Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Here’s your sign.

Genesis 3:10-12 English Standard Version

10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Let me explain further. We were all born naked and afraid. Our mothers covered for us. Swaddling clothes are a symbol of parental love and protection. In this world we need to be covered by love and concern because the world is a dangerous place.

An angel told the shepherds where to go and find the Messiah. Who told them about the Messiah? Now in this day and age so many years after His birth we tend to forget that we are all naked and afraid in the eyes of God who just wants to love and protect us.

God is saying to me, “Go and tell them where they can find the Messiah. Cover them with love and compassion. Tell them they are naked and afraid.”

Now comes the hard part. Just as Adam made excuses we make excuses for not admitting that we are weak, vulnerable, and afraid. We have come out from under the protective covering provided by our parents and grown up to fend for ourselves. We have forgotten what it felt like to be naked and afraid. Now all the bad in this world is someone else’s fault.

If you have not accepted the free gift of grace this Christmas, the swaddling clothes that covers our nakedness and fears, then no matter how much you protest, you are naked and afraid in the eyes of God.

You can refuse to believe that, but the one thing you cannot say after today is that no one told you that you were naked and afraid.

He who was is and maybe that is your excuse. You don’t believe in Santa any more so why should you believe there is a Savior sent to cover your sins. You are not a child.

Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Mark 7 English Standard Version

Traditions and Commandments

7 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.[c]) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;

7 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

What is the tradition of Christmas without Christ? His name is right there in the beginning of the word itself. When I was a child my uncle dressed up as Santa. I knew it was Uncle Lytle, I had no idea why he was dressed up in a red suit and a fake beard. Did my parents think I was that gullible? That was the last time Santa was ever mentioned in our home. I was the youngest in my family and my siblings had all outgrown the fantasy. Christmas in our house was never about Christ.

It wasn’t until years later when a Nativity scene appeared in the town square to the objection of atheists that the issues of separation of church and state took the headlines. Shortly thereafter we were stripped of teacher-led morning prayers in school. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me, those morning prayers were someone else’s tradition, not one in our home.

Then a pretty girl I knew asked me to come join her at a church event called BYF. I had misunderstood her intentions. I thought she liked me. She saw I didn’t have Christ in my life and it was her intention to show me Christ for the first time. I tagged along with the wrong intentions but that led me to my first experience with Sunday School and discovering what all the fuss was really about Christmas traditions I had never experienced. 

It wasn’t too long after those messages were preached that my Sovereign God showed Himself to be real in a way that I could no longer ignore. It was at this time that I left the traditions of man, and began in earnest to discover the commandments of God. 

Merry Christmas. My present to you was born in a manger.