The Real Meaning Of Christmas

A story is told of Warren, the brother of the well-known writer C. S. Lewis. He was travelling on a bus when they passed a church which had a Christmas crib in front. He overheard a woman exclaim, “Oh Lor’! They bring religion into everything. Look—they’re even dragging it into Christmas now!”

 

For the majority of our Western population Christmas is little more than a secular holiday. No doubt some look forward to the partying and the excuse for a booze-up. Likewise for others it is little different to any other day in the year. As someone declared, “So why’s Christmas just like a normal day in the office? You do all the work and that fat bloke in the suit gets all the credit.” Some would relate to the Austrian lass of sixteen who wrote, as reported in a leaflet of the European Christian Mission:

 

Christmas always brings fear to my heart. For a few minutes we watched the lighted candles on the tree. We open our presents, we have a holiday and better things to eat. We live peaceably together. But afterwards the days are no different than they were before. The already dirty snow lies banked up on either side of the road. There just remains a great emptiness.

 

One sophisticated magazine published the following greeting to its readers:

 

From most of us to some of you, then, a very very alienated Christmas, a disenchanted New Year; some degree, if you insist, of peace on earth; and whatever you may find to your advantage in good will toward men.

 

Others can appreciate a time of celebration, even if they are unsure of what it is they are celebrating. If they think Christianity has something to do with it, though not usually church attenders, they may well attend a service or a carol singing event. After all, for those who watch television, there does not seem to be much in the world to celebrate. The emphasis given by Christians to the birth of Jesus may have its appeal to many, even though they interpret Christmas in basically secular terms. There is, after all, something special about babies. The emphasis on children always has its appeal. We were all young once and the world’s great thinkers often had lowly origins.