Chuck Larsen

The Greek language that God chose to give us his written word in is often referred to as “Koine.” It means common. It’s not the Greek of the high-brow classics of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. It’s the language of the marketplace. It’s the language in which husbands wrote letters to their wives while away on military assignment. It was the language in which servants wrote shopping lists to take with them to the marketplace. It’s the language that was spoken between neighbors and relatives and friends and acquaintances. It was the language which all understood, and all could share in. One of the great challenges for us today in our English-speaking world is to write our messages in the Koine of our day. We need to reach the world where they are with the message that God sent in His Son, Jesus.

 I’ve often heard Christians say they do not participate in the secularization of Christmas. The lights, the stores, the parties, the presents, the glitz, the glamour etc., etc., all detract from the true meaning of Christmas. But when we do that, withdraw from our cultural expression of this Holiday season, we lose another opportunity to communicate the greatest message in the world.  Mickelsen writes in the Journal of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 9), “We must deal with a secular age which has a secular Christmas in terms which confront that age with the true meaning of Christmas. But then, when we do it, is this a secular gospel? My answer, of course, is no.” I agree completely! The world’s observance of this season presents each and every one of us with the opportunity to make our message the message of love it was intended to be.  It is a message that was delivered to the common people in a common way but with a most uncommon effect.

 Of all the gifts you could give to friends and loved ones, none could compare to the Gift that God gave to us to share. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The greatest gift of all is the gift of eternal life that is what God has given us through His Son and wishes for us to pass along to others. Peter made it clear in John 6:67 that only Jesus has this gift. Jesus asks Peter if he, too, will leave him as many others had done. But Peter says, “To whom would I go? Only you have the words of eternal life.” There is only one “true meaning” of Christmas. Let the cultural glitz and glamour open up doors of opportunity to share it with those you love.

We usually restrict Christmas Bible readings to the passages in Luke and Matthew. It’s all about the birth of a baby in Bethlehem, angels, shepherds, infancy stories, a wise man or two or three, and it’s all marvelous stuff. But we shouldn’t miss the power of the Christmas narrative in John’s Gospel. It’s called the prologue and includes John 1:1-18. Whereas the Christmas story usually begins with the birth narrative, John goes all the way back to Genesis 1, attaching Jesus to that when he writes, “In the Beginning was the Word.” This “word” was “with God, and the word was God.” This eternal being then “became flesh.” That’s the incarnation. That’s what Christmas is all about.

In verse 4, this infant that became flesh is the “light of all people.” Verse 5 affirms that the darkness will never be able to extinguish this light of life.  Further, it’s not just light in general, but in verse 9, it’s the “true light” that lightens every man. This light has come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus’ claims later are clear. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” (John 8:12). The Gospels show us the Shekinah glory of Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. John does not relate that event to us. As Van Harn says, “He (John) sees the glory of God in all Jesus says and does; supremely the hour for Jesus to be glorified is the crucifixion (12:23; 13:32; 17:1). Jesus shares God’s glory as an only son resembles his father. This is John’s favorite description of the relationship of Jesus and God.” He lights up the world!

The entire message of the Gospel of John is the true Gospel message. It’s the proclamation that the baby born in a stable was not just a baby of flesh and blood, although he was a true man. It was the Baby who was the only begotten of God and carried the same genetic deity of the Father. He goes on in verse 18 to say, “No one has ever seen God.” We know that not even Moses was allowed to see God’s face. But then he follows with the true meaning of Christmas. It’s Jesus, who existed in eternity past, who was with God in the very beginning. He is the one and only one who has revealed Him (God) to us. He makes God known to mankind through the incarnation and through His life, death, and resurrection. The prologue of John’s Gospel fills out the Christmas story. It’s the radical explanation of Jesus’ name, “God with us!” or Immanuel. This is the true meaning of Christmas, the truth which we are to celebrate at this time of year—and always. Light up your houses! Light up the streets! Light up the trees! Let His light shine!

