As people prepare to close out 2011, they scurry around to buy a present for someone or a few loved ones, while others are wondering if they will be able to afford even one tiny gift for their child(ren). The question I ask though is what is the actual celebration of the holiday, Christmas?
Before I continue, I must reiterate the fact that there are two sets of Christians, man’s perspective and God’s. It was a stroke of commercial genius for whoever started the tradition of buying gifts for family, friends, and others on the day allegedly marked as the birth of Jesus Christ, however, there is no mention in the New Testament of this practice. Just stop and ask yourselves, what is the purpose of buying gifts for those you are close to on one particular day when you have 364 other days in which to buy them a gift? If one was truly to follow the lead of Jesus Christ, should one not do something for the least of these our brothers, as He did? Does it prove you are faithful to the celebration of His birth because you buy those gifts? The three magi brought those gifts as signs of reverence for what God had shared with them and do note that none of them where of the house of Israel. Those notified of Christ’s birth were at the bottom of the economic status, they were shepherds. At no time did God see fit to inform the wealthy, the learned, the political and religious leaders, no He sent angels to deliver the glad tidings of hope, love, and peace, to those who were of meager existence.
Man’s Christians see this celebration of a means of letting God know how much they love His Son, however, they forget the very purpose of Christ’s birth. He is also the Lamb of God, born into this world to be a sacrifice for our very souls yet we cannot sacrifice for those who are least of these our brothers. Within the Gospels of the Bible, Jesus never mentioned or tells us to celebrate His birth neither is such a thing mentioned in the rest of the New Testament. Please remember that the New Testament means a new order of the spiritual and as He walked this earth, Jesus Christ gave of Himself to anyone who needed Him, as He gave Himself to pay for our sins on the day He was crucified. As spiritual believers, we are to be thankful for not only His death and what that means to us and for us; we are to be thankful for His birth and the hope it brought. Now, it is time for us to bring hope to those who have none, not to be selfish in how we share the blessings of our lives, as Jesus Christ was not selfish. At the end of the day, we have to know that we have done what is right in the sight of God, not man. When these questions are asked - when I was hungry, did you feed me; when I was thirsty, did you give me drink; when I was homeless, did you give me shelter; how will you answer? In the commercial activity in which we partake on the premise of celebrating Christ’s birth, we besmirch the purpose of His birth, His life on earth, and His death. The celebration of Christ, His birth, life, and sacrifice; is to be there for those who are the least of these our brothers; to do less is a futile attempt to appease God.
Sandra M. Corder
6 December 2011
