Is Christmas For Me?

Dec 23, 2021

I was listening to a Christmas radio station this morning when something caught my attention.

The hosts were sharing a story about an adult brother and sister who were arguing over who should inherit the iconic family artificial Christmas tree. The sister argued that her house was larger and could better accommodate the size of the tree, while the brother argued that because he was married with young children, his kids deserved the special opportunity to build childhood memories with the tree. Listeners were calling into the show and sharing their opinions. One person frustrated me deeply - he said, “Christmas is for children. The brother should clearly get the tree. Christmas is just for the kids.”

I chuckled to myself, but felt bothered by what this opinion insinuated. “Christmas is just for the kids” misses the whole point of the Advent season. First, I think this opinion reduces Christmas to presents and Santa, which couldn’t be further from the truth (and also, adults like presents too, ya old Scrooge!). But also, it made my heart sad to think that this man thought that Christmas wasn’t for him.

Isn’t that the lie so many of us believe? I’m sure the man on the radio show was referring to the lighthearted parts of Christmas, but I think this lie permeates the hearts of so many people regarding the deep parts of Christmas too. “Faith, Christmas, this whole ‘Jesus’ thing - it couldn’t really be for me. It’s for the kids, it’s for someone younger, less jaded, less messed up, less broken. It’s for the people who haven’t done what I’ve done, for the people who haven’t seen what I’ve seen. There is no way the good news of Christmas is for me.”

Friend, if that’s a lie you’re believing today, or someone in your life is believing, may I be the first to say that it is from the pit of hell.

Christmas is for you. Christmas is for all. That is the good news of our savior.

He didn’t come for those who have it all together. He didn’t come for the righteous and religious, He came for the broken sinner in need of a savior. That’s the love of Christmas.

The Christmas story itself shows a love that surpasses all boundaries. Jews were awaiting a triumphant warrior king to appear as their Messiah. One who would barge into royal courts and religious temples to make Himself known. And yet the Messiah comes as a helpless baby, with the news of His arrival first received by working-class men, dirty from the fields - shepherds.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

- Luke 2:8-15

The first witnesses to our Savior weren’t men of high honor. Jews at the time might have expected that the Messiah was for the elite, the righteous, the holy. Instead, the Messiah was for the struggling, the dirty, the tired. Jesus’ life continues to show this as He preaches to the broken, heals the hurting, and shares meals with social outcasts.

Christmas isn’t just for the kids. It isn’t just for those who went to church the other 51 weekends of the year. It’s for everyone. That’s the love of Christ, that’s Christmas. It’s for you, at your worst. It’s for me, at my most broken.

If today you’re wondering if Christmas is for you, if God’s love could actually apply to you, would you hear these words from the Father? And maybe, if there’s someone you know who needs to hear them too, send these words to them: