Why NOT Celebrate Christmas?

From the November 2005 issue of Voice of the Valley, a publication of Valley Bible Church, by Pastor Frank Emrich. Reprinted with permission.

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Not long ago I was discussing Christmas with a man who stated that he believed it was wrong to celebrate Christmas. I acknowledged that a lot of our celebration is worldly and has nothing to do with the true Christmas story, but I still maintain that we should celebrate Christmas. Let me tell you why beginning with this story.

A farmer decided to stay home from church on Christmas Eve while his wife and kids attended. To him, the Christmas story was just a myth. As they left, he pulled out his newspaper, turned the TV on and settled in for a relaxing evening. As he glanced out the window, he noticed that it was beginning to snow, so he threw another log on the fire. As he went back to his chair, he looked outside again and noticed a flock of birds flying around in the cold, windy, snowy night. As he looked more closely, he saw a couple of birds fall and die because of the cold weather.

He grabbed his jacked and decided to run outside to see what he could do to help the birds. He opened up his barn and turned the heat on, hoping the birds would see the light and fly in. When that didn't work, he grabbed a blanket and tried to chase them in. This only frightened them.

Suddenly, he realized that the only way to get them to come into his barn would be to somehow communicate with them. He wasn't having any luck. He realized that the only way they would go into the barn was if another bird went first and showed them how to do it. It was then and there that the impact of this thought rocked him.

This is what his wife had been trying to tell him for years. In order to bring a message to us, God needed to become one of us. The man jumped in his truck and drove off to church to be with his family. Finally the impact of the Christmas cradle made sense to him.

Think, really think, about these verses:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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But the angel said to them, "(Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of
great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I think the question is not, "Why should we celebrate Christmas?" but rather, "Why NOT celebrate Christmas?" Why not honor Jesus for the time He stepped out of heaven to become a man? Why shouldn't there be a remembrance of that remarkable moment when the Son of God humbled Himself and became a little baby, born to a simple Jewish girl in a little village called Bethlehem? Why not? The angels celebrated His birth - why shouldn't we?

You and I celebrate Christmas from an earthly point of view. From our perspective, He came down to us, lived among us for a time, died in our place, rose again, and ascended back into heaven. Have you ever wondered what those events look like from an angel's perspective?

*We mark His coming; they watched Him leave

*We celebrate His arrival; they remembered His departure

*We rejoice because of His presence; they experienced His absence

*We note that He left Earth and ascended; they welcomed Him home

Why shouldn't we celebrate His first advent? Men and women should honor the day He came to Earth, and with the angels, honor the day He returned to glory.

Here's a final thought: if you choose to let the Christmas season pass without celebrating the fact that He was born for you, lived and walked Earth for you, died and rose again for you, you will miss an incredible time for worship. You might as well just sleep through the whole month of December.