Are You a Christmas Christian?

Sam Hamstra | Dec 29, 2010

Empty TombA few Easters ago, following the example of many preachers, I offered a sermon in which I asked “Are you a Good Friday Christian or an Easter Christian?.” The premise of the message was that, from time to time, we live as if Christ were still in the grave, instead of living as followers of him who walked out of the tomb and ascended to heaven from which he reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This past Christmas morning I was asked a similar question while attending the midnight mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Palos Hills, IL. Father Patrick Tucker spoke about being a “Christmas Christian.” In other words, is the Christmas event a season that passes or one that shapes our lives in and beyond the season?

What does it mean to be a Christmas Christian? Surely it means to live with joy for the angel said “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Surely it means to live without fear for that same angel said, “Fear Not.” Surely it means to follow the example of the shepherds who returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Surely it means to follow the example of the Wise Men who not only worshiped Jesus but also showered gifts upon him.

So again I ask, what does it mean to be a Christmas Christian? Father Tucker spoke of another option found in Philippians 2:6-7. There we read that Jesus, in obedience to his father in heaven, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, so that he might be born of the virgin Mary. Based on that text, then, a Christmas Christian is one who follows the example of Jesus Christ by living in humble and faithful obedience to the Lord. And that leads me to conclude that an excellent New Year’s resolution is “Lord, in 2011, more times than not, make me a Christmas Christian.”

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