Scripture
—Luke 2:13-14
Observation
Oh how we need to go back to the basics when it comes to celebrating Christmas. What began in those early days as a time of remembering Christ has been carried now to inordinate excess. Christmas to day is grand opportunity for the malls to cash in on sales and for the crowd to ride in to the year-end mood of late-night parties.
How far have we come in the corruption of our tastes from the reverence of the simple shepherds, the songs of the angels and the beauty of the heavenly host! The Star of Bethlehem could not lead a wise man to adore Christ today; it could not be distinguished amid the millions of artificial lights hung aloft on Orchard Road. No angels could sing loudly enough to make themselves heard above the raucous, earsplitting rendition of upbeat versions of "Silent Night" meant to draw customers to the shopping malls.
In our mad materialism we have turned beauty into ashes, prostituted every normal emotion and made merchandise of the holiest Gift the world ever knew. Christ came to bring peace and we celebrate His coming by becoming restlessly noisy and busy through the Christmas season. Not peace but tension, fatigue and irritation rule the Christmas season. He came to free us of debt and many respond by going deep into debt each year to buy enervating luxuries for people who do not appreciate them. He came to help the poor and we heap gifts upon those who do not need them. The simple token given out of love has been displaced by expensive presents given because we have been caught in a squeeze and don’t know how to back out of it. Not the beauty of the Lord our God is found in such a situation, but the ugliness of human nature!
Application
Let's return to the very heart of Christmas, which is Christ! It's time to oppose the rush and enjoy His rest as we quietly and sincerely adore Him who is Christ the King. Let's return to serving others this Christmas - others who need His rest and peace, instead of just serving ourselves with parties and props. Let's return to helping the poor - with living cost going up in Singapore, let's identify those in need and bless them with material gifts this Christmas and remind ourselves that Christ came for such.
Making Christ the centre of Christmas will relieve us of the tension of shopping and deliver us from the cesspool of commercialism into which we can become submerged. Let's take time to join the angel hosts in praising God and truly singing "Glory to God in the highest." Only then have we really celebrated Christmas!
