The Secret About Christmas Spirit

“I wish we could put some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” - Harlan Miller

As adults and teenagers, I think some of the luster on “Christmas Spirit” starts to wear off. We don’t have cousins to see, (or at least that we want to see) presents to get, and our wallets are stretched painfully. Fact is, by the time we reach teenagerhood, Christmas Spirit is all but a myth to most of us. But I don’t really think Christmas Spirit is a myth. I think it’s a real and active force. Sure we’re all struggling to some extent, but don’t we all put a little extra effort into being kind, a few more smiles here and there, whatever it may be, even amid the stress of the season, I think there’s some extra spirit in all of us.

So why? I mean we’re under tremendous stress. Why is there so much (here’s a key word, pay attention) JOY in our culture during Christmastime? Maybe it’s because some of the joy we spread during the Christmas season in the gifts and the smiles wears off on us. Our school started a kindness club this year and I joined and I have to tell you I’ve never been in a bad mood after a kindness club meeting. It rubs off on you. Maybe it really is the prospect of seeing friends and family, getting a new present, or if nothing else a few days off of work and school and a good night’s sleep. But there is, unassailably something about this time of year that gives us a special spirit. Notably, on December 26th, or whatever date your holiday festivities come to a close the dearth of once present joy is extremely evident. Like Miller, we want that spirit all year long, but year after year our New Years’s Resolutions are dashed and we fall into the same rut. It was the story of 2018, 2017, 2016 and it will almost certainly be the story of 2019.

How do we bottle that joy? Well the reality is that joy isn’t a feeling and it can’t be bottled. The only way you can understand this is if you understand that the words “joy” and “happiness” are not synonymous at all. I wrote an essay on this topic once and left religion out of it and it didn’t really work. Let me try to bring it to gather a little more. Happiness is a feeling. As I right this, I’m pretty happy because I’m done with school, I passed my final, and I’m driving to my grandparents. Plus, we just got out of a massive traffic jam and are cruising along the Chicago freeway at sixty miles an hour. Tuesday night I wasn’t very happy because I had a final the next day, I found out that my mother/son date had to be canceled, and I had four thousand things to get done before the end of the week to feel like a productive human being. Happiness is circumstantial. Always.

Joy on the other hand is not an emotion. Joy is a choice and it remains present regardless of circumstance. It remains happy even in the traffic jams, the speeding tickets, the loved ones who die, the financial stress of Christmas, joy is always available and it is something we must choose.

How do I choose joy then, Braxton? Wonderful question, I’m so glad you asked. Joy isn’t a human feeling like the movie Inside Out wants you to believe. Joy is only given through the person and work of Jesus Christ working inside of you. That’s it. Simple as that. Confusing? Allow me to digress into an explanation of the narrative of the Bible.

God created the heavens and the earth. This of course, takes faith to believe. There isn’t scientific evidence for this but the absence of scientific evidence doesn’t mean there isn’t any at all. There’s also no evidence for evolution or the Big Bang, which makes the theory that we teach in public schools as religious as the Creationist world view. I would argue that it takes significantly more faith to believe that something came from nothing, that life came from rock and that this life became a monkey which somehow turned into a human being, something that we have never observed and have no evidence for than it takes to believe that a supreme creator made this amazing world. Have you been to Alaska? Have you ever seen the snow capped mountains or heard the sound of absolute silence. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard or seen and it was all the evidence I needed. This didn’t just get here. This beautiful world came from someone.

He also created men and women. He set them above all the creation, they were in fact made in the image of God. This means that all humans have a supreme value. Dogs were not made in the image of God. This is the reason that there is value in every human life and this is also why I get irritated with animal rights activists. It’s not that we shouldn’t be treating animals with respect, but we’re putting more into our pets then we are to starving children in Africa and that is a problem.

Adam and Eve were given freedom in the Garden of Eden to eat from any tree except from the tree in the middle and everything at that time period was perfect. By caving to temptation, Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and introduced death and the horrible world we live in. If you don’t think it’s horrible, watch the evening news this week. It’s cursed by sin, undeniably.

