Why do we celebrate Christmas? Seriously, “Why do we send out Christmas cards? Watch ”A Christmas Carole” or “It’s a Wonderful Life?”  Why do we wait until the end of each year to send out a card to those we are somehow related to? Do we want to be liked? Remembered? Make sure that that they remember our business, our ministry, our medical practice, or accountancy?  Do we do it because it’s just part of our annual routine? Or is it because we truly desire to be connected?   Or want to be included in the season’s celebrations?

Bumper stickers have read, “Jesus is the reason for the Season.”  The other morning, I saw a message scrawled on the back window of a mini-van like you see on a newlywed’s car, simply stating, “Happy Birthday Jesus!”  Mission colleagues send out their end of the year letters reporting about what they’ve been up to or include some references to the meaning of Christmas.

I recall being in Bangkok, Thailand at a Buddhist temple with Chris Huber, a college pastor and being invited into talk with the Secretary to the Supreme Patriarch of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand and walking past strings of Christmas lights playing “Jingle Bells” and a couple of other seasonal tunes. I wondered if anyone had a clue what the tunes meant.

Not a clue. They were simply put up because the King of Thailand had been there recently on retreat. It was the same temple that the movie “The King and I” had been based upon. I recall how Anna, who was a Christian, was grieved over the Thai King’s approaching death.  

We did share with the Secretary, a Thai Buddhist Caucasian American, the Good News about Jesus Christ and spoke about the omniscience of Jesus Christ. He confessed that the Buddha was only directionally omniscient and had made a number of mistakes after his enlightenment about the deaths of his closest disciples.

So, why do we celebrate Christmas? Was it a dynamic equivalent instituted by Emperor Constantine to replace the prevailing pagan celebrations in Rome around the time of the winter solstice? Probably. Orthodox celebrate his birth later in January.

We celebrate His birth as an occassion to remember His incarnation on our behalf. This season, many baby Jesus’ were stolen from Christmas displays in Southern California that ended up in front of a statue of Mary.

We are called to remember His death and His resurrection as well in a ceremony we call communion. It is a ceremony reserved for those who are actually followers of Jesus Christ. Christmas in many ways is an opportunity for us to introduce others to the existance of Jesus Christ and why He came into the world. For society, it is known as the “season of giving”, or the ‘holidays”, “Kwanza”, “Hanakah”, etc.  Holidays is derived from holy days.

So, we listen to a cultural rendition of Christmas by the Chieftains or a Christian artist like Amy Grant sing tunes celebrating the LORD’s birth,

Fall on your knedes,

Hear the Angels voices.

Oh, night divine,

Oh, night, when Christ was born,

Oh night divine, when Christ was born.

On a walk this morning, my wife and I are wished a Merry Christmas on a walk in Arcadia by a Chinese neighbor. At the local Whole Foods, I’m wished Merry Christmas by one of the employees, who says he celebrates Christmas. 

No gifts this year by agreement in the family. Finances are in short supply. I wonder, why do we get uptight about the celebration? No Christmas tree. Okay, that’s a Druid symbol appropriated by Christians. Actually, we have no room in our small apartment, lined with boxes as we prepare for a move.

Last night, Elizabeth and I attended a Christmas party that was put on by a family for some homeless women. Five women to be exact. They didn’t show up because they were frightened about being in the crowd. For us it was also difficult, because we realized that again, we are moving–not because we didn’t pay the rent, but because our landlord had a downturn in his business and is moving family members into the apartment. So, it’s almost Christmas, and we again are facing the lack of affordable housing, a downturn in giving, and wondering, “Will there be any room in the inn for our family?”