Christmas=Evangelism
On another blog a couple of years ago I wrote a very (VERY) brief comment about the kerfuffle surrounding “Merry Christmas” year , repeated last year and then slightly reworked this year, here. It’s become a tussle phrase for “traditionalists” of all stripes vs. the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade.
But that’s not the issue in this post. Here’s a thought/shade of memory that’s almost always present whenever I say “Merry Christmas.” I can recall vividly the many times that I witnessed my maternal grandfather openly, extravagantly displaying the Christmas spirit—at all times of the year, in all kinds of places. Here’s a typical memory that surfaces or floats in the background whenever I say “Merry Christmas” to someone… and why it does.
Whenever I visited my maternal grandparents as a child or youth and the visit encompassed a Sunday, we went out to eat for Sunday “dinner” (lunch to much of the country :-). Invariably, Dad-Dad would be the last to our table and the last out the door because he had to stop and chat briefly with every person he saw. The conversation, if it were with a stranger, would always at some point allow Dad-Dad (allow, nothing—he made it so! 🙂 to bring up Jesus Christ, his Savior and Lord. Many of those conversations resulted in brief prayers and an exchange of contact information.
You see, Dad-Dad knew that the meaning and message of Christmas wasn’t some warm, fuzzy , nebulous “goodwill to men” that we share at a holiday time, or a time of sharing love with family and friends. No, the meaning of Christmas is the Incarnation and all that implies: sinful man, doomed to an eternity in hell; a loving God who became man in the form of a baby boy in order to redeem this sinful world by His life and propitiary death and provide victory and hope through His resurrection.
When I asked him one time why he always stopped to talk to so many people, many of whom he did not—before!—know, on the way to his table (or out the door), he told me that he didn’t want to be the one—missed!—opportunity that perhaps one person may have had to hear the gospel.
“Merry Christmas” is a prayer that God will bless the hearer with a saving knowledge of the life and work, the death, burial and resurrection, the daily presence of One who
” …being in the form of God, did not think being equal with God something to cling to, but made Himself of no reputation, became a servant, coming as a man, And as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross…”
That’s the message “Merry Christmas” holds for those who know Him: We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The Light of the World, the Hope of the Nations.
Peace, goodwill toward men.
So, Merry, Merry Christmas,
May the blessings of this season all be yours:
Friends and loved ones present, if only in your heart;
Peace in your small corner of the Earth;
Joy and laughter, children’s mirth;
Cooking, baking, eating; who needs a calorie chart?
But when you gather Christmas Eve beneath the Natal Star,
Make sure the greatest blessing is held within your heart.
For the birth we celebrate with tinsel, lights and joy
Was more than just the birth of one small Jewish boy.
So gather parties, make merry; give gifts, bake pies and sing.
Christmas is thanksgiving for the birth of the Servant King.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Linked late to Adam’s Carnival of Christmas II and to The Christmas Alliance HQ.
Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Woman Honor Thyself, Don Surber, and Madman Returns, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.