Newspaper Article - The Season Has Changed

Below is a recording and the text of an article that Pastor Rudiger wrote for The Clarion News.

This season before Christmas has always been special to me. When I was a kid, it meant making Christmas decorations at Crossroads Elementary, visiting Santa in his little house over at the  Southern Shopping Center and of course decorating the tree with those fragile glass ornaments, big lights with even bigger reflectors and of course, boxes and boxes of real, metal tinsel. Now that was Christmas in the ‘60s. 

And today, for me, the meaning is different but just as powerful. You see, now my focus is more centered on Jesus Christ, the one who was born as Emmanuel, God with us, and who offers us the ultimate reason to hope and the definitive example to follow. You see, in my opinion, as we do all those things we associate with this time of year, we should never forget that he really is the reason for this season.

But having said that, I think we should be careful that he doesn’t just blend into all the other things that we consider important this time of year. In other words, I think we need to guard against him just becoming another decoration, another person we might visit once a year, another ornament that we might hang on the tree. 

And sadly, I think that’s possible, if we’re not intentional in maintaining our focus. I mean, regardless of how often we say “Merry Christmas,” can we claim to be celebrating his coming if we, as a nation, fail to recognize that we’re going to be judged based on whether or not we feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, whether or not we welcome the stranger and clothe the naked, and whether or not we care for the sick and comfort the prisoner? And regardless of how elaborate our nativity displays become, can we say we’re focused on the hope he brought if, as a church, we hide behind thick walls and stained glass, expecting the people to come to us rather than on us going out to them? And regardless of how many times we say that Jesus is the reason for the season, can we, as individuals, claim to follow him if we seem to regard as just a suggestion his own words:  If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it. [Mark 8:34a-35, CEV] You see, unless we choose to listen, to respond and to follow, regardless of what we say, Jesus is just another prop, an excuse for the decorations and the ornaments and the tinsel. 

And so, let’s decide to make this Christmas particularly special. You see, along with the decorations and the Santas and the trees, let’s make the teachings and the example of Jesus Christ central to our life as a nation, as the church and as individuals. And if we do, then we’ll be able to say with both faith and confidence that Jesus really is the reason for this and all seasons.