Hope in the Christ-Child

Nihilism—a philosophy of skepticism that holds that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. Nihilism repudiates commonly held theories of morality or religious belief. By their insistence that moral and religious ideas apply only to oneself, postmodernists represent a form of nihilism. With such a philosophy, people are majoring in deconstruction of many values that once were held dear and true.
The stepchild of nihilism is hedonism, the idea that the value of a good life is a devotion to pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The modern entertainment industry promotes this philosophy as young stars outdo each other to shock the senses with outlandish clothes, filthy words in their songs, and unconventional lifestyles. Rejecting God’s values, people on television and the internet have been advocating for pedophilia, pornography, illegal drug use, adultery, incest, and abortion. There is no shame anymore.
But what do nihilism and hedonism produce? Their stepchild is despair. For whatever fun and good feelings the world may give, it eventually takes them away and replaces them with emptiness, hopelessness, ill health, bitterness, anger, and despair. And the grandchild of despair is a negative culture that influences people of all ages to join gangs, engage in gambling, abuse alcohol and drugs, and abuse others. These destructive behaviors bring even more misery into the lives of the people who engage in them. Nihilism, hedonism, despair, and hopelessness do not help people have a merry Christmas.
Jesus entered this world at a time of despair and moral laxity. The Jews had mostly given up on the idea that the Messiah would come, the pagan Greeks had abandoned their ancient gods for other philosophies, and the Romans increasingly pursued the hedonistic life within their empire.
Though descended from mighty kings of Judah, Jesus was born into poverty in a stable. He was born to bring a positive message to a world filled with sin, despair, and death. He was born to give hope to all people who are burdened with the results of sin and the prospect of death. He was born to establish peace with God and to give eternal life to those who believe in His work of salvation.
Now Jesus was not born to be a rebel who rejected God’s Law. He came to establish the Law by keeping it perfectly for all people. Jesus was not born just to make our earthly lives better. He said that His coming would bring persecution and trouble from the world upon those who believe on Him. Jesus was not born just to entertain us or give us pleasure. Indeed, St. Paul wrote that he rejoiced in adversity because of the spiritual blessings God gave him through faith. Jesus did not come just so that we could learn to be self-sufficient. He was born so that we would humbly admit our constant dependence on God for all things temporal and spiritual.
Jesus’ birth gives us true hope for real happiness—both in this life as we rejoice in God’s forgiveness and in heaven as we glorify Christ’s name with the choirs of angels. Happiness in Jesus’ birth and salvation is the principal reason why Christmas hymns, songs, and carols are so joyous. These hymns celebrate the wonderful grace of God in sending His Son to be our Savior from sin and death.
The Christmas season gives us Christians an opportunity to show forth our joy in the hope that the Christ-child gives us through His life, death, and resurrection. Amid the nihilism, despair, and hopelessness of people living in the world, Jesus’ birth proclaims God’s will to provide salvation for all people and His promise to give believers in Jesus the joy and peace of heaven.
Theodore Gullixson is an ELS pastor emeritus living in Mankato, Minnesota.