The First Christmas
The story of Christmas as told by Zeke the Donkey
Christmas means many things to many people but it might also mean different things to the same person at different stages of life.
When I was a kid, Christmas meant a day off from school and great shows on Channel 5. My family never really celebrated Christmas. So all those stuff about turkeys, gifts, Santa Claus and Christmas Trees was something that happened on TV which had no relevance to me.
My wife on the other hand loved Christmas as their family would celebrate by going to their Auntie's house for festivities. They weren't Christians at the time, but one of her Aunties was and they would merrily follow her to midnight mass and do the presents and other Christmassy stuff. Those were the good old days when they still used cotton wool to put on Christmas trees to simulate snow and you could work out the age of the Christmas tree from the colour of the cotton wool.
Now of course we celebrate Christmas together as a family and have the Christmas tree lit up and presents for the kids. But it is still my wife who does most of the decorations and the planning for the festivities. For her, it is something that she had always grown up with. For me, I go along with it but I sometimes find it really stressful, if you know what I mean.
But the festivities are really all the outward stuff. One can have the tallest Christmas tree, the present you have been always wanting, (for me that would be the Canon 5D Mk II and for my son, an Xbox - both of us will have to wait till next Christmas maybe) but those things will only bring you happiness for a short while. The joy of Christmas is really what happens on the inside and what happens on the inside is dependent on our relationship with our loved ones and for Christians, with the Saviour who was born on this day.
So Christmas is always a time for me to remember the birth of Jesus. I guess the nativity scene is something that most people recognize immediately and will be able to tell you that the baby in the scene is the infant Jesus. But knowing that the baby is Jesus has as much impact on you as knowing that the next president of the US is Barack Obama. But if you could pick up the phone and call Mr Obama, that would be a different story altogether.
Just recently, I managed to watch the short movie about the life of gangster turned pastor, Rev Neville Tan. There was a part in the film where he was kept in solitary confinement for a period of time and was starting to turn crazy. His fellow inmate passed him some toilet paper which turned out to be pages torned out from the bible. Since he was bored he started to read it starting with the account of the birth of Jesus. He recalled that when he got to the part about a Virgin giving birth, he could not help but laugh and laugh as he found it amazing that Christians would believe such a thing.
Of course, naturally speaking, a virgin could not give birth. I guess to most people who do not know Jesus, this would be preposterous. However, in the case of Neville, his life took such a dramatic turn after he accepted the Lord into his life that one would have to say that it was easier to believe in a Virgin birth than to believe that a person as hardcore as Neville could be so completely and utterly changed.
We are all brought up with the adage: "Seeing is believing", but sometimes we have to believe first and than we shall see or as St Augustine, the 4th century theologian puts it,
We live in uncertain times and I personally know of people who are in difficult circumstances. I can do only so much to help, but I know and am fully convinced that it is Jesus who can make the real difference. He has done it in my life, the life of Neville Tan and countless others. That is why we call Him Saviour and that is why we celebrate Christmas.
Have a Blessed and meaningful Christmas everyone!
If you would like to know more about Jesus, please email me at leslie.tay@gmail.com
7 comments:
wishing all a peaceful and restful Christmas!
Nice post. Merry X'mas!
Hi Ieat
Yes, i agree with you that its the inside that matters and not the outside. Jesus came to this world to save sinners like you and me and the rest of the world.
The bar is higher now where else the old testatment is just the following the "Code" on the outside but now we live under the new testatment where both the inside and outside counts. Its not easy, but if we rely on him to give us renewed strength and courage each day, he will not fail us.
Yes indeed X'mas is the time of merry and enjoying each other's company but its a joy that people in the whole wide world be it non-christian or christians believe that there is a saviour and now he is in heaven watching over his children..........What a joy!!!
Just my two cent thoughts...
Merry X'mas Bro
Indeed...
Happy are those who do not see, but yet believe!
Have a blessed Christmas everyone!
I've never regretted a single day inviting Christ into my life. : )
I very much prefer Good Friday more than Christmas. It speaks to me more than the blatant consumerism that plagued Xmas which is nothing more than a mad orgy filled with pagan symbols (xmas tree, mistletoe, holly wreaths, yule logs and Santa Claus) and drunken revelry. Everything about Xmas is warm and fuzzy, appealing to the public, rather than the hard-hitting message that comes from the gist of Good Friday/Easter Sunday. A sleeping baby Jesus is more commercially attractive and viable than a bloodied half-naked grown up Jesus being tortured. And i know that the latter is always the true version of Jesus kept in my heart. No offence to those X'mas lovers, this is just my POV.
We can always celebrate Christ's birth in our own special ways. I have no problems with the those symbols because behind them, the message of the birth of Christ is shared (no matter how obscure). This season also gives us opportunities to celebrate Him with our love ones and friends. Christ becomes more accessible (so to speak). : )
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