Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Yesterday I left off with a promise to talk about the billions of people who celebrate Christmas. Are these His people? Does celebrating Christmas make you special? If the purpose behind His birth is to save His people from sin, then isn’t it reasonable to assume that those who celebrate His birth must be family members or close friends of the family?

I don’t have to answer that do I? All you have to do is look around at the number of people who demand that Christ be taken out of “Xmas”. Any reminder of His birth parked on any government lawn in the form of a nativity scene is met with vandalism and law suits. Demands are being placed on Christians to secularize this holiday season. Yes, holiday season, the only celebrating going on for many in this group of billions is paid days’ vacation and time away from work.

While many of the faith would balk at the idea of taking Jesus out of Christmas, I would ask them just how the world came to be this way about this Holy Day? Perhaps in some small part over the years it has something to do with failing to remember and celebrate the purpose for His birth. I will not condemn others for not wanting to be reminded of their sins on the celebration of a birth, we have other days for that. It is however a part of the long line of changes in how we celebrate His birth that got us here.

Where in the nativity is there a fur tree lit up with lights and adorned with bulbs and garland? At what point did popping popcorn and stringing them together become part of the birthday celebration? All we have to do is look at His birth moment and compare it to our living rooms on Christmas morning to count how many secular traditions have been added to make the day more festive.

Secular change is for tomorrow.

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Our pastor reminded us yesterday that we are about to enter into the Christmas season. As he put it, we are rushing into Christmas. I was struck by his use of the term, and in many ways I suppose that many of us do feel rushed by this season. Maybe that is because the world around us is reminding us daily of its approach and what it means and all the things that you need to do to prepare yourself for that special day. Then our memories kick in of Christmas past, and traditions, and plans, and the cost. Oh my yes, the cost.

So allow me to slow things down a bit here in these preparations for that day and try and bring some deeper meaning in what we are about to celebrate, no matter what your tradition.  Let us begin with His announcement, since the world is proclaiming the arrival of Christmas.

We are about to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25^th because for no other reason than the bible does not say what day he was born. A day has been selected for us to remember His birth. While the bible does not give us a particular day it does provide some important information in the pronouncement of Mary’s pregnancy. We will get into some of that later but for today let us consider this; He was born with purpose.

He shall save his people from their sins.

As we gather for this special day, and it must be special, everyone is talking about it, what is your purpose for gathering? I am not going to tell you what to say here. That is for you to decide, but if you had a reason to come together to celebrate, then isn’t it fair to ask the reason of His coming?

I’ve celebrated Christmas both ways. I’ve made a point of remembering the purpose of His birth and I have celebrated without remembering. Is it important to remember that purpose of a joyous day of celebrating one’s birth? I do not remember one birthday, mine or anyone else’s, that said “Why were you born?”

Few people celebrate my birthday, billions celebrate His. So let us begin with that.