A just and perfect God cannot allow sin to abide in his presence. Sometimes we hear people say, “How can God let innocent children die?” Or things along these lines. This is the effect of a sin cursed world. I will never forget an absolutely searing sermon I heard from Pastor Doug Helmer (you may hear me refer to him, he is absolutely amazing and has been a huge mentor to me) who said: “Most of us have shaken our fists at heaven and asked ‘Why does anything bad ever happen?’ when the question we should all be asking is ‘why does anything good ever happen?’” In light of our sin, God should crush us all. Romans 3:23 says clearly that the wages of sin are death. Sin deserves death and if that seems harsh, I invite you to dive in and take a closer look at the holiness of God. How could a perfect God sweep sin under the rug. His justice may seem harsh, but I would hope that a God worthy of my worship would have this.

Yet God, in spite of our sin loved us enough. Throughout the Old Testament God’s people go astray and continue to ignore him and yet he loves them and he redeems them again and again until finally the New Testament begins and he redeems once in for all through his son Jesus Christ who comes into the world, lives a perfect life and dies on the cross with (not measly nails) stakes nailed through his legs and wrists and rises again, thereby  conquering sin, death, hell and the grave for all who would believe in him. There is eternal life in his death and his sacrifice in our place.

Yeah right, Braxton. Prove it.

Okay, I’ll try. But I’m not going to go into too much detail on this. We’ve already gotten a long essay, and the fact is, at the end of the day you’ll always be able to find a reason to doubt. I can give you evidence after evidence after evidence and you can still find one reason to doubt. Ultimately it requires faith and I can’t force that. But if you do have questions on the existence or ministry of Christ or you want to challenge me on those points, I’d love to have that discussion with you. Shoot me an email.

First of all, there is more historical evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than for the existence of Julias Caesar. Nearly all Atheists will agree that Jesus was a real person. He also lived a real ministry and performed real miracles and had real disciples follow him. And one notable thing he did during his ministry was claim to be God. This is where we loose many people. Jesus wasn’t really God, just a really good teacher. False. Jesus claimed to be God. So paraphrasing C.S. Lewis here you’ve got three options on Jesus: He’s either a lunatic on level with the man who thinks he’s a poached egg, he’s an evil liar who deserved the death he got, or he is exactly what he claimed to be - God in the flesh. You can choose for yourself what you want to believe about Jesus, but please choose informed.

He really died too. Scripture tells us his heart was pierced. Blood and water came out. This wasn’t an accidental or faked death. We’re talking about Roman executionists who had done this thousands of times and who would be dead in a second if they failed to kill this wanted man. And he really rose from the dead. People can’t wrap their heads around this, but guys - 500 witnesses! 500 people can’t hallucinate at the same time. Jesus really did rise again and fulfill the prophecies about him. If he didn’t, why would anyone be willing to die for him in the way that his apostles did?

It’s a lot to wrap your mind around. People don’t want Jesus because they don’t want to submit and worship something they can’t understand. They want to be in charge of their own lives. Quite frankly, a God I can understand can’t possibly be worthy of my worship.

So then, there’s the miracle of Christmas. It’s not really about “Jesus’s Birthday” or a cute little baby in a manger. It’s just this year that I’m kind of wrapping my mind around that. It’s about who that baby is. That baby is God in the flesh. He didn’t have to come and humble himself and die on a cross. I mean he’s God. He made the world and he comes as a baby in a manger because they couldn’t even find room in a stinking hotel. Talk about humble beginnings! For you. For me. Scripture says he rejoices over us with singing. Stupid sinners who do absolutely terrible things and waste the resources given to us. We deserve death. Oh sure, I’ll be even more blunt. Hell. That’s what you and I deserve and yet he offers us eternal life in his glorious presence in heaven. For real.

That’s what brings me joy during those long winter days that last until April here. When the sun is setting at 4:19, and I’m not getting stuff done, and family members are struggling with health concerns I’m not happy. But I am joyful. I’m joyful because Christ died for me and set me free and I get to serve him. That’s all the hope that I need and it gives me joy every day. If I didn’t believe that with all of my heart, I don’t really think there’d be any point in living.

For the one in Christ there is so much hope for you and so much joy. Take hold of it this year and be reminded of the joy he offers you.

If you’re not in Christ, know this: you are loved. I know I didn’t outline all the questions you might have. And I’m not trying to convert you. That’s not something within my power, only Christ can do that. I just want seekers. Check out a church. If you’re in the Avon area, Harvest Indy West is amazing. Check out a Bible. If you don’t want to buy one there’s a hundred phone apps that are fantastic. Dive in. Check Jesus out and think about what he offers you. Ask questions. I’m so happy to answer them and there are people around you who want to do the same. But ask them. Be seekers. Eternity is on the line. You are loved.