Merry Christmas

We Wish You A Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
As this is the last Drumbo Baptist Church column of 2006, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you the Merriest of Christmas. It has been an amazing year and most of us can look back on 2006 with delight. So many things have happened in our lives. For some there have been new homes, new families, new babies and new experiences. Even when it hasn’t been the greatest we have learned from all our experiences and smiled just the same. Isn’t life a growing experience? Isn’t planning for the future an adventure?
Someone once said that the only time we stop going and growing is when we stop breathing. If you are reading this, you are still on the journey we call life. At this time of year we celebrate Christmas. It is more then a season and more then just wish others something. We all say it but do we mean it? Go ahead, think about it the next time you say it, “Merry Christmas.” What do you really mean by it? If you are a Christ follower, it will mean something entirely different then those who are doing Christmas. Sunday in church I asked everyone, are you doing Christmas or are you celebrating it?
That is really what the difference is all about. Yes, Christmas is a wonderful time when everyone puts aside their differences and gets along, if only for a few weeks a year. Don’t worry I am not going to get into the discussion about celebrating all year. But Christmas needs to be more. Again at church, I talked about there being a difference between Christmas externally and internally. Which do you celebrate?
This gets us back to, what does it mean when you say, “Merry Christmas.” Do we mean for the person we are giving greeting to that they will have a great old time? Will they party and have office or work parties? Do we want them to feel happy and glad? Merry is an interesting work in itself. When attached to the word Christmas it can just be a seasonal greeting. For the rest of the year we say, Hi, How ya doing? Quite sad if that is all it conveys. Here is Mr. Webster’s definition. 1 archaic: giving pleasure: DELIGHTFUL 2: full of gaiety or high spirits: MIRTHFUL 3: marked by festivity or gaiety. Now, try to connect that to that word Christmas. Here is my definition. When I say Merry Christmas to anyone, I want to wish for them a beautiful Christmas time away from the thoughts of the not so great times this past year. Maybe the English say it better, ‘Happy Christmas’.
The advent spells out all the things we need to hold dear in what we wish for each other. First we pursue HOPE. Not just a hope for eternity, even though that is important, but more so a hope of a renewal of our faith in God and our commitment to Him. PEACE comes next. This is a peace unknown to the world. It is a peace we experience only in our hearts. We are at peace with ourselves and with God. JOY is the next important element of Advent. Joy is something that erupts inside each and every one of us as we look beyond the trials and stresses of life. The joy of knowing God personally and knowing He cares for us. The final attribute of Christmas culminates in LOVE. As one builds on the other, we arrive at a place in life where no matter what happens, God ultimately knows what is best for us. We rest in Him.
Take time this year to celebrate each of these most wonderful gifts. And celebrate the most wonderful gift the world has been given, God’s Son, Jesus Christ. God has given all these gifts to each and every one of us. When we internalize all of them we can wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas . . . and mean it.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!