There’s No Such Thing as a "Blue Christmas"
Now how many of you here tonight think that you pretty much know all the classic Christmas hymns and secular songs that were ever sang? I think it would be safe to say that probably all of us here, along with everyone else across America, know every classic and secular Christmas carol that we sing at Christmas time every year. So how many of you remember Elvis Presley’s song Blue Christmas? Yeah, I would think that almost everyone knows this classic. But I have to confess, while I love Elvis Presley’s voice and enjoy most of his songs, as a minister, the song Blue Christmas really bothers me and I’ll tell you why. Because it robs Christmas of its glory. And not just that, it gives people permission to take Christ out of Christmas and make Christmas all about us. And this is just so wrong.
Christmas has historically been known as a time for celebration. Now it doesn’t mean that many of us are not grieving, sad, broke, or alone during the holiday, but that is no reason for God’s people not to rejoice that their Savior is born. You see, despite the pain and difficulties in our lives, Jesus should be celebrated because when he came, the world was no longer in darkness. That star that shone brightly in the sky the night of his birth, signaled that the Light of the world had finally come. God was presenting His Son to the world – he is the reason for the season – and he should be the only thing we focus on during Christmas time.
But sadly, many of us are not thinking about Jesus birth at Christmas and what it’s supposed to mean. Today it’s common for people to sing the same tune as Elvis did—that Christmas is about us, about how we feel…and if our circumstances are less than ideal, then we’re entitled to have a Blue Christmas. But if you believe that, then you’ve lost the meaning of the season just like Elvis did. And the sad part about it is, Elvis of all people shouldn’t have been singing about having the blues because he had a Christian background being a Baptist. At the beginning of his career he sang songs that were biblically based. I particularly remember him singing about Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho with the walls coming tumbling down, he sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace and a lot of other ones too…but sadly, Elvis left his biblical roots and his faith, and as we all know, his life went into a downward spiral…and his music changed along with it. Have you noticed that when he no longer aligned his life with Christ’s, what happened was that he became depressed, fell into drugs, lost his way… and in the end, he lost his life. But that’s what happens when our lives are focused on ourselves and not on Christ.
So I don’t want you to take his Christmas song literally. I don’t want you to reinvent Christmas into something that’s about you. Jesus was sent into the world to show us the truth, the way and the life…Jesus’ birth was God coming to earth and presenting himself as the way to heaven. Since Jesus is God in the flesh we need to keep our focus on him at Christmas and not on us. If we don’t then we are purposely decreasing the magnitude of what God had done on that first Christmas night.
So as you think of these things, I’d like for you to think of something else too. Before Elvis came out with the Blue Christmas theme, there really was no such thing as a blue Christmas. Christmas was celebrated throughout the world—people everywhere rejoiced that the Savior has come, despite the difficulties of their time. People acknowledged Christ and looked forward to His birth with great anticipation no matter. Yet once a Blue Christmas was introduced, people started believing it and soon pessimism was replacing Christmas joy. If external things in life were making us sad then the heavenly miracle held no power. And this is just so wrong because that’s not what God intended when He blessed humanity and came into the world to live among us. So we need to readjust our focus and remember the star in the sky was a heavenly Light to draw our attention to the newborn King, and our eyes need to keep looking upward, and remain on Him.
Now I know that society today tells us the opposite of this. Today we’re told what we think and what we feel is what matters most. But there is a danger in this. If you allow your personal beliefs to undermine God’s truth and goodness, then you’ve placed your authority over God’s and redefine what He already has determined...and that is a dangerous thing for you to be doing.
Can you see how this is not a good pattern to follow? The world tells you that you can determine what’s true and good and valuable, but when our own ideas oppose God’s truth, how dare we place ourselves above God?! What we need to be doing is looking up and following the Light He sent into the world because if we don’t, we’re going to lose our way, become confused and walk in spiritual darkness. When you think about it our vision is already limited. It’s like driving in the night with the headlights on, but they only allow us to see so many feet ahead of us, and so many feet to the side of us. In the same way, without eyes of faith we cannot see God or experience His truth. Remember, God did not intend for people to remain in darkness—that’s why He sent Jesus to earth, so we can follow his light, receive his joy, and be guided by his paths so that we can receive truth and righteousness along the way. And this is very good news and reason to celebrate Christmas every year…because you’re looking up at our Lord nstead of looking inward at yourself.
So if you never want to have what the world says is a "Blue Christmas," look to Christ and the paths He has laid. They are demonstrated for you through the church and outlined for you in God’s word, which we know is the Holy Bible. If you want to experience a true Christmas all you have to do is set your sights on Jesus and follow him like the shepherds followed His star. His light will lead you to certain paths and if you stay on them and are guided by them, it’s guaranteed you’ll be able to have Christmas in your heart every day of the year and not just on December 25th.
And I’ll tell you why—do you remember the promises we are given during Advent? Well, in case you don’t, look to the Advent wreath and recall what each weeks means. God’s promises are in the names of each candle.
The first candle represents the gift of hope, as we are told we are a people who have hope because the Savior has come to save us from sin and death. And he is a Savior who has power and might and there is nothing that he cannot do on our behalf. Remember with a God this powerful, there is nothing going on in your life that cannot be changed.
The second promise we have is the gift of love. Don’t you think it’s amazing that Jesus still loves us despite our sinfulness and shortcomings? Yet He tells us in the Gospels "how great it is that the Father’s love is lavished upon us that we can be called children of God." When we look at the baby Jesus we see that God loved us so much that he left heaven and came to live among us upon the earth so we can behold the face of God. God did not leave heaven for Himself--He did it for us—because He loves us. And there is no greater love than this.
And then we have the gift of joy, and this is the gift that allows us to know all will be well, despite trials, devastation, sickness and brokenness. Joy is ours to be had because those who trust in the Lord have rest. Does he not tell us “Rejoice in all things, I say it again rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). When you rejoice in all things, you are demonstrating that you have hope in what is to come. Mature Christians know this, that’s why we look for blessings in brokenness, why we look for the silver lining in dark clouds, why we smile through our tears, and why we thank God that He continues to hold onto us as we move through life. And with a God like that, how could you not have joy every day?
And the other gift we have is the gift of peace. Now I don’t know about you but life can make us crazy sometimes. And when things go wrong, when it seems that life will never be normal again, you have the peace of God to cover you. The gift of peace in your life means calm in the midst of storms, not the absence of them. Peace means that you can handle anything that happens to you or around you, and you feel privileged because it is the living God that’s breathing His Spirit into you, bringing you heavenly peace.
And in closing we have the grand finale, the gift of Christ. His candle, the large white one that is greater and taller than the rest, demonstrates to us that Christ is the supreme Light of the World and nothing is above Him or brighter than Him. God promised to send the Light, and Jesus Christ is that light. If we follow His paths and embrace His promises we will have hope, love, peace, and joy every day…because of Him. And knowing all this, how can you possibly believe that there’s such a thing as a Blue Christmas during this holy time of the year? Amen.
