“Christmas is here, bringing good cheer, to young and old, meek and the bold.” Memorable lines from the renowned “Carol of the Bells,” but are they actually true? Why is Christmas a time of cheer and joy for all people, in all demographics, in all seasons of life? Can it really be? The older I get, the more I have noticed that the message of Christmas is a message of despair. It sounds odd but humor me for a moment…
Christmas means that I am far worse than I could imagine. Let’s start cheery, eh? The fact that God came, and that He had to come, means that I may not be as good as I think I am. In fact, Jesus often lets people know that deep down in their heart they are far worse than they could ever imagine. I know this all too well. Each day, subtly in my subconscious, I am comparing myself to others. I think we all are, it’s hard not to. We essentially want to know how we stack up. We may compare looks or status, wealth or class, experience or opportunity. We may compare personal growth or intellect. We may compare morals or behavior. All of us compare different things, but we do all compare. We all compare because we want to know if we are good enough. Some days the comparison game makes us feel good about ourselves, but most days that’s not the case. Comparison leaves us insecure because we don’t stack up well to the people we look at, but even more so, comparison leaves us in despair because we are not good enough for our own standards. Christmas tells us that God had to come because I am not as good as I project to others, and truthfully I’m actually far worse than I could ever imagine.
Christmas means that I am incapable of fixing myself. Christianity does not claim that God came to visit and it does not claim that God came to check things out. It does not claim that God came to see what it was like to be human. It does not even claim that God came to teach us new things. God came to save. That’s what Jesus actually means, “Yahweh saves” because Yahweh will save His people from their sins. Christmas is about God coming for the purpose of saving. But why? Well, because I cannot save myself. So not only does Christmas mean that I am far worse than I could imagine, Christmas also means that I am more incapable than I would want to admit.
Christmas means that things won’t just work out. This blog keeps on getting better, right? Christmas is about God coming to save. This means that neither the world around us, nor society as a whole, nor people in our lives, nor you nor I will just get better on their own. Things don’t just work out because we want them to. The world doesn’t just improve because people are more educated or woke. The world doesn’t just improve because of medicine or technology. Christmas says that God had to come because they are not getting better. Christmas actually claims that things are falling apart. So not only does Christmas mean that I am far worse than I could imagine and that I am more incapable than I would want to admit, Christmas means that we are actually more helpless than we could ever fear. Christmas, in many ways, means despair.
It is in this place of helplessness and hopelessness that the miracle of Christmas happens: God shows up, and until we see the reality of the bad news, we really won’t be moved by the beauty that is the good news. News is really only good to those who know how bad things are without it. The good news of Christmas is so good because of the bad news that comes before it.
I am worse than I could imagine but God shows up. I cannot help myself, but God shows up. Things won’t get better on their own, but God shows up. God shows up in power, but way more important to the Christian message, God shows up in presence. God shows up and God intervenes, and it is because this news starts with despair that it really brings a deeper message of cheer. The good news of Christmas that is for young and old, the news that emboldens the meek and humbles the bold is that things are far worse than you could imagine but God shows up. That is the message of Christmas.