"What is Christmas without Christ?"

Back in 2010, the group Kutlass recorded a marvelous song called “This is Christmas”.  The song begins with these words: “Do you find it hard to sleep tonight, resting by the Christmas lights?  Could there be something you forgot?  Beyond the bows and mistletoe, the tree with presents wrapped below…have we lost the reason that we celebrate each year?  What is Christmas?  If there never was a savior wrapped in a manger; what is Christmas without Christ?”

I stopped and envisioned a holiday where I celebrated Christmas, but without Christ.  What would that day look like?  I think I would still go through the motions.  I would give gifts to family and friends.  But I can imagine being stressed out and exhausted by the festivities.  Because, at the end of the day, what would the point be?  The heart of the holiday would be ripped out, if I engaged in a Christ-less Christmas.  Christ is the star of Christmas.  He is the gift.

The 2006 film “Superman Returns” starring Brandon Routh is generally regarded as a blunder.  While I concede that this film is far from flawless, one of the reasons I enjoy it is because of the obvious references to Superman being a type, and a picture of Jesus Himself.  I could cite several examples of this, but for today, I want to describe one scene of Superman with Lois.  But first, let me set the context.

This film sees the Man of Steel leaving Earth for 5 years (if you’re thinking that’s an implausible thing for Superman to do, I agree with you, but it is what it is).  The inhabitants of Earth begin to try to convince themselves that they don’t need him anymore.  When Superman finally does return, he is shocked to find Lois cynical and bitter toward him.  In fact, Lois had actually written a newspaper article with this stinging title: “Why the world doesn’t need Superman”. 

“I moved on,” Lois says to Superman, when she gets her chance to express her frustration to him.  “The world doesn’t need a savior, and neither do I.”  Superman, although clearly wounded by her words, asks Lois to fly with her.  And they do.  Eventually, as the float together in the quietness of outer space, he asks her what she hears.  She answers that she doesn’t hear anything.  “I hear everything.”  He replies.  “You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior, yet every day I hear people crying out for one.”

Why do I celebrate Christ at Christmas?  Because I know my own heart, and the battles I have with sin.  But I celebrate the words the angel spoke in Matthew 1:21; Joseph was instructed to give the baby the name Jesus “for He will save His people from their sins.”  I celebrate that Jesus’ work on the cross cleanses me from sin (1 John 1:7).  As the old hymn says, “Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.” 

The world does need a savior.  It’s true for Lois, and that universe, but it’s also true for us today.  On Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus the Christ.  Without Him, December 25th would be hollow and empty.  If someone reads this who realizes you’ve never cried out to the Savior in faith, trust, and surrender, what better time to do so than this Christmas season? 

Kevin