Jesus is the Reason for the Season

In keeping with what I had said in my post yesterday, this month is dedicated to Christmas. The title of my post is a line I heard from a friend whom I respect a great deal and have lost touch with. 'Back then', it sounded more cool than profound, the rhyming was great - 'Reason' n 'Season', there was this zing to it! It sounded like a line from a nice Cola advert, but its meaning was empty much as the fizz of the cola; 'back then' was exactly a decade ago.

Today, 10 years later, i am compelled by the sheer simplicity of this one liner, to apply it to my Christmas!

The birth of this unusual baby was not marked with Christmas trees, sweets, trinkets, Christmas sales, cake and wine or the elaborate dinners. His birth was in a humble manger, his guest list had farm animals, shepherds, 3 wisemen. the gifts he received were not toys or clothes but were symbolic of his life and the events of his life here on earth ; Gold..signifying his royalty as King, Myrrh...significant of His painful death on the Cross and Frankincense...symbolic of his exaltation as High Priest.

His name too was again reflective of His Mission...a very serious mission of redeeming the world from the shackles of sin.
Mancha (my dear husband) in one of his beautiful sermons on the Christmas story, reflects on the fact that all the events leading up to the birth of the Christ child were serious events with dangerous consequences. I especially liked the part where Mancha says that its not a "Merry Christmas but a Worry Christmas." How true!

• Mary was worried, a teenager becoming an unwed mother!
• Joseph was worried, his fiance pregnant before marriage, she would surely be stoned to death if the community got to know.
• Shepherds who first heard of the news were worried and puzzled.
• Wise Men were worried about choosing between the heart and the head. the 'head' telling them to fear Herod and tell him where the Saviour was born, while the 'heart' telling them to go their way without saying a word.
• Herod too was worried because as King, he did not want a contender to his position.

Clearly this baby had caused a stir and that's what I think Christmas is meant to be. not to remain relegated to the festivities but to cause a stir in our lives, in our mundane existence. it must stir us out of our complacency, our comfort zones, make us uncomfortable. it should make us sit up and think.

but that would happen only when truly Jesus is the Reason for the Season. I think it is great that Christmas is so closely connected to New Year's. The 'stir' that He will cause in our lives would help to amend ways, turn over a new leaf and make resolutions that we will stay true to.