The Christmas Spirit

The Christmas Spirit

An atheist group called American Atheists is using a fake "Dear Santa" letter in a billboard campaign in several Southern states, urging people to skip church this Christmas and stop listening to "fairy tales." The billboard - which is positioned near several churches - features a little girl's letter to St. Nick that reads "Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to skip church! I'm too old for fairy tales."

The group claims the billboard targets closet atheists who are pressured to observe religious traditions.

I was struck by the irony that the group is using one obvious fairy tale, that of Santa Claus, to attack celebrating an actual event; the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It seems they don’t want to jettison Christmas altogether, just the God part. Santa is ok because he’s a harmless old elf who gives us gifts but expects nothing from us in return. But Jesus is just too dangerous to include. He must be reduced to a fairy tale. It’s fine and good to enjoy Christmas and have the “Christmas Spirit”, just don’t go overboard with the God stuff. Christmas is real. God is not.

While this attitude is the extreme, every year we see the true meaning of Christmas pushed farther and farther into the background. But, while we mention Christ less and less, we still see Christmas as the time of year when we are kinder, more compassionate, more generous, more aware of those in need. We call that the “Christmas Spirit”, and we see the inherent good in it. The “Christmas Spirit” has become something we put on like a new sweater every year, and we all wistfully sigh and wish that every day could be like Christmas day.

Are you one of those people who have to work at getting the “Christmas Spirit”? I am. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas until the tree and decorations are all up, carols are sung and listened to incessantly, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “White Christmas”, “A Christmas Carol”, and God forbid, “The Christmas Story”, have all been watched at least once, and of course, snow is on the ground. The busier life gets the more I use these signs of Christmas to get me in the mood. I seem to have to manufacture the “Christmas Spirit” with external signs.

Everyone, not just Christians, want the “Christmas Spirit”. Everyone wants a kinder, gentler, more compassionate world, and we want it more than once a year. We all know that things work better, relationships are closer, and life is more peaceful when we recognize and embrace the Spirit. We want the fruit of the Spirit but we won’t name the Spirit. We get almost there but can’t seem to make it all the way for fear of offending someone. It’s like we want to say it but can’t find the words. We acknowledge the gifts but not the giver.

The true “Christmas Spirit” is the Holy Spirit. The world will try to remove Christ from Christmas but it’s impossible to do so. All the wonderful fruit of the “Christmas Spirit” is actually the fruit of the Holy Spirit St. Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a person.

Once we recognize the Holy Spirit’s presence in Christmas it will be easier to live the “Christmas Spirit” every day of the year. We must begin to see things differently, almost in reverse.

Do the gifts you receive give you the spirit or does the Spirit give you the gift?

Does the music you hear give you the spirit or does the Spirit cause a song of joy to well up within you?

Do the decorations give you the spirit or does the Spirit make you the sign of Christ’s presence to those around you?

Do the movies give you the spirit or does the Spirit inspire you to share the story of Jesus with the world?

The story of Christmas is not a fairy tale. It is the most powerful story in the history of the world. I can empathize with the atheists for not believing the story of Christmas, because it is almost too much to bear. How or why would God deem fit to become man, and such a lowly man at that? In order to believe in the story of Christmas you must hold a view of yourself that is often uncomfortable. You must believe that you are someone in need of redemption. You must be completely honest with yourself and humble yourself. But you also must see the extreme value in yourself, so much value that God himself chose to become man so that you could be redeemed.

Pastor Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City once said, “Every other religion has a founder that says: ‘I’ll show you the way to God.' Only Christianity of all the major world religions has a founder that says: ‘I am God, come to find you.’" What an awesome, humbling thought. God does not just sit up in heaven waiting for you to find him. He has not set creation up as some big test or board game, giving humanity a bunch of clues to follow in search of the true meaning in our lives. The God we believe in actually comes looking for us. He actually became one of us, entering history, living with us, rejoicing with us, suffering with us and dying for us. It is almost too much to comprehend. How could we be worthy of such a savior?

For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice,
both now and forever.

Is Christmas about love? Absolutely. Is Christmas about peace? Definitely. Is Christmas about kindness to our fellow human beings? Of course. But Christmas is so much more than those things. Christmas is about the incarnation. Christmas is all about God becoming man. Christmas is about Jesus. Without Jesus there would be no love. Without Jesus there will be no peace. Without Jesus there is no kindness. Whether you acknowledge it or not makes no difference to the reality of the kind of God we have. Those things will exist whether or not you believe in them. God will exist whether you name him or not.

Don’t struggle with it so much. Acknowledge the truth, name it and embrace it. That is the Holy Spirit working in your soul. That is God tirelessly seeking you out, wanting so much for you to love him, wanting so much to work in you and through you to bring the fruit of his Spirit to the world.

We are not celebrating a religious tradition tonight. We are celebrating the truth. And that’s no fairy tale.