we quit on christmas too soon

[5 minutes, 871 words]

Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:11

The Magi’s journey didn’t end when they arrived in Bethlehem. It ended when they worshiped the Christ. Christmas isn’t over until we bow and worship King Jesus.

We often bemoan the last hours of December 25th, mistakenly thinking Christmas is over. And why not? The very next day, radio stations go back to regular programming and department stores stop their holiday hours. It’s as if the magic of the Christmas season dissipates all at once. The lights start coming down, the Christmas tree is lugged up into the attic, and the wrapping paper tossed into garbage cans and dragged out to the street.

Back to normal.

Switching gears.

New Year’s resolutions!

Sinclair Ferguson writes, “When I was a child, Christmas seemed to die every year by bedtime on December 25th. The anticipation seemed long; the realization all too brief. I even tried wrapping up my presence again and opening them the following morning.”¹

We quit on Christmas far too soon. A large swath of the global church, however, stretches their Christmas season through January 6. Epiphany: the traditional date given to mark the Magi’s arrival at the house where the newborn King was waiting to be worshipped. The Wise Men learned their trek across mountain and desert wasn’t quite over²; they still had a few miles to go. He’s not here; He’s in Bethlehem. Christmas wasn’t over until they worshiped the newborn king.

That’s what is missing from the modern celebration of Christmas: the worship of Jesus. We keep ‘doing Christmas’ year after year, failing on all fronts on this matter. Parties, presents, Hallmark movies, wassail and caroling, all make the season bright. But by Christmas evening we ruefully reflect on how quickly “it all went by.” The lights on the tree seem less twinkly somehow, the last gift has long since been opened, and the trappings are slowly whisked away. That’s the last of the eggnog, someone announces.

But what does it actually mean to worship Jesus at Christmas? It means remembering why He came in the first place. So…how did we do? Was Jesus worshipped? Or was He a quick detour at the candlelight service, only to be forgotten once the family gathered around the Christmas tree? Perhaps we sang “O Come Let Us Adore Him” without actually adoring Him. Perhaps we read Luke 2 as tradition rather than as an invitation to wonder.

The incarnation is about God taking on flesh, receiving a body, in order to become the worthy sacrifice for sin. Not only is God with us³, He is for us, as in our Sinless Substitute⁴ for our salvation. John wrote, “For God so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus…”⁵ Gave him. For us.

The world isn’t really celebrating Christmas unless they celebrate the reason He came. Christmas, for them, is temporary merrymaking but not worshipping. It’s a Christmas Eve ceasefire for twenty-four hours, singing carols to your enemy across the trenches, only to resume hostilities the next day.⁶

We need to take our time through the holy days. Inhale. Marvel at the manger. Feel the awe of the shepherds. But ponder⁷ with Mary. There’s more than just one silent night that must be attended to. It’s not too late.

The Magi, embodying the true Christmas spirit, had to see it through to its end. Christmas wasn’t over for them on December 26th. They needed to see Jesus, bow before Him, and give Him everything they had.

We’ve all felt it—that letdown on December 26th when the magic evaporates and we’re left wondering why Christmas never quite delivers what we hoped for. We pile expectations onto a single day, asking them to satisfy longings that run far deeper than any season can reach.

Alistair Begg names the real issue:

“The reason that not even the joy of the Christmas season can satisfy us is that our very selves are made for the God who makes Christmas meaningful.”

—Alistair Begg, Let Earth Receive Her King, 173

January 6th seamlessly moves us into a new anticipation: Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. The incarnation gives way to the promise of Christ’s return to earth. Jesus didn’t just come the first time to save us from our sin, He will come again to visibly rule upon the earth, fully and finally defeat all evil, and make everything permanently new. Having been to Bethlehem, we can now set our sights on the Eternal City whose architect and builder is God.⁸

We are the Magi. The called. Journeymen and pilgrims, relentlessly pursuing the Object of our Magnificent Obsession. Pausing, perhaps; misdirected at times; but never stopping. Not until we come face to face with Jesus, thus emptying ourselves of all that we are and have and lay our crowns at His Blessed Feet.

We might consider adding one more day to our Christmas season this year. It isn’t Christmas until we have worshipped Jesus. So let’s not quit too soon.

Selah, beloved.

1. Sinclair Ferguson, Child In The Manger: The True Meaning of Christmas, p 41 ↩︎
2. Matthew 2:7-8 ↩︎
3. Matthew 1:23 ↩︎
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18 ↩︎
5. John 3:16 ↩︎
6. www.worldhistory.org/The_Christmas_Truce/ ↩︎
7. Luke 2:19 ↩︎
8. Hebrews 11:10 ↩︎