“And he wants to stay right here, make it last for a hundred more years.” – Francesca Battistelli

Saying good night to my daughter is a process.

A drawn-out, silly, and delightful process.

It begins with reading time.

Sometimes she picks the book, and sometimes I do. When she picks, it’s usually Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Rikki-Tikki-Tavi or Pookie and Tushka. When I pick, it’s usually SkippyJon Jones or Winnie-the-Pooh or The Velveteen Rabbit. We take turns reading, sometimes paragraph by paragraph and sometimes page by page. The words transporting us to other, wonderful worlds, on a yellow, pink, and purple flower-covered comforter that doubles as a magic carpet. Throughout the whole journey her little body remains tucked under my arm.

The next part of the process is “snuggle” time.

And reading time doesn’t count as snuggle time, in case you didn’t know. Don’t be ridiculous. The reason for this is because we’re not laying down, of course. These are the rules and I don’t question them, I just benefit from them. So I settle into my spot laying down next to her. My arm is around her and typically I’m directed to either run my hands through her hair (“I like it when you do that”) or scratch her back. It’s not long before she re-positions herself to face me, her face pressing into my neck. I used to worry that she wouldn’t be able to breathe like that, but the truth is I’m usually the one whose breath is taken away. It’s usually here that she nods off to sleep, right?

Nope.

This is when she starts trying to make me laugh.

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There has been a lot of apologizing in the last few years from people on the religious side of things who recognize some of the atrocities that have been committed across the centuries in the name of religions. Recently, I watched a movie made by a key evangelical voice I admire. The film, while extremely well done (unlike a lot of movies in the Christian film genre), left me feeling like it was just one long apology for how Christians have blown it.

We have blown it.

And acknowledging this truth and asking forgiveness for it is a healthy and important step. But only focusing on the negative is unfair. There’s another side to the religious story, particularly for those who have genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus had led people across time to participate in some of the most beautiful, unselfish, and remarkable acts of love and kindness and grace the world has ever  known. If Jesus had never been born, people would have found another reason to justify their hateful, selfish, and power-hungry acts. But because Jesus was born, our world has been changed in ways that are both breathtaking and miraculous in scope. I realize there are some people who claim that Jesus wasn’t ever born, that he was made up by early believers by borrowing from pagan myths. But taking that position requires faith as well. Faith in people who are speculating about things that happened thousands of years ago.

For me, Jesus’ life and teaching is too powerful, too dynamic, too authentic and true, too timeless in its wisdom and too other-worldly in its origin to have been created by ordinary people. I choose, as an act of my will, to believe in his birth, life, death, and resurrection as the gateway to eternal life, not just for when I die, but for right now. His teachings have never failed me. When I live like He lived, life is full and rich and beautiful and true. Not perfect or easy, but abundant.

As I was thinking about all of these things, a friend of mine shared some thoughts at our staff Christmas party last week that are related to all of this. I thought they were compelling thoughts and worth passing along. My friend’s name is Jeff Reams. He is a compassionate and kind follower of Jesus who heads up the missions ministry in our church. He’s also a fantastic writer in his own right. I asked him if he would put his thoughts together so that I could share them with you. He was gracious enough to do so.

If Jesus Had Not Come, by Jeff Reams

My wife and I were out on a double date recently with a Jewish couple that has become dear friends to us.  As we walked to the movie theatre, the husband and I were talking about Christmas and Hanukkah.  At one point I turned to him and said, “You know.  At Christmas, we Christians celebrate the birthday of the most influential Jewish person who has ever lived.  What do you think about that?”

 The husband replied, “I agree.”  As we continued on talking I thought, my friend does not follow Jesus but like so many others on this planet, he benefits from the fact that Jesus was born.

 Have you ever thought about how our world, how your life, would be different if Jesus had never been born?

 If Jesus had never been born…

• Christianity would not exist
• Christmas would remain a pagan winter solstice festival of the past
• Easter would also be a pagan spring festival of the past
• There would be no Mother Teresa or countless other thousands who have given up money and security to serve the poor and outcast around the world
• Imagine all the hospitals and schools that would not exist (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s in Atlanta)
• The vast number of orphanages and homes that care children for the unwanted would be gone
• There would be no great hymns like “Amazing Grace” sung by Christian and non-Christians alike.
• There would be no United States
• There would be no Christian radio playing the same songs over and over, no Christian t-shirts, no televangelists. (Ok, so we might be alright without these 3)
• We would have missed out on great masterpieces – no “Last Supper” by Davinci, no Rembrandt’s “Prodigal Son”, no Michelangelo’s “Sistine chapel”
• There would be no perfect example in life to follow.  We all follow someone’s example.  But, no one compares to the example of Jesus!
• Think of how Christ has elevated the role and importance of women, children, and our daily labor
• There would be no Church to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn
• There would be no Red Cross, no Salvation Army
• Think of the thousands upon thousands of non profit ministries that would not exist and the societal problems that would only grow larger as a result
• We would all be dead in our sins still searching for a way to know God, perhaps even offering up sacrifices
• We would not have a physical example of how much God loves us.  We know that he loves us because he sent his Son.
• There would have been no one to defeat evil and death on our behalf
• We would have no perfect mediator between us and God other than imperfect, human priests
• We would be left to guess what God is like. Jesus said “if you have seen me you have seen the father.”

 For sure, our world would be unimaginably different had Jesus never been born.  Whether you follow him or not, you benefit from the fact that he came into this world.

 The following quote says it best:

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, and that a despised one. He worked in a carpenter’s shop for thirty years, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college…He never traveled, except in His infancy, more than two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He had no credentials but Himself. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them betrayed Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed on a cross between two thieves. His executors gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth, His seamless robe. When He was dead, He was taken down from the cross and laid in a borrowed grave through the courtesy of a friend. Twenty wide centuries have come and gone, and today Jesus is the centerpiece of the human race, and the leader of all progress. I am well within my mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that have ever ruled together have never affected the life of man upon this earth like this one solitary personality. All time dates from His birth and it is impossible to understand or interpret the progress of human civilization in any nation on earth apart from His influence. Slowly through the ages man is coming to realize that the greatest necessity in the world is hot water, iron, gold, food or clothing…but rather Christ enshrined in human hearts, thoughts and motives.”

Let’s give thanks for the coming of Christ and what his birth, life and death have meant for all of us.

 If Jesus had not been born, how would your life be different?