As we prepare to celebrate Christmas it seems we have lost the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah promised so many years in advance. Jesus, the hope of generations, has been forgotten. As we prepare to celebrate his appearance among us the Savior is increasingly marginalized. The one who offered himself as the ultimate gift is forgotten in the rush to buy gifts.
I remember as a child we always had a birthday cake in Jesus’ honor to remind us whose birthday was being celebrated. Today churches cancel services if they interfere with the holiday celebration. Apparently church members are more concerned with holiday busyness at home than with him who emptied himself and left his home.
The trend is not new, of course. Most of Israel was too busy to recognize the birth of the King of Kings. Even the esteemed religious leaders of the day missed the event while angels appeared gloriously to social outcast shepherds. Those who were insignificant, rejected and poor were receptive to news of his birth and left their work behind to fall down and worship him.
Perhaps nothing has changed at all. It is still easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom. We are a nation of affluent men and women. Maybe if we hope to find Jesus this Christmas we should not look at WalMart or at church. Maybe we should look among those who lack both wealth and hope and we may yet find the Son of Man walking among those the world despises.
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