Do you put up a Christmas tree? Most do. But is it a real tree or an artificial one? Most of my childhood, we had a fake tree—the kind with single branches, color-coded to stick into the pole, which had to be fluffed one by one. But when I grew up & got married, we upgraded to the kind with just three sections stacked together. Quick & easy. Eventually, we switched over to the real deal by scouring the Home Depot lot for the cheapest ones we could find. But when our kids were grown & got married, we switched back to artificial–but this time, the pre-lit kind.
When the ornaments are hung & ribbons wrapped around, nobody can tell whether your tree is real or fake. At the end of the day, it doesn’t actually matter. But there’s a big difference between a real Christmas & an artificial one. A lot of people love Christmas without Christ. All the carols used to be about Jesus, but secular songwriters have stripped Him out of the lyrics. Somewhere along the way, it became more about sentiment than the Savior.
People love the lights, cookies, & presents. None of that’s bad, but what are they really celebrating? Remove Christ & you’re left with something artificial—beautifully decorated, emotionally moving, but ultimately meaningless. It’s a holiday with “ho ho ho” but no hope.
People put their hope in a lot of things that look solid but aren’t–savings accounts that can dwindle in a bear market, therapeutic bromides, temporary numbing agents that leave them wrung out & hungover, searches for a fantasy soulmate as a panacea for emptiness. It’s all fake. Even if it’s real, after a while it can all dry out, drop needles, & leave a mess on your carpet. Sentiment can’t carry you through a devastating diagnosis, a traumatic divorce, or the death of someone dear.
When Christian scholar C.S. Lewis lost his wife, he recorded notes of his emotional pain, which eventually became a book about grief. In the middle of his hurt, he wrote a very penetrating statement: “I need Christ, not something that resembles Him.” In the midst of grief, & everything else, we can’t afford anything less than Christ.
The reality for many is that this Christmas will be just another hopeless day with crying, despair, anger, arguing, & self-destructive actions. December 25th will still be filled with poverty, pain, problems, & spiritual bankruptcy. People need Jesus! Jesus Christ with & within us is our only hope for glory (Col. 1:27). We have a great future to look forward to because we have a priceless inheritance kept for us in heaven. In the meantime, we don’t descend into black-pilled nihilism, nor do we cling to a white-pilled illusion of continual improvement. The world is what it is…but it’s not all there is.
Real hope deserves to be shared. God’s not sending angels as He did to the shepherds of Bethlehem–He’s sending us as His messengers of good tidings of great joy! Every Christian has the same job description the shepherds had that night–go tell others! Many will ignore you, but some are genuinely seeking. The wise men traveled a great distance to find the One they’d been hoping for. This Christmas, because of your witness or invitation, maybe someone you know will trade in their artificial hope for the real thing.
This world is starved for hope. We can dread the kind of world our children & grandchildren will grow up in–broken, unjust, cruel, sick & de-humanizing, still plagued with chaos, broken families, perversity, war, slavery, terrorism, abortion, abuse, addiction, & oppression. Many try to make the world a better place through charity, education, science & technology, justice, & political movements. Those can do some good, but it’s a misplaced hope to think these things will lead to some kind of utopia. As helpful as these attempts may be, we’re reminded they’re band-aids that don’t ever fix what’s wrong with the world, & can even make things worse!
All babies bring hope into the world. Is there a mother or father who hasn’t looked into the face of their newborn & wondered, “What will this little child accomplish to make the world a better place?” What’s wrong with the world goes deeper to what’s wrong with us individually! Only Jesus can fix what’s wrong in our human hearts. Only He can forgive & change us. That’s why Jesus is the only hope for the world!
So hold on–things are going to get better…sooner or later. Our final hope has not yet been fully realized. What Jesus began, He will culminate when He returns! That’s when He abolishes all that is fallen, corrupt, evil & harmful, & inaugurates the new heavens & new earth, the home of righteousness forever! Without that hope, what is anyone celebrating really? A Christmas without Christ at the center is nothing more than a fleeting vibe that fades when the tree comes down.