WHAT'S CHRISTMAS ABOUT ANYWAY?

By Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
 New Wine Church, London

Sunday 25th December 2011

Foundation Scripture: Luke 2:8-14
Today we celebrate what is unquestionably the greatest event in human history – the birth of the Saviour of the world; the arrival on earth of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Christmas is unequivocally the greatest event that is celebrated on earth today. Every other religious festival gets one day, but Christmas is celebrated for an entire month – that’s one 12^th of the whole year. No other time of the year is celebrated with so many songs and no other religious festival changes the colour and landscape of entire cities and nations.   Whatever you think about Christmas, whether you like you or not, it’s all up in your face and you cannot avoid it. In spite of the fact that most people have missed the point, Christmas is still celebrated in a big way all around the world. It never ceases to amaze me that even in so-called Islamic nations, there are no hang-ups about celebrating Christmas.  And quite frankly, they shame many of the  so-called Christian nations who have become so secularised that they are not only timid about celebrating Christmas, they have actually become decidedly hostile to it. So today, I want to talk to you about the three big issues on my heart as far as Christmas is concerned.  Some of you have heard me share this over the years; so please forgive me if I sound like a broken record. But these issues are so important to me that I never tire of expressing them.  So, here are my three key issues about Christmas:
Christmas is about Christ:  The saddest thing about Christmas today is that gradually, Christ has been removed from the picture. If you are like most people, you would have spent a few days this month attending Christmas parties. If you noticed, the name Christ was not mentioned once at any of those Christmas parties. If you went to a party where Jesus was at the centre, it’s probably because your child goes to a church school, or it’s your Cell Group Christmas party.
As you went shopping, how many times did you see anything remotely related to Christ – on cards, gift wraps, music, in shop windows etc? There are some offices now, where you are not even allowed to give cards with the world Christmas on them. The idea of Christmas has not only been commercialised; it has been domesticated, romanticised and completely secularised. And sadly, we who are supposed to be champions of the gospel have quietly assented. So much so, that 67% of Christmas celebrations now have absolutely nothing to do with Christ - nothing at all. Christ, the one whose birthday we’re celebrating, has been lumped together with fictional characters like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, Santa’s elves, and even the reindeers that fly Santa all around the world in one single night.
However, I believe it’s time for us Christians to take back Christmas and put Christ right back at the centre.  After all, the word Christmas means the celebration of Christ. Imagine people celebrating your birthday, and your name is not even mentioned once.  How ridiculous would that be? So let us stand up and put Christ back at the centre of Christmas. We always say things like “Jesus is the reason for the season”; or “There is no Christmas without Christ”.  I like the way a recent campaign put it:”However you dress it up, Christmas begins with Christ.”But we must now go beyond mere words, and begin to put our convictions into action. Let’s be honest, even for Christians it is easy to get so caught up in the worldly hustle and bustle and frenzy of the season that Christ becomes marginalised even in our own thinking and actions. For many Christians, the only time that Christ features in their Christmas celebration is when they attend church.  But I believe that we can do much more than that.
There are many ways that we can consciously keep Christ at the centre of our Christmas celebrations.  For example, we can make sure that in everything we do as a family, Christ remains at the centre.  This is particularly important for our children; because at school, they are so bombarded with the fiction surrounding Christmas that the truth about the season is buried in all the folklore. Second, without being preachy or self-righteous, we can let people know that Christ is the one we are celebrating in this season.  We can send cards that are meaningful and that carry a message about the true meaning of Christmas and also send little booklets or tracts - at this time of the year, people are open to such little gestures. As you pray and ask God for wisdom, he will give you creative ideas on how to achieve this. And this brings me to my second point.
Christmas is about a powerful story:  One of the reasons why people have marginalised Christ from the celebration of Christmas is that they don’t know that Christmas is about Him.  You will be amazed how ignorant and unaware people in our society are.  And it’s no fault of theirs – it’s just that nobody ever told them.  Romans 10: 14 says ‘But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? I believe that one of our main responsibilities at Christmas is to just tell the story.  Just find ways of sharing the simple story about the birth of Jesus with people around you. Remember, the only reason you and I are able to celebrate Christmas today is because somebody took the time to share the story with us. And if you look at our opening text today, what the angels did was simply share the story with the shepherds in the field. And if you look at our opening text today, what the angels did was simply share the story with the shepherds in the field. In fact, the story of the birth of Jesus was told hundreds of years before it happened.  Many Old Testament prophets prophesied about the birth of Jesus before he was born:  Isaiah, Micah, David, Hosea, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah and Malachi – all told the story of Jesus before he was born.  In fact, that there are over 330 specific prophecies detailing the coming of the Messiah; and Jesus fulfilled all of them.
