Congress said, "How can the watchman do his job without instructions?" So they hired two people, one to write the instructions and the other to do time studies.

Congress said, "How will we know the watchman is doing his job?" So they created a Quality Control position and hired two people, one to do the studies and another to write the reports."

Congress said, "How will these people get paid?" So they hired two more people, a time keeper and a payroll officer.

Congress said, "Who will be responsible for all these people?" So they created an administrator and a secretary.

After a year had passed, Congress was informed that the task of guarding the scrap yard was over budget. They had to make some cuts. Congress studied the situation and decided to lay off the night watchman.

We laugh even scoff at politicians for doing such things but perhaps we should look at ourselves to see if we are not guilty of doing the same thing spiritually or doing the same thing with Christmas.

It is safe to say that the past several weeks or perhaps months have been hectic: shopping, decorating, wrapping presents, standing on lines, stuck in traffic jams, writing Christmas cards, entertaining friends and family.

I am not saying that these things are necessarily bad. Don’t me get wrong. I enjoy being with family and friends at Christmas. I take pleasure from decorating. I delight in the wrappings of Christmas. They can serve a wonderful purpose, IF we don’t forget why we started doing all these things in the first place. Christmas is not about the wrappings, it is about the gift. The gift is Jesus.

I wonder if we have fallen more in love with the wrapping of Christmas then with the Christ? If tomorrow morning you found that all the wrappings were gone, would it still be Christmas for you? Could you say what Paul said,

"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."

About a week before Christmas a family bought a nativity. When they unpacked it they found two figurines of the baby Jesus. Seeing they had two Jesus figurines it dawned on them that there must be a set missing a Jesus. So the mother with her children returned to the store and told the manager that they had an extra Jesus. The manager didn’t think much of it, but at the children’s pleading he put up a sign, Are you missing Jesus?, call and he wrote the family’s phone number.

Are you missing Christ?

We laugh at the mastercard commercial depicting a toddler playing in a card board box as the announcer lists several toys and their price, that apparently were shipped in the very box the toddler was playing in. The commercial ends with toddler walking down the hall with the box over her head as the announcer says everything is priceless.

We laugh at the child playing with the box, but I wonder if it is not an accurate portrayal of how we celebrate Christmas. It concerns me: when I hear people longing for Christmases past; when I hear people saying Christmas is for children; when people lament that it won’t be Christmas without so and so.

Are you going to tell me that if the angels didn’t sing to the shepherds, or if the shepherd didn’t go to Bethlehem to see the child, or if the wisemen didn’t follow the star that it wouldn’t be Christmas?

Jesus is the priceless gift of Christmas. To define Christmas by anything or anyone else is absolutely foolish. For nothing or no one else can give you the eternal joy and peace then Jesus. Paul had intimate knowledge of this truth which enabled him to give up everything for Christ and to say,

"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

On the most recent episode of the television show the West Wing the following story was told which proclaims what Christmas is all about.

A man fell into a hole.

A doctor walked by and he cried out for help. The doctor stopped and wrote out a prescription and dropped it down into the hole.

A minister walked by, the man in the hole cried out for help. The minister wrote out a prayer and dropped it down into the hole.

A friend walked by, the man in the hole cried out for help. The friend jumped down into the hole. The man that was in the whole said, "What are you nuts jumping down here with me."

The friend answered, "I have been down here before. I know the way out."

God saw that humanity had fallen into the deep hole of sin. The laws of the religious leaders were not helping the people. The prophet’s proclamations to repent, to return to the Lord were being ignored. So God, in the person of Jesus jumped into the life of His people. As John wrote,

"And the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us."

Jesus was born: to save us from sin and death; to lead us from a daily life of fear, despair, anxiety, anger to daily life of faith, trust, peace, love; to not just show us the way, but to be

"the way, the truth, and the life."

I remember every Christmas, just before calling everyone to the Christmas banquet table Mom would look over the dining room table and saying, "What’s missing?"

Trust me it won’t be a matter of life or death, if the cranberry sauce is missing from the table, or if the batteries are missing from the box, or if someone you love is missing from around the table.  But it will be a matter of life or death if Jesus is missing from your life.

amen