Don’t Miss the Gospel This Christmas 

Rev. Chad Reynolds
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Clinton, SC

“… I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ~ Luke 2:10-12

A few years ago, I was sitting at a Starbucks inside a mall in Florida, sipping on a grande cup of their Christmas Blend, while seasonal music played in the background and busy shoppers passed by me.  The mall’s corridor and all its shops were strewn with twinkling lights and boughs of festive greenery.  Snowmen, snowflakes, and other winter merriment abounded, reminding everyone of the season (even though it was 84F outside!).  I guess nothing says Christmas like snowmen.  I was reading the book The Christ of Christmas, by James Montgomery Boice.  As I reflected on his writing and observed the holiday shoppers, I was struck by the thought that unless we are diligent and purposeful about keeping Christ central in our Christmas observances it becomes easy for him to be conspicuously absent from the season.  I guess if there was no room for the babe in the Bethlehem Inn two thousand years ago, it should not be too surprising that we make such little room, if any, for him in our lives today.

I imagine that the Bethlehem marketplace was bustling in the days before and after the birth of Jesus, as out of town travelers amassed within the city of their heritage for Caesar’s census.  The sights, sounds, and smells may have been a bit different but the seizing of an opportunity to make money was the same then as it is today.  As I took in the commercial busyness of the mall that day, I found myself wondering, if I were sitting on the patio of a Bethlehem bakery all those many years ago, would I have noticed young Joseph passing by, leading his pregnant wife Mary through the crowded streets?  If so, how could I possibly have guessed that in her womb was the Savior of the world?  Yet, that is exactly who Jesus is!  He is the Savior of the world, the Son of God who took on flesh.  He was born into a humble condition, laid in a manger, lived a perfectly righteous life, was crucified, died, was buried, is risen, and has ascended to the right hand of the Father so that he might give eternal life to all who believe in him.

Almost everyone missed the good news on that first Christmas, except Jesus’ earthly parents, the shepherds (who had been made aware by the angels), and a few wise men from a far-off land.  Thankfully, the Gospel of Christ has been preached and taught and proclaimed throughout the centuries since, with the call for all who hear it to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord.  Despite that proclamation going out far and wide, people today are still missing the hope, joy, and peace of knowing that Jesus is the Christ of Christmas.  They are busy buying presents, sipping peppermint lattes (which are good by the way), and feeling the manufactured jolliness of the season, but they are missing the inexpressible gift that God has given in his Son.

My prayer for the people of Laurens County is that we will miss it no longer; not this year, nor ever again!  May we never miss the fact that Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary so that he could give new life to all who believe in him.  May we never lose sight of the truth that he first dwelled in a manger so that all who come to him by faith can dwell with God in eternal glory.  May we never forget that he subjected himself to the grave so that he might free his people from the cords of death.  May we make every effort to tell others of this hope and peace, especially during this season, so that they may miss no longer the good news of great joy that Jesus is the Christ of Christmas.