What are you celebrating today? The birth of Jesus right? I mean, we are celebrating other things too I know, like special time with family and friends, delicious food, the end of another year, but it’s the birth of Jesus that gives us the true meaning of Christmas. And yet, is it just another birthday party? Where the sugar cookies and hamballs take the place of cake and ice cream? Where we celebrate another year of being a Christian and go back to life as normal? I hope not. I hope not because that’s not why Jesus was born.
What are we celebrating? The birth of Jesus is the correct answer, but let me add a little something to it. “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” We are celebrating Jesus’ birth BECAUSE—because he has saved us from our sins.
In other words, if you didn’t know or don’t know that Jesus has saved you from your sins, if you don’t believe that, you have nothing to celebrate today. He’s just another dead guy with a lot of name recognition. We’ve all been to those kind of parties, where you don’t really know the person you are celebrating, but you show up and eat their cake and ice cream all the same. That’s what Christmas means for many people—free cake and ice cream, presents, neat songs playing on the radio, happy feelings. But for you who are gathered here this morning, you have the opportunity to celebrate much more.
Jesus didn’t just come to give, but to take away. He didn’t just come to give you a reason to party, he came to give you life and take away your sins—take away your death. The angel, God’s messenger, told Mary to name her son Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua, which means “the Lord saves” because he would save his people from their sins. We aren’t just here to celebrate his birth, but to celebrate the fact that we needed a Savior, we really did, and then He was born. There was no way we could find peace with God, there were problems involved, we weren’t holy, we weren’t acceptable, we did awful things to one another and then, one day, Jesus was born to destroy take away those things. We needed him to be born. We were once separated from God by our sin, but Jesus came to bring God close to us and destroy sin once and for all.
And we aren’t just celebrating the fact that our Savior was born a long time ago; we are celebrating the fact that we need him just as much today as any day in our life. We need a Savior each and every moment of our lives. This day is about so much more than a birthday party, but a chance to worship God and what he means to us each and every day of our lives. Not just that God saved us from our sin, but that he promises to never leave us—ever. We need to make every day Christmas. We need to remember that Jesus wasn’t just born—we needed him to be born. And even more than that, we can’t go one more moment without him in our lives. He is Emmanuel, God with us. The cake and ice cream, cookies and hamballs mean nothing without salvation.
Christmas Day isn’t just another fun celebration—it’s something we can’t live without. In fact, no one can. Not everybody knows this, that’s for sure, but that’s why it’s so important to point it out. The invitation is out there for everyone, including all of you here, but you’re missing more than a good party if you don’t know the birthday boy. Today, you will each have an opportunity, at least one, not only to share who Christmas is about, but why that matters. Who will you deliver the invitation to today?
We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ today, but it’s important not to leave salvation out of the Christmas story. Therefore, let us take a moment now to confess not only our need to be saved but that God was indeed born to save us in Jesus Christ.
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