Christmas is filled with messages, yet far too many manage to keep the focus on humanity rather than focusing on Jesus. We hear lists of what Christmas means to us, the values we think it represents, ways we can better ourselves because of it, but how often do we hear about the implications of the incarnation? If for a moment we think Christmas is an opportunity for personal gain or improvement, it is as if we have never heard the real story. The attitude towards Christmas as a message of faith in humanity, generosity and goodwill reflects the disconnect towards what really happened at Jesus' birth.
The real Christmas story, what the incarnation really represents, starts in Philippians 2:5,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The incarnation is the most baffling and unreasonable event of history, a keystone of our faith. What kind of God is this that would give up his thrown to take on a form that he created, subjecting himself to our rules, our hatred, our sin, and suffering our consequences? What was it like in the moments before Jesus took on flesh? Imagine Jesus, uncreated God in all of his glory with all of his power, giving up his uncreated form to become human forever. I tell you this is the greatest injustice of history, that the uncreated, perfect God would take on our imperfection and overcome it to redeem the undeserving (you and me). Such a sacrifice can only be motivated by one thing: pure, selfless love.
Yet humanity's response to this impossibly unjust sacrifice is commercialized, diluted into self-help messages and symbolism. If we ponder the depth of the sacrifice that was the incarnation and the fact that even now Jesus stands before God in a human body for our sake, the only proper response we can form is completely reckless love, in kind. What other response can there be? The God who had everything left it all because everything wasn't enough without you and me! And He did this knowing that it was our sin that brought this upon him, but also knowing that only He could make a way for us to be together. God calls this the greatest example of the love of a bridegroom for his bride, a love we could never experience apart from Him.
So what is the message of Christmas? Christmas is not a message of faith in humanity, but rather of our state of iniquity. Christmas is not a message of generosity, but of our emptiness. Christmas is not a message of goodwill, but of injustice. Christmas is not a message of self-help, but of selflessness. Christmas is perfect love on display, the love of God for us.
His sacrifice provokes the deepest level of love in us, setting the example for our response. The only proper response we can have to the story of Christmas is wholehearted, selfless love for Jesus, our best attempt to love him as he loved us. His sacrifice motivates sacrificial love in us, and suddenly our lives come into perspective and our purpose is revealed: to love God and to be loved by God. Everything else in life flows from that place.
So this year, when you read Luke 2 or whatever version of the Christmas story is your tradition, think on these things. Let your heart feel what Jesus felt in the moments before he became flesh, the love that would bring him to the ultimate sacrifice, which he made for you and me. Then respond with all of your heart. Such is the message of Christmas.
Paul shares his response in Philippians 3:7-8:
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