Story telling is one of the most powerful ways of communicating.  If you look at the life and ministry of Jesus, the primary way He communicated was by telling stories.  Down through the ages, powerful truths have been communicated using stories. There is power in storytelling, especially when it comes to the greatest story ever told.  And let me share a secret with you:  when you can show people where His story meets your story - that meeting point is like the meeting point between the vertical beam and the horizontal beam of the cross.  That’s where the power lays. Likewise, when you can show people where His story meets their story, you will change a life forever. I believe that every Christian should master the art of sharing the Christmas story in a few short minutes. One of the ways of doing this is by engaging people and asking them to tell you their own understanding of the Christmas story.   Again, you can do this without sounding preachy, holier than thou, arrogant or superior. There is a world out there waiting to hear our story – needing to hear our story. I love the words song: ‘Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.’ And this brings me to my final point today.
Christmas is not about a baby:  This is probably my biggest beef about the way we celebrate Christmas today, both in the world and in the church. We have reduced Christmas to the celebration of a baby.  Imagine if your friends came together to celebrate your birthday and all they talked about was how your mum and dad met, how your mum became pregnant with you, and how you were born - the hospital where you were born, the people who came to visit, your naming ceremony, and all the gifts that people gave your parents. But  despite the fact that you are 33 years of age, all the talk about is about you as a baby nobody mentioning anything about who you are today or the impact you have made in people’s lives or in society; no mention of your mission in life, your career, your passions, your family, your vision or your ministry!  Would you appreciate that type of celebration?  That is exactly what we do at Christmas when we focus our entire celebration on the birth of a baby.
Remember the scripture in Isaiah 9:6: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.  Jesus was born as a baby, but he was given as a Son. So if we’re going to celebrate his birthday let us celebrate His entire life.  Let us celebrate the fact that He’s the son of God that He is the Saviour of the world, that He is God in the flesh.
Christmas is not the celebration of a baby; it is the celebration of the greatest Man who ever walked the earth; the King of the whole the universe; the Lion of Judah, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valley, the bright Morning Star, the Ancient of days, the Rock of Ages, the Lord of hosts, the Alpha and Omega. It is the celebration of the immortal, the invisible, the only wise God: the Great Shepherd, the Wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, the Chief Cornerstone, the Comforter, the Healer, the Deliverer, the Provider, the Almighty, the soon-coming King!
You see the world is comfortable with the idea of a cute little baby Jesus; but not so much with the idea of the King Jesus.  Why?  Because there is a vast difference between the way you approach a baby and the way you approach a King. Nobody takes a baby seriously.  When you are dealing with a baby, you are in charge.  You can play with a baby and you can say cute little things to a baby, but not so with a King.  When you come before a King, you bow.  You can’t make a King do what you want; rather you’ll take instructions from the King.  You cannot dismiss a King at your whim. So, the world prefers the image of a baby Jesus to the image of the King Jesus.  But we have the responsibility to tell the world that Christmas is not about a baby; it is about a King.
You see babies cannot rescue anyone.  In fact, babies need rescuing themselves. Look at the all the passages in scripture that speak about the birth of Jesus – none of them ends the story as the story of a baby. From the time that Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9 all the way through when the angels announced to the shepherds that Jesus was born. They all speak of a Saviour and a King. In fact if you read the story on, it says that Jesus grew in stature, in wisdom, and in favour before God and man. That little baby that Mary carried in her womb grew up and manifested the fullness of his Glory as the son of God and as God the Son. 
What does this mean for you and me?  As Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, Jesus must be conceived in each of our lives.  He must be born in us and He must grow in us. Galatians 4:19 says ‘My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you’   - The question today is this: What kind of Christ are you carrying in your heart?  Is He a baby that you can pick up, play with and put down when you like?  Or is He a King before whom you bow in worship?