I’m ready for Christmas. I haven’t completed all my shopping yet, but I’ve done a lot of it already. I have my lights up on my house. Actually, our son gives us an anniversary gift every year (November) of paying a company to put up Christmas lights on our house. We love it. I’m getting too old to crawl up on the roof. I used to do that! I was responsible for the outside, and Kathy would take care of the inside. She overdoes it every year. She puts up three, four, and sometimes five trees in various rooms of the house. She has a huge Christmas Spirit. Kathy has Christmas music playing 24/7! Well, maybe not that much, but if you walk into our house, the chances are good you’ll hear some of the good old Christmas songs we all know so well. Music is extremely important at this time of year, and the air is filled with the sounds of Christmas just about everywhere you go. I’m trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this season (as usual) amidst the hype of the “holiday” season.

L. Wilson wrote some special little devotionals for Christmas. One of the was “No L.” Speaking of the true meaning of Christmas, There’s something I just don’t get. Why do we sing No “L” every Christmas? Could you imagine a Christmas without the letter “L?” Without “L,” we could not talk about Jesus bringing eterna_ _ife into the wor_d. Wasn’t that the purpose of the virgin birth, the chi_d in the manger, the ange_s on high, the shepherds in the fie_d, and the kings with the gifts? How can we tell people about God’s _ove without the letter “L?” John 3:16 just wouldn’t be the same. “For God so _oved the wor_d that He gave …” Christmas is a celebration of _ove. Because God _oved us and gave, we give to those we _ove. What would Christmas be without _aughter? How can we express our joy when we watch our chi_dren open their presents? The conversation around the dinner tab_e wou_d be so ordinary. We’d lose the joy.

What’s that? Oh, it’s not No “L” we sing, it’s Noel. The dictionary entry says: No-el (noh-el) n. (In carols) Christmas. It’s just another word for Christmas. Well, in that case, never mind. Merry Noel to you.”  Adding to what Wilson says, the wonderful Wikipedia says: “Noel (also spelled Nowell or Noël) (nəʊˈɛl) is an alternative word for Christmas. It first entered the English language in the 14th century. The word comes from Middle English noel, which derives from the Old French word noël and its more common form naël. The English spelling “Noël” is taken directly from modern French, which also derives from Old French. The ultimate Latin origin is the phrase nātālis (diēs), “(day) of birth”. Anyway, I wish you a very happy “No L” day!

When Christmas time comes around, I find myself thinking about giving. That started last month with the “Thanks” giving season. Now it’s time to focus on the greatest “giving” time of the year. God so loved the world (you and me!) That he GAVE his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christmas is about giving. First, we celebrate God’s gift to us. It’s the central reality of this season. It’s not Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, a little drummer boy, or the Grinch, even though I sometimes feel like him. It’s Jesus! It is God’s gift to us that inspires our gifts to others. We love only because he loved us first! Our giving finds its roots in God’s gift to us. Some time ago, I came across this story that really touched me. I think that it’s incredibly difficult to pass on the true meaning of Christmas amidst the glitz and glamour of the season. How do we keep the focus pure? This story helped me.

“The small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so. It all began because my husband, Mike, hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute, the gifts given in desperation. Knowing he felt that way, I decided to do something different. Our son Kevin was wrestling at the junior high school. Shortly before Christmas, his team played a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, were a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team’s boys were wrestling without headgear. It was a luxury they obviously could not afford. We ended up walloping them. As each boy got up from the mat, he swaggered in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat. Mike shook his head sadly. “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. ‘They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.’

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree with a note telling Mike what I had done as my gift to him. His smile was the brightest thing that Christmas. Each Christmas after that, I sent Mike’s gift money to a different group—one year sending a group of youngsters with mental disabilities to a hockey game, another year giving a check to elderly brothers whose home had burned down the week before Christmas.

We lost Mike to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was so wrapped up in grief that I barely got the tree up. But on Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.