Depending on the nature of the year it’s ending, Christmas is loaded with reminiscences of the immediate and distant pasts and hopes for the future.
Christmas 2021 falls at the end of a jittery year of recovery from the pandemic and ministers say it should guide Christians toward reflection on Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Cliff DeArmond said the emphasis on Jesus is crucial, especially for people who find the holiday challenging. “Christmas always brings back memories of great past times, family and lost loved ones,” said the Rev. DeArmond, pastor of Hope Alive Church.
“People should lean on their brothers and sisters in Christ at their communities of faith, their churches, congregations, synagogues or parishes, and avoid being alone.
“Christmas was always a highlight of my childhood with lots of family, food and fun,” DeArmond said. “The kids love it because they are naturally excited about the gifts and the mysteries and traditions. If parents would emphasize faith at an early age, kids wouldn’t grow up having lost focus on the original reason why we celebrate.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but the main focus should be on the birth of Jesus. I feel like society’s priorities are mixed up when it comes to the real meaning.”
DeArmond said his favorite story of Jesus’s birth is in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, which gives the most detailed account in the New Testament. “My advice to parents is to make time for faith in the middle of the festivities because Jesus is the only reason we have a season to celebrate,” he said.
The Rev. J.R. Aguirre, pastor of Grandview Church of God, said it should be a time to ponder “the most beautiful gift that mankind could ever receive, the birth of the savior of the world. “I hate that we have made Christmas about everything but Jesus,” the Rev. Aguirre said.
“The decision has been made in society to say ‘happy holidays’ instead of ‘happy Christmas,’ but I always emphasize the birth of the Son of God. That Jesus was born is not a myth or the opinion of man. His birth was ordained from the dawn of time.”
Aguirre said his childhood Christmases in Odessa were always “a time of family, food and fellowship with friends and loved ones” and that going to church was part of the celebration.
Asked why Jesus was born in the humble setting of a manger, he said the Savior “was a humble man who came to redeem everyone, even the lowest-ranking in society.
“He came as the lowly Son of God to reach everyone from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low,” he said, adding that his favorite Christmas-related text is Matthew 1:18-2:23.
