Tree decorated, presents wrapped, cookies baked, Christmas music cued, candles lit, table set. That’s just a partial checklist for most people hosting a Christmas get-together. The slightest upset in the chore list can throw a monkey wrench into the special day that culminates the most wonderful time of the year.
It can be as simple as forgetting to pick up tealights for the charming miniature Christmas cottage Aunt Jane gave you ten years ago. A chunk of cozy Christmas ambiance just broke off the picture-perfect setting you worked so hard to create. Add to that the marshmallows you forgot to buy for the sweet potato casserole. Ruined. Aren’t they what people enjoy the most with those ooey-gooey dishes? Don’t look now, but a section of the tree lights burned out. It’s just the middle section, but who will notice? Possibly everyone, but there's no time to fix it now—guests will arrive in fifteen minutes and expect Christmas perfection.
It’s NOT A Wonderful Life. At least not right now. Uncle Grumpy-Pants just fell into a snowbank as he got out of the car. His contribution to the sacred Christmas dinner—a pumpkin pie—has slid across the ice-crusted snow and slammed into the mailbox post. Uh-oh. Another chunk of holly-jolly just broke off your perfect Christmas day, and Uncle Grumpy-Pants is snarling as he hands you his disheveled pumpkin pie with clumps of ice and snow.
That angst you’re feeling now—you know, the lump in your throat, the red face, the overwhelming desire to run away? Jesus doesn’t want that to spoil His birthday celebration. He was so crazy in love with you that after His birthday, He lived a sinless life, proved by signs, wonders, and miracles that He truly IS the Son of God, then died an unthinkable death, rose from the dead, and conquered your sin and death so that you can live forever with Him in heaven.
THAT’s what a perfect Christmas Day is all about. Let's break it down if we’re really celebrating Christ’s Mass. CHRIST in Hebrew means "The Anointed One" or "The Chosen One." MAS in Greek means a big gathering of people. Twenty people qualify as a big gathering of people. Even five or two qualify if you’re celebrating a birthday. I’ve often taken a friend out for lunch on her birthday, and it’s just the two of us. We celebrate her life, friendship, and presence in my life.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 (ESV), “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Throw a birthday party for Him, and He’ll come, with or without tealights and marshmallows. He wants to be with you, your family, and your friends!
Jesus loves to be celebrated. Father God does, too. Holy Spirit moves right into our midst, and the ambiance in the room becomes love-soaked, warm, peaceful, and joyous. Absolute Christmas perfection!
The Chosen One’s birthday gathering is a come-as-you-are party. Gift-giving stems back to the wonderful day God gave His finest gift, Jesus Christ, to a sin-filled world of lost souls bound for eternity in hell. His gift reverses that scene for anyone who embraces the Savior--even Uncle Grumpy-Pants.
The splendor and beauty we create in our homes each Christmas, the feasts we arduously prepare, and the exquisite gifts we’ve carefully searched for can repel Jesus from attending His birthday celebration if we ignore Him. Suppose a king came to your home for dinner. You wouldn’t leave him outside in the front yard. You would invite him in, give him a seat of honor, and introduce him to each of your guests.
A King will come to your home this Christmas! King Jesus will bring His Holy Spirit right into your dining room. He’ll overshadow you and your guests in the kitchen, at the dinner table, around the Christmas tree, in the halls…everywhere people are, He longs to be in their midst.
Let’s honor King Jesus this Christ-Mass with our speech, hospitality, music, kindness, generosity, and love. He will melt hearts and warm homes. Tealights, marshmallows, smashed pumpkin pies, and burned-out lights don’t even phase the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Relax.
This Christmas, King Jesus, let Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in my home as it is in heaven. Merry Christ-Mass, dear ones!
©2023, Chris Custer Werre
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