12 Days of Christmas: 3

By thissmallgroup, December 22, 2019

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a whole lot to celebrate (and a lot of different ways to do it). Part of what makes this time of year so magical is how many different religions (or non-religions) are all celebrating at the same time. Whether they are celebrating Christmas with a capital C, Christmas with an emphasis on Santa, one jar of oil lasting for eight crazy nights during Chanakuh, or the seven principles of Kwanzaa there is a lot of partying going on. However sometimes, instead of focusing on the parts of these celebrations that bring us closer together, we choose to focus on the ones that push us apart. Now we are an openly Christian blog so I’m not advocating taking the Christ out of Christmas or forgetting the true Reason for the Season, in fact I’m proposing the exact opposite: if Jesus were here right now how would He choose to celebrate His birthday and who would He be celebrating with?

It’s no secret that Jesus spent a lot of time during His earthly ministry eating and partying with what was deemed as the “out crowd” by the Jewish leaders of His day. Don’t believe me? Check out Mark 2 and Luke 15! These were not the people you find yourself sitting next to on Sunday morning, in fact some of them probably hadn’t entered a church (or synagogue) in a long time. They were tax collectors, money lenders, and sinners and yet Jesus chose to spend His limited time with them. Why? Because He came to earth to extend His love and forgiveness to all of His people, not just the one’s who are already celebrating Christmas with a capital C.

So maybe this year instead of getting insulted when a sales associate wishes us a “happy holiday” instead of a “Merry Christmas,” or a coworker asks that we respect their observation of Chanakuh as much as they respect our celebration of Christmas, we choose to celebrate with them, we would be celebrating Jesus the way He would have wanted us to. Maybe that is the true reason for the season, being Jesus to people who don’t know Him yet by meeting them where they’re at and celebrating with them! So Happy Merry Christma-Kwanza-kah from one person Jesus loves and came to save to another.

-Abby