My Christmas message is offered knowing many people are not able to be worshiping in a church this Christmas Eve due to the pandemic. And just as I had Thanksgiving meal alone for the first time in about a decade, I realize there are others like me who are single and alone, or folks who cannot be with extended family due to the high coronavirus risk. It is a challenging time for many of us. I have prayed you would be encouraged by my message.
On Easter, I worshiped God all morning in my room, which included doing what I do most every morning: Scripture reading and pondering, prayer, and singing. I also journaled. And after spending much time thinking about and relishing a big blessing from God in my life, I gained a special blessing.
The morning included intense lamenting as the coronavirus catastrophe was swelling in the U.S. And my friend Christel, who had a different health challenge for many years, was in much pain that very day. She passed away five days later. Honestly, Easter did not seem like Easter. Our neighborhood road is ten times calmer when high school is out, but on any given day some cars roll down our street. Surely cars passed by on Easter Sunday, but I did not hear a single one all day. The silence was eerie. Yet before going to bed that night, I had joy and peace knowing that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that He loves me!
Easter was the central yearly celebration for Christians early on. In early centuries the celebration retained the term Paschal Festival or Paschal Feast, “Pascha” meaning Passover. (Pascha is still used by some Eastern Christians.) The emphasis was on the sacrificial atonement of Jesus as the Lamb of God, expressed by Paul in I Corinthians 5:7-8. Yet resurrection was also key. Ignatius once referred to all Sundays, which he termed the Lord’s Day, as resurrection-day! Anatolius of Alexandria called the Paschal feast “the festival of the Lord’s resurrection.” There is a classic set of writings of early Christians, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Doing a search for the word “resurrection” for simply the first three volumes, I got 650 hits. Resurrection was a focus for the early Christians along with the atonement. Thus the term Easter was embraced eventually, a Saxton word which denotes resurrection (which I know thanks to the scholar C.F. Cruse).
Centuries later, Christians started celebrating Christmas. Carols have long been one of my favorite Christmas expressions, and “Silent Night” is a staple. Jesus was born in the middle of the night. Since so many people were in Bethlehem to register for the census, a few folks were probably still awake being rowdy. Yet when the shepherds went to see the baby, surely there was much silent reverence before that newborn. The quiet reverence surrounding the manger where the Messiah lay would not have been eerie like the April 12th silence, rather the silent reverence was surely awesome.
And think of all the blessed reverence there has been by Christians year after year for the past two thousand years for the birth of Christ. I personally have been a part of Christians being reverent on Christmas Eve expressed by both a joyful noise in celebration, and in that powerful act of softly singing “Silent Night” with candles in hand. Revelation 8:1 speaks of silence in heaven when the seventh seal is opened. God remains holy throughout all ages. We should heed the teaching of Scripture: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” (Hebrews 12:28). Reverence for God is right even when so much in our world comes unglued in the midst of rampant sin.
If you have never truly celebrated Christmas or Easter in your heart, you can. That baby who was born in a manger was Immanuel, which means “God with us.” And about thirty-three years later, Jesus was crucified on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the substitutional atonement for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death. Then He was resurrected. I invite you to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. You need to truly believe in Jesus. The result is eternal life in heaven, and hope in this world. Though there has been so much sickness and death and loss and hurt and animosity and stress and loneliness this year all around the world, the love of God is still available, and the love of God results in everlasting goodness.
Hunter Irvine
+ Take some prayer time.
- Tell Jesus anything you want to right now.
- Give thanks to God that even after such a challenging year for so many, we have a reason to celebrate Christmas, thanks to the love of Jesus.
I encourage you to now sing “Silent Night! Holy Night!”
Here is a link with lyrics to the song performed by Natalie Raynes:
I hope your Christmas is blessed, because Jesus loves you! love, Hunter
