of Joy? Do we make the party the object of our affection while Jesus remains a virtual stranger?
There is nothing wrong with celebrating our traditions of lights, singing, and gift giving. Enjoy your eggnog. But if you desire to celebrate, consider the gift that means the most to One whose birth we are celebrating: your whole heart.
When our hearts are towards Him, we will want Him to receive His will. He explains what this looks like to Israel in Isaiah 1:16-18 as He goes on to describes what it is He desires for Himself and for us more than any holiday celebration. In light of everything He has given for us, I hope it helps us know what to give your Savior for Christmas:
