Christmas Co-opted 

   Secular society has co-opted Christmas.  It’s no longer a holiday (Holy Day) celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, but a means of commercial success and increased wealth for merchants.  Gone is “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays” has become the politically correct season greeting.

   A new holiday called “Black Friday” has been declared and now lasts at least two weeks and even more.  A new special day called “Cyber Monday” has come into being for on-line shoppers and even that has been extended to a weeklong event in many cases.  No one wants to miss the opportunity to dig even more deeply into the wallets of those who insist on finding the absolute perfect gift.

   I have news for all of them.  The perfect gift was the birth of an infant, born of the Virgin Mary and laid in a manger in Bethlehem; a savior for a fallen world.  The angels knew it, the shepherds knew it, and even three foreign kings came to honor the newborn King.

   However, the perfect gift was not without cost.  Jesus suffered rejection from those He came to save, he suffered betrayal, abandonment, and denial by those He had chosen as His inner circle, the twelve apostles.  Finally, He would suffer arrest, scourging, crucifixion, and death.  The gift came at a terrible price and yet the most evil act ever committed resulted in the most perfect gift ever given, salvation and eternal life to those who would believe. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3: 16) 

May we truly celebrate Christmas.

May we give thanks for the birth of our Savior.

May we joyfully proclaim His glory. 

Amen