The scene is familiar.  It has been the plot in dozens of Christmas movies.  The characters are usually extra busy as they go about the things they “must do” in order to celebrate this holiday.  The busyness leads to being anxious and even letting a bit of frustration leak out because of the pressure.  By the time the movie is over, the busy people learn that those things “really aren’t what Christmas is about” and instead they come to realize what we are told is the true meaning of Christmas.

I am sure you have seen this movie or the hundreds like it that will be shown on television for the next 25 days.  They are sweet and do remind us that what so often we feel we are supposed to do really doesn’t constitute a proper celebration of the holiday.  But at least the alternative view, the one presented at the end, is truly “what Christmas is all about”.

Maybe I too am experiencing a bit of extra busyness this time of year.  This certainly has been a very full week with several commitments still remaining before the week is over.  But something about that movie tagline has got me thinking.  What is Christmas really all about?

Of course, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear me articulate the obvious:  Christmas marks the birth of the Christ child, Jesus.  This was the answer so famously given in the classic Christmas show, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.  At the end of the show, Linus recites a passage of Scripture from Luke 2 which is a part of Luke’s narrative description of the birth of Jesus.  At the end of his quote he reminds Charlie Brown that this is what Christmas is all about.

I think the word in that phrase that is giving me trouble is the word “all”.  Is this what Christmas is “all” about?  Even if we exclude all of the secular trappings of Christmas and focus purely on the biblical, is Christmas, the first advent of Messiah, only reflected in His birth?  I went to the hymnal and turned to the songs in the section marked Christmas or the birth of Jesus and noticed that while all of them referenced the nativity scene in some way, many of them also focused upon what we might call the effects of the birth of the Christ-child.

Charles Wesley especially was gifted in the writing of hymns that are rich in biblical truth and perspective.  They are heavily doctrinal.  They take the occasion of Jesus birth, Christmas, and tie to it the cosmic realities this event caused.  Things like new birth, reconciliation, peace with God available to all people, mercy, freedom from exile, release from fear and the power of sin, joy, kingdom producing, Scripture fulfilling, and on and on and on.

I began to wonder if it is humanly possible to know “all” that Christmas is really about.  I must admit that even into my 60’s I am unearthing treasure from God’s Word that some of which can be traced back to the birth of Jesus.  I guess as a preacher for nearly 40 years I still don’t know what Christmas is “all” about!  This reality has been helpful to stay humble and assume the posture of a small child who is intrigued by all the mystery and beauty associated with the season.

So how about you?  Do you know what Christmas is “all” about?  Is there still room in your celebration for new discoveries of how God’s coming into our world in the form of Jesus has changed the world forever?  My hope is that you will find at least one new dimension this season and I look forward to sharing some of my discoveries of the recent past to perhaps help in that way.  May we all continue to make room for Him!