Did you ever go to a birthday party and not know whose birthday you were celebrating? That could be embarrassing, right? If you’re invited to the party, the assumption is that you know and have some kind of a relationship with the person whose birthday is being celebrated. You might be a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a classmate – but you are connected to the guest of honor in some way, or you wouldn’t have received an invitation to the party.

Currently, preparations are underway all around the world for Christmas. Christmas is a birthday party with the largest guest list ever, because every single person receives an invite to the birthday party of the Christ child, Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate every December 25th. Many accept the invitation, many attend the party, many participate in some or all of the festive activities, decorating with dazzling lights, exchanging gifts, eating the food, baking the cookies, singing the songs of the season about the person they have come to celebrate, BUT – many do all these things without ever encountering the party’s guest of honor. Many never meet the person who is being celebrated at Christmas, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine showing up for a friend’s birthday party, bringing them a gift, playing all the games, eating all the good food served, singing Happy Birthday to the person you have come to celebrate, eating the cake, and yet – you never actually come face to face with your friend, whose party it is? You don’t have a conversation with them, you don’t give them a hug or even wish them a Happy Birthday. You simply enjoy the fun activities of their party and the food and then you leave. Unimaginable, isn’t it? It’s hard to believe that anyone would be so near to the guest of honor and yet miss out on spending time with the friend they came to celebrate.

However, this is all too common with the birthday celebration that is Christmas. Christmas literally means – “Christ’s mass” or “Christ’s party.” Yet it is all too easy for guests to attend the party but never meet the guest of honor. Part of the problem might be the confusion over just who it is that we are celebrating at Christmas. (even though the name of the holiday contains the name of the person whose birth we are celebrating)

Nonetheless, Santa is often mistaken for the birthday boy. And why not? Santa seems to be everywhere I look during the month of December – either him or one of his many look a like imposters. Santa’s picture is prevalent as are Santa figurines, holiday clothes that bear Santa’s image and Santa lawn decorations. If aliens came to earth, I can’t help but think that they would conclude this month-long party is all about Santa Claus. Who could fault them for this error? It would be easy for anyone to infer that Santa must be the center of our celebration based on what they observe.

And one could argue that we spend more time preparing for Santa’s arrival than we do preparing to celebrate Jesus’s arrival and to receive Him. For Santa, we prepare a tasty treat or two and leave it along with a beverage and possibly some treats for Santa’s reindeer, next to the fireplace. We clean the chimney, light up the roof so Santa can find it more easily, hang up stockings for Santa to fill, and we make room under the tree for all the gifts we expect Santa to bring with him. We make room for Santa and invite him in. Children write him letters and seek him out at the mall for an audience of one, so they can make their requests known to him.

Not so with Jesus. Is anyone getting ready to receive Him? Is anyone preparing the way for Jesus to enter in? Is anyone making room? Or is there still today “no room at the inn” for the person whose birthday we are supposedly celebrating. It seems that in our culture at least, we throw the party, and it’s a party full of bright lights, fabulous food, lots of music and extravagant gift giving BUT – we forget to invite the guest of honor. We don’t make any room for Jesus (I guess all the Santas have filled every space) We have “Christmas parties” and Christ Himself isn’t even invited! These words never rang more true-

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)

Too bad, because Jesus is a far better gift giver than Santa Claus.

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)

Santa brings with him toys, toys that eventually break or lose their allure and are discarded. What were the people in Jesus’s day receiving from Jesus?

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5)

Wow! And that’s not a complete list by any means. God’s gift of forgiveness of my sins and His gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus, is the greatest gift I will ever receive. God’s gift to you and to me and to the world, Jesus, is the reason we throw this huge party called Christmas every year.

“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)

The good news of Jesus’s birth is definitely worth celebrating – our Messiah, our Savior King has come! The party is planned, the invitations are issued. The only question is – has the guest of honor, the One whose birthday we celebrate been invited to His own party? Have we made room to receive Him? Have we cleared the way (or our calendars) so that Christ can enter into our lives as we celebrate His birth?

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

Make way! Make room! The King is coming! Let Him in!

sincerely, Grace Day