Why Should I Care About the Birth Of Jesus?
Can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?
For many years, Charlie Brown’s Christmas question was the question of the people. In the midst of this growing and overwhelming commercialization, can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?
It’s a great question. And it’s a question that longs to remember that Christmas is about the glorious entrance of Jesus, the savior, into the world.
Today, however, if I were making a modern edition of a Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s not the question I would ask. And it’s not the question I would ask because it’s no longer the question of the culture.
Instead, I’d have Charlie Brown ask: Why should I care about the birth of Jesus?
And in response, perhaps instead of reciting the Gospel, I might have Linus call for a spotlight and reply with this:
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and ever pining
'Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn'
Fall on your knees, o hear the angels' voices
O night divine, o night when Christ was born
O night divine, o night, o night divine
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
With all within, let us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord, His Name forever praise we
o night divine
Noel, noel
O night, o holy night
When I look out into the world, when I see all the violence, the shootings, the trafficking, the utter horror that most people live in. When I see the divisiveness, the selfishness, the self-righteousness, the constant use of people as means to a selfish end. Can I say anything more true than, long live the world in sin and ever pining…
All of this evil is a world crying out in one voice...Do I even matter?
That question goes forever unanswered until he, Jesus, The Savior, appears. Only then has the soul ever truly known or felt its worth.
The soul felt its worth.
Has your soul ever felt its worth? Seriously. Have you dared to let Jesus be born into your life so completely that your soul felt how precious, and loved, and magnificent you are?
Remarkably, O Holy Night was written by an Atheist. A man very familiar with the experience of pining to know his own worth.
I think today, if Linus re-introduced those lyrics to the world we would see a similar reaction to the legend of the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. Where, in the middle of fighting a French soldier stood up in his trench and faced the surprised Germans unarmed and began singing O Holy Night. The Germans, overtaken by its truth and its beauty, though they did not know French, responded by singing their own Christmas hymn. Fighting ceased for 24 hours as both camps remembered, albeit briefly, the worth of their soul and the soul of their brother across the trench. And for but a moment there was peace on earth and good will toward man.
Why does the birth of Jesus matter? Well, because if it is true it is THE turning point in human history. It is the moment when a world weary of violence, division, and anguish can finally rejoice and forever praise the name of Jesus, the one who frees us from the bonds of evil, gives the peace of knowing what we’re worth and shows us how to walk the path of love.
O Holy Night. In its quiet, and in its stillness, may you know the worth of your soul and join the angels and saints singing out Glory to God in the highest for today in the city of David a Savior is born for you, tis Christ the Lord.
Merry Christmas.
