We are less than a week away from Christmas. The time between now and then would be described as a marketing dream. There is a hard deadline coming up quickly and consumers are desperate to make a purchase. Timing in marketing is very important and there is no better time to be a marketer than right now. However tempting it may be to write a "perfect storm” type of marketing blog, I am going to shift away from business and talk a bit about the perfect timing of Christmas, particularly as it pertains to the impact of Christmas on the heart.

I am a lover of history. I recognize that there are moments in the past when the time was just right to make a big impression on the world – so much so, that it changes the course of human history. You may think of ancient history like the campaigns of Alexander the Great in 333 BC to destroy the much larger Persian Empire and force the Greek language and lifestyle on his subjects. It caused people from Eastern Europe to the Near East to speak a common language for the first time in world history. It changed communication. You might also think of the Pax Romana (Peace of Rome), a two-hundred-year period of time that began in 27 BC when Augustus became Caesar. It was highlighted by an expansion of infrastructure (especially roads) that connected disparate civilizations from northern Africa, through the Middle East, parts of western Asia and all over Europe – the first time one could travel from one place to the other on a highway.

It was at the confluence of these things that Christmas came about. The word "Christmas” is an English mash-up of two words that came from both the Greek and Roman cultures: Christ from the Greek word "Christos” and Mass from the Roman Latin word "Missa.” Literally, they mean "the Anointed One’s Mass” or "the King of kings has been sent into the world.” As the Christmas story is told, near the middle of the reign of Augustus, at a place in the middle of the crossroads of the world, a census was taken which required families to be counted in the hometown of their ancestorial lineage. The Roman roads made it possible for this to happen. The common Greek language made it easy to get the word out. The parents of Jesus Christ made a 100-mile journey to a small town in southern Israel called Bethlehem. His mother was pregnant and gave birth in a stable because of the large crowds already packed into this small village due to the census counting going on. We are told that Magi from the East came seeking him out in this small village, traveling those Roman highways. They claimed they were following a star that announced the birth of the Christ. They had read about him in ancient scrolls. Each of them presented expensive gifts to this newborn king and bowed down to worship him. We give gifts at Christmas because of their act of diligent devotion.

But there is much more to the impact of this first Christmas on our world. Prior to this first Christmas, kings came to conquer domains – going to war against generals and armies. Kingdoms fell to empires that became larger and larger. Revolutionaries tore apart empires until they were subdued by the edge of the sword or overthrew their oppressors. You don’t have to be a historian to realize that if you continue one revolution after the other, humans will eventually wipe out each other. This new king was neither a well-armed aristocrat nor a political insurgent. He was a soul changer – one who transforms our way of thinking.

Do we still have wars? Yes, it is the way humans continue to settle their differences. However, Christ came to change things on the inside of us – to bring peace to our souls. He has been called the Prince of Peace. Before there is lasting peace, old enemies have to lay down their arms and embrace a new way of thinking. His coming challenged the way we think. What would have happened if that first Christmas would not have happened? Would we all be out to kill or be killed? Would we ever have a kind thought towards another person? I find there is something that happens inside us at Christmas – we change the way we think. We strive to help the downtrodden. We seek to give to others, just like the Magi did. Christmas touches our hearts. That’s the impact the first Christmas had on our world and is still having on us now.

By the way, those old empires have been gone for a very long time. Their once-glorious realms have been leveled and their stories are largely forgotten. Christmas is still here. The time was right – it still is.

Have a Merry Christmas!

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