For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

• John 3:16

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

• Romans 3:22-24

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• Romans 5:6-8

In a time when a Christian is uncomfortable saying “Merry Christmas” we have to wonder why we would feel that way?

Sure, some people do not believe, but that does not stop them from believing in Santa Claus.  Should a Christian be “offended” for inconsistencies?  If we did, we would be offended a lot.

But I remember the days when people would zealously argue to “Leave Christ in Christmas.”  They were afraid that the Xmas trend would lead to no one knowing what the holiday was about.  Of course, some people tried to defend the Xmas trend by saying that the letter “X” represented the cross.  Sorry, not buying it.  I loved the C. S. Lewis essay in God in the Docks, Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter of Herodotus.  In the essay about the country of Niatirb (Britain spelled backwards), everything secular, including the hangover, is Xmas, while everything religious in Christmas, but oh how the Xmas revelers drain the energy of those celebrating Christmas.

The there was the campaign to “Do not forget the reason for the season.”  Okay, ninety-nine out of one hundred people who have that bumper sticker or magnet would not list the three Scriptures above to be any part of that reason.

But, come on, folks.  If Christ did not come to save sinners, then all we have is an Xmas that has not reason at all unless it’s a good excuse to drink egg nog and swear to all who are willing to listen that you hate fruitcake, although you have one at home, hidden, so no one sees you eating it.  And, oh yeah, no one in the family knows you have it, so you can eat the whole thing.  Yes, I know you are doing that, “fruitcake breath.”

But it is easy to get offended by old sports-related Will Ferrel movies.  The Legend of Ricky Bobby has a scene where his wife fussed that he always prays to the “baby Jesus.”  Ricky Bobby replies that the “baby Jesus” is the one he likes best.

Be offended all you want, but again that ninety-nine out of one hundred probably agree with the Will Ferrel character.

But it was the adult Jesus who took our sins to the cross.  And as some folks in a recent Sunday school class pointed out, it is an inescapable fact that Jesus left the highest heaven, where there was no suffering, no pain, no sin, to come to earth and die for those who cannot get out of their way in sinning.  C. S. Lewis and Eric Metaxas, both writing books entitled Miracles, list that miracle as being one of the top miracles of all, that miracle and the resurrection.  But with the perfect stage to illustrate that miracle at Christmas time, we focus on how cute the little baby is.

So, I see no better reason to say, Merry Christmas, than to say that God loved us so much that He sent His Son into the fallen world to die for our sins, so that we could be adopted as Sons of God and live with Him forever in Paradise.  That is the ultimate in Merry.

Merry Christmas, Everyone

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.