Ask what Christmas means, and most people will give answers that are warm and emotional.
- The joyful music.
- The outrageous sweaters.
- The possibility of snow.
- Christmas dinner with family.
- A kiss under the mistletoe.
- The lights all about town.
It’s less usual for people to give the reason found in John 1:29:
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ ”
We don’t want to take away from the tender memories we have of Christmas morning, of unwrapping presents and the shine in our children’s eyes. Those are very real and have become entwined into our culture.
It’s equally vital to remember why Jesus showed up in the first place. Leave this out, and the rest of the tale becomes a series of words in a big book, hardly worth sharing except as a bedtime story.
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Try this: Set a sealed container (a small box will do) next to your manger scene. Make sure it has a slot just large enough to insert a slip of paper. Have each family member write something for which they need forgiveness on individual slips of paper and insert them each evening. Then pray over them anonymously. On Christmas day, set them in the fireplace (or use an outdoor grill) and burn them to ash.
That’s what God does, burns our sins to ash, and they are no more.
Let’s proclaim the birth of the Christ child, and let’s add to it that he has come to take away the sins of the world.
Jesus is our Savior, and in him, we are set free of every wrongdoing and bad thing.
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