Why Does Christmas Even Matter?

The Gospel of Luke tells us that angels visited some hillside shepherds on the night Jesus was born.

The angel’s message begins like the others: don’t be afraid, I bring good news.  Unlike some of our other characters, the shepherds don’t hesitate or falter.  They get up to investigate the angel’s message.  “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15).

When they arrive in Bethlehem, the baby is lying in an animal’s feeding trough, just as they were told.  The newborn Messiah looks like one of their children: humble, safe, protected, and loved.  The angel’s words are true! 

Unlike the other characters in the Nativity stories, the shepherds don’t question what’s happening.  They aren’t like most of us.  When we face suffering, disappointment, tragedy, unfairness, and loss of control, we ask hard questions and expect real answers.  These questions can be hard to answer, but we need to wrestle with them.

There is one more question. It doesn’t come with a colorful narrative, engaging characters, heavenly visitors, or any of the rich tapestry of the other questions.  But it too must be asked and answered—and then asked again.

That question is, So what?  Why should we concern ourselves with events that happened thousands of years ago and far away?  Why does Christmas even matter?

Some say the Christmas story makes no difference at all in our lives or in history.  We’re just floating matter and Suffering, betrayal, and injustice are just facts of life.  There’s nothing more, no bigger picture to worry about. Even some of the Bible’s ancient Wisdom Literature seems to echo this view.

Ecclesiastes 2:22–24 HCSB

For what does a man get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

The writer of Ecclesiastes had seen and done everything.  No desire went unfulfilled and no feast was left on the table.  Still, his life was meaningless.  No matter how delicious the meal, how great the pleasure, or how much he enjoyed the moment, he was always hungry for more.  When he added it all up, it didn’t add up to much of anything.  His life was meaningless.

But in 2:25 the writer acknowledges that you can’t enjoy life apart from God.

For generations, Israelites knew that they had a God who was close to them. A God who cared and had compassion on them. A God who rescued them, who led them, who

Christmas is the beginning of a new chapter in purpose.

Most people recoil from that kind of despair.  We want to believe that life is more than just dust in the wind.  Yet we’re afraid to take stock of the few decades we’ve been given.  We don’t want to admit how we’ve squandered our time, energies, and talents.  We’re terrified that when we reach the end of our lives, they won’t amount to anything.

People long for lives that matter.  Different cultures have different answers but they all feel the same need.  Until very recently the underlying truth was just as universal and just as unbounded by race, place, or time. 

People are a special creation and the direct result of divine intervention in the natural order.

Some of the most educated and sophisticated among us reject spiritual answers.  Science and technology have replaced the old gods, goddesses, and long-held superstitions.  Others believe in bits and bytes of date, not dusty old books.

But the triumph of modern science cannot soothe the ache in our souls. Science has wonderful tools for understanding the what and how of our world.  But it was never meant to answer the ultimate questions of why or who. 

There is another explanation.  People long for meaning and purpose because God gave us that impulse.  We hunger for justice because God is just.  We seek truth because God is truthful.  We long to create beauty and meaning because we reflect God’s creative nature.  We long for eternity because we have a future beyond the grave.

If the human race is the product of a divine hand, our incessant longings make perfect sense.  This world and life in it are out of phase with his image in us.  We were created for something completely different. 

We are displaced refugees from the realm we long for and were made to inhabit. 

We instinctively know the deep truth.  This world as it now exists, broken and bruised, is not the world we were meant to call home.

Humanity’s attempts to satisfy these longings have always failed.  Our best efforts to create just and compassionate societies fail to overcome greed, selfishness, and corruption generation after generation.  The inevitable and disturbing conclusion is that we wish for a world we cannot create here on earth.

Personal answers fair no better.  Materialism, hedonism, power, and personal happiness ultimately fail to satisfy.  Despite centuries of experience and millions of examples, people keep traveling these well-worn paths.  New generations appear, ignore the lessons of the past, and repeat the same old mistakes.

So why won’t we give up on the quest?  We can’t.  Why? He didn’t give up on His quest

Because Christmas brought to the flesh of Jesus that which we deserved and Jesus’ life is the guidebook for living a life of true purpose.

The story of Jesus, the Son of God who was fully human and fully divine, is at odds with science, culture, philosophy, and religion.  His life comes down to one simple truth:  Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

We can’t get to God, so God came to us.  We can’t rescue ourselves, so God rescues us.  We can’t earn what we most long for no matter how hard we try.  So he gives it to us.  We seek a future beyond the grave.  He waits there for us.  We seek justice, and he will set everything right in the end.  We want to relieve pain, and he comforts us.  We can’t find the solace we need, so God gives us his grace and peace. 

The whole purpose of Christmas is ultimately preparation for Good Friday.

We picture Jesus lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.  We see him wearing a seamless robe walking the Judean hills teaching and healing the masses.  We see him on Good Friday, a living sacrifice for our sins.  We see him wrapped in a burial shroud and gently carried to a rock-hewn tomb.  We see him in a spotless glowing robe conquering sin, death, and the grave in his resurrection on Easter morning.

Jesus is the Father’s gift to all who suffer, doubt, long for the future, and search for meaning.  Jesus is the gift wrapped in the mystery of divine love….a gift meant to be opened.

Are you prepared to demonstrate the purpose of Christmas?

The gift is yours.  If you’ll have it.