What does the Christmas story mean to us today?

Dec. 24—As described in the Bible, over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born. But what does that mean for us in 2022?

While Christ was not actually born on Christmas Day, it's the day on which the Christian community has collectively agreed to celebrate the occasion. In the weeks leading up to the day itself, the Rev. Chris Winford, pastor of First Baptist Church of Brunswick, has been thinking about that very thing.

"That's the question I've been wrestling with this season," Winford told The News. "With all the confusion in the world today, with all the different beliefs, different thoughts, what does Christ really do for us today?"

The Christmas story, as told in the Bible, is that of Jesus' birth. His Earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, traveled to Bethlehem to take part in the Roman census. Because they could find no vacancies in the town, they stayed in a stable where the pregnant Mary gave birth. Jesus' nativity is a very popular motif, depicting his parents, some shepherds who were told of the event by angels and barn animals surrounding Jesus, who was placed in a manger, or a cattle-feeding trough.

From there, the Bible described Jesus' journey through the region, spreading the message of salvation before being put to death. His death after leading a life free of sin is what finally secured salvation for the entire human race, per scripture.

The question of Christ's significance today is one with plenty of answers, but today it falls on more deaf ears than it might have in the past, Winford said. The reason, he says, comes down to outlook.

The people who heard Christ's message from the source had a specific worldview, very different from the prevailing views today, he said. Nearly everyone believed in an afterlife, regardless of the religion to which they adhered. They believed in God, a god or a pantheon of gods, and they knew that what they believed in was something greater than human.

"That worldview is different than our worldview today. Clinical, more human-centered. More scientific. I'm not critiquing science, just explaining it. If we can see it, we believe it — that's our worldview today," Winford said. "The worldview today is also very self-oriented and feelings-oriented. If I feel this, it must be true. That's not the biblical worldview.

"The reality is that this world, the temporal world, is not all there is. There is something after we die. We were created to live forever somewhere."

To really get people to understand the answer to the question of what the Christmas story and Jesus' message mean for them, they must first be convinced of that, he says. As a pastor, it's part of his job to help people understand that their life here on Earth is just a minor part of an eternal existence, whether they're Christian or not.

"Eat, drink and be merry, but there's more to life than this," he summarized.

From there, the next step is explaining the basis for the concept of right and wrong, which the Bible explains as sin. It lays out what sin is and what actions are sinful. If one understands sin, then Jesus' sinless life takes on much greater significance.

Unfortunately, Winford believes the concept of sin is not taken seriously.

"People don't realize they've missed the mark because they haven't been told there is a mark," Winford said.

It's only by understanding and believing these concepts that salvation of a person's eternal soul is possible, and it's only through salvation that the promises of Jesus can be realized — inner peace, contentment and satisfaction with one's life.

"Whatever we're looking for in life, we'll find it in Jesus, not in anything else," Winford said.

That "anything else" includes politics, he says. Politics change from year to year and culture to culture, no political party in the history of the world has managed to solve any of the fundamental problems of human existence. Winford says the Bible is clear about this as it is a function of human nature, and in some cases, it's a feature of political systems rather than a bug.

News cycles and social media can keep people stimulated and angry, keeping their attention on the matters of the world rather than the matters of the spirit.

By contrast, Jamil el-Shair, pastor of Altama Presbyterian Church, says the Christmas story and the teaching of Christ can help resolve political differences.

There's a lot to be gleaned from the story, he explained, starting with Christ's conception — the Bible says Mary was a virgin — by a single woman in her teens.

"When she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and she had to tell her betrothed this story," el-Shair said. "I'm pretty sure most of us, if our child had come to us with this story, we would not be happy about this, and that's to put it mildly."

One can also draw comparisons between the state of the Hebrew nation at the time, which was struggling to maintain an identity under Roman rule, and political turmoil in the United States, he said. In fact, the only reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is that the Romans required everyone to return to their hometowns for a census.

"I think we as a country don't know who we are anymore," el-Shair said. "Not only that, but we're afraid to tell what our story is. That is one of the challenges for the Hebrew people at the time. Americans like to say who we are is a Christian nation, but the reality is this was not founded as a Christian nation. (It was) founded as a place where people could be free to express who they are."

Further, he pointed out that Mary and Joseph could find nowhere to stay even in their own hometown, drawing a connection to the homelessness issue in the U.S.

This Christmas season, el-Shair hopes everyone will reflect on their own principles and that of their nation. Most important, however, is reflecting on the birth and life of Christ.

"This child was a special child that represents a bigger ideal," el-Shair said. "An ideal of love, of coming to be that which God created us to be. Loving people, who walk with God, talk with God, just as it was at creation. That means we have to be that way with one another. I hope we will take that to heart and remember that part of the story, why Christ came."

In a different vein from both Winford and el-Shair, Rev. Tim McKeown, priest at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, was fascinated by the idea of incarnation — God coming to Earth as a human.

"I'm drawn this year to the humility of God coming among us as a man. Also, the fact that it was prophesied throughout the centuries," McKeown said. "Isaiah prophesied 800 years beforehand that Jesus would be born.

"What I'm struck by too is he doesn't subcontract out things. He takes on flesh and dwells among us."

He also found himself stricken with the humility of Christ and the simplicity with which some celebrate the holiday.

"Jesus, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, should have been born in a palace but he was born in a manger," McKeown said. "In simplicity, we can make more room for the Lord and find that peace he wants to bring."

He recalled the story of a friend in rural Alabama, where McKeown grew up. They were poor and he rarely got proper Christmas presents, but what he did get was a chocolate bar, an orange and a soda. He appreciated what he had.

"Many people associate Christmas with material goods," McKeown said. "He had Jesus, he got his candy bar and his orange and that's what he remembered about Christmas."