Brothers and Sisters,
In my household, it’s become an annual tradition for us to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas as a family. The highlight of the short film, in my opinion, is the scene where Linus reads an excerpt from the narrative of the birth of Jesus in Luke 2. He concludes:
“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
I think on what Christmas is all about each year when I lead Christmas Eve worship. When we get to the Proper Preface for Christmas, we pray to the Lord:
“You gave Jesus Christ, your only Son, to be born for us; who, by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary his mother, was made truly man, yet without the stain of sin, that we might be cleansed from sin and given the right to become your children.”
That’s what Christmas is all about.
The Father gave his only and eternal Son to be born. This Son, who is fully God, became fully man, yet without the stain of sin. Why did the Father give the gift of this Son? For us. He came to be our Savior. He came to save us from our sins. Jesus came that we
might be cleansed from sin through faith in Him and given the right to become children of God.
Christmas is more than parties, and more than warm feelings, as wonderful as those things are. Christmas is all about the message that the Savior has come. There is forgiveness in Him. There is new life in Him. There is, in Him, the gift of adoption as sons and daughters of God for all who believe. In receiving Christ by faith, we receive the greatest gift that has ever been given.
Merry Christmas, my brothers and sisters. I look forward to celebrating Jesus, the greatest gift of all time, with you. Jesus is what Christmas is all about.
In Christ,
Fr. Caleb