2006 Winter - Higher Things Magazine (no Bible Studies)

Myths of the Holy Spirit:

Christmas

“Merry Christmas!” Have you ever considered how much of a Spirit-filled gift that greeting is? The phrase “Merry Christmas” communicates “A happy and blessed celebration of Jesus’ birth to you!” to those around you.

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Only on Christmas does everyone for just a moment hear the message of a virgin giving birth to her firstborn Son. All the earth declares, with much celebrating and merry making, the birth of our Savior. Everything stops: stores, restaurants, families, transportation, everything. Families gather together around His gifts, or at least around each other. And this message always seems to find a way to slip through:“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:35 ESV).

There’s the virgin, the baby, and the Most High— that’s Christmas! But how did the Holy Spirit get in there? Who exactly is the Holy Spirit, and where does He fit in at Christmas? Is the Spirit that feeling of warmth you feel welling up inside when you sing a Christmas song by candlelight on Christmas Eve? Is the Spirit the one who makes Grinches’ small hearts grow three sizes or convince mean old Scrooges to start giving things away?

These are all good things, but they are not necessarily the working of the Holy Spirit. How can we tell?

These things don’t save you from hell. Your heart can beat faster and grow bigger. It can even be so filled with love that you give your money away. And you and your great, big, warm heart can still find yourself in hell on the Last Day. The Holy Spirit’s work is all about saving you. If you want to find the Holy Spirit in Christmas, listen to Jesus, the Savior of your sins, being put into your ears. Listen to be reminded of Baptism when water and the Spirit sprinkled you into the Kingdom of God (John 3:5). Listen to your pastor’s Absolution, where Christ forgives you for all the times you grumbled “Bah, humbug!” or your heart really was