May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)
Peace and joy are words that are thrown around a lot at Christmas but they are something that we don't see very often in the Christmas season. Instead, I see thorns thriving in this season. They are fed very well by our fleshly Christmas practices. In the parable of the sower, Jesus talks about how the word is sown into this world. He specifically references sowing among the thorns.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. (Mark 4:7 NIV)
The seed sown among the thorns is unfruitful. Later, Jesus explains what the thorns are that destroy the fruit of the word.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18, 19 NIV)
At a time when the name of Jesus is so often heard and the promise of his salvation is shared, it is being missed because of the season of thorns that it is being shared in. The Message version words Mark 4:18,19 a little differently and it sounds eerily like the Christmas season.
"The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it. (Mark 4:18, 19 MSG)
This is a season when people worry about whether they will get their shopping done and how they will ever manage to make it to all of the Christmas gatherings they have been invited to. It is a season when many people spend a lot of money that they don't actually have or that should have been spent elsewhere. It is a season when our love for "things" is so painfully placed on display for all to see. Paul makes a statement about our tendency to turn back to those things that we have been set free from through Christ.
But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces ? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (Galatians 4:9-11 NIV)
That bolded verse stings a little. Jesus has set us free from the ways of this world! Yet, we turn back to the world on a regular basis. We allow the thorns of the season to choke out the fruitfulness of the true Christmas spirit. As long as Christmas is a season of sowing into the flesh it will not be a season that leads to the truth! Perhaps we can find a solution to the thorns of this season.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7-9 NIV)
Are we sowing into the Christmas of the flesh or the Christmas of the Spirit? Does our indulgence in food, family time, rest, and material things lead to the destruction of the fruit of the true Christmas Spirit? The origin of "Christmas" is simply "Christ's Mass". It is meant to serve as a recognition towards and remembrance of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he was for us. Should we not be doing this every day? If we want to make a difference by sharing the message of hope and salvation, we need to be doing it all year long. If we want it to be fruitful in this season, we need to beware the thorns in our own lives. Stop feeding them! Stop allowing the thorns to creep up in your life and kill the true Christmas Spirit. Only then will we be able to see a harvest.
Mike
