“The True Christmas Spirit”

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”
Ephesians 4:17-21

This may seem like an unlikely Christmas passage, but ultimately it is a reflection of what the true Christmas Spirit is all about. As Mary sat holding Jesus, the day after He was born, I wonder if she knew how things were about to change! Her and Joseph’s life, of course, was changing. Just ask anyone with kids. Introducing a child into your family dynamic changes things…more work, less sleep, amazing joy!
But did she realize that with His birth, the way that man approached God was about to change…how we think, the way we live, our relationships with one another?

The coming of Christ that day changed things! Mary and Joseph were changed! The shepherds were changed! The Magi were changed! In essence, it is the purest example of the Christmas Spirit. Being in the Christmas Spirit is not about wearing festive clothes, hanging lights, putting up a tree or giving gifts. The Christmas Spirit is about “living a changed life in light of His coming.”

It is a telling thing really. How many of you “the day after Christmas” feel enriched, alive and full of hope? How many of you feel depleted, drained or at best unchanged? Luke 2:8-16 tells us how the shepherds came to know of Jesus’ birth. Upon hearing the news, they traveled to Bethlehem to “see this thing the Lord had told them about”:

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.”
Luke 2:16-18

Scripture tells us that they returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen! They didn’t go home, take down their tree, put away their decorations and go back to business as usual! They came back enriched, alive and full of hope. For most folks, Christmas is over on December 25th. Most of you probably already have your trees down and your decorations put away, but that first Christmas…things were just getting started! People’s lives were being changed.

Matthew 2 tells the story of the three wise men. Matthew 2:1-2 reveals how they reacted to the birth of Christ:

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

These wise men, from the east, were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. With great expectation, they watched the skies, night after night, waiting for the sign of His coming. Upon seeing the star, they did not simply, congratulate one another and go back to their day jobs. These men, changed by the light of His coming, traveled hundreds of miles, leaving comfort behind, to go and worship:

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of frankincense, and myrrh.”
Matthew 2:11

I’m here to tell you that the 1st Christmas season did not start with a Black Friday sale and end with His birth! The Christmas season started with His Birth! It took the Magi two years to get there and two years to get home! Their whole lives changed course “in light of His coming”! That is the real Christmas Spirit!

That is what Paul was saying to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:22-24:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Living a changed life is the purest expression of the Christmas Spirit! Are you in the Christmas Spirit?





Pastor Scott Burr http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com