What's the Reason Again?

Anyone who has been here in OKC during the month of December probably knows that it brings a few distinct changes. For one, the weather starts to get colder and wetter, not typically snowy, just rainy and occasionally icy. The wind is the one weather constant year round since it's the one thing that never EVER stops here. During winter it merely picks up speed and makes people who thought they knew what cold was rethink the very definition of "chilled to the bone." There's something about winter here that makes 32 degrees feel so much colder than other places.

In addition to the weather changes you feel, other changes occur for you to hear. Magic 104.1 starts to play Christmas music beginning Thanksgiving (or maybe the day after) and continuing non-stop to New Years Day. And you know it's not truly the Christmas season here until you start to hear the B.C. Clark's jingle. (You know the one that gets stuck in your head and somehow becomes part of the very fabric of the Christmas season in Oklahoma... "Jewelry is the gift to give, 'cause it's the gift that lives and lives. So give the gift you know can't fail, from B.C. Clark's anniversary sale. Most sales are after Christmas, but Clark's is just before. Most everything is marked way down with savings you can't ignore at Oklahoma's oldest jeweler, since 1892. So give the gift you know can't fail, from B.C. Clark's anniversary sale.")

The change in music plays a role in the changing moods of the people around you. Some become stressed and irritable. Others seem to be just bursting with the Christmas spirit and scamper around sharing their glee like little elves who run to and fro tossing the glitter of Christmas cheer on everyone they meet. And, if you work anywhere like I do, work suddenly involves random food snacks showing up in the break room, decorating contests, vacation days, white elephant gift exchanges, Christmas cards, and possibly even little envelopes containing Christmas bonuses.

But is this what Christmas is all about? If you listen to the messages in song on the radio you might glean that Christmas is about Santa; getting presents, a boyfriend, hippos, or front teeth; family and love; Santa; hearts given away last Christmas, loneliness, being homesick, and being blue; snow or how cold it is outside; sleigh rides; silver bells; Santa; reindeer running over Grandma; what 12 things your true love gave you; Christmas trees, holly, and mistletoe; how a little boy guilt-tripped a stranger into giving him money to get his mom a pair of red shoes; Rudolph; and of course how you'd better be good 'cause (who else?) Santa Claus is coming to town.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the traditional Christmas music, the bright, cheerful decorations, and the old school Christmas movies (like It's a Wonderful Life and A Charlie Brown Christmas). But none of those things are why I celebrate Christmas. The most beautiful and meaningful songs just don't hardly show up on the radio, but rather appear in the old hymn books. They tell the true story of Christmas and of the best gift EVER given - Jesus Christ. Let's not let Santa steal the show! After all, we give gifts to each other in celebration (and imitation) of how God gave us Jesus

It's about how Mary gave her body, her reputation, and even risked trading her upcoming marriage for being stoned, all to have a baby that was impossible for her to have. It's how Joseph gave his reputation, the chance to have his own son be his firstborn and heir, and the chance to start out married life with just him and his new wife. It's how they both endured shame and humiliation that they didn't earn. It's how the very Creator God of the universe humbled Himself to become one of His creation, being born as a helpless, defenseless, average little baby, born in a barn with animals as an unmarried woman's son with a hardworking but poor step-father, to spend 30 years on this Earth without truly being recognized, to endure all the trials of every day ordinary life, to be betrayed by a beloved friend, to be hated by those who should have recognized and worshiped him, to sacrifice Himself in a cruel and painful death, to be raised back to life but be held initially in disbelief by some of His closest followers. All this He endured to save us from our sins that should have condemned us to Hell and an eternity without Him.

When it comes to Christmas you often hear that He is the "reason for the season." But I say He is so much more even than that. He is the reason. Period. Jesus is the very reason for anything, for our very existence. Let's remember that. Hold onto that. I pray that we all remember "the reason" both this Christmas and all year round.