Oh my goodness, it’s finally here.
It’s Christmas time; my absolute favorite time of the year. The family is all together, sipping cider or
hot chocolate or coffee. I and the
missus are snuggled together in our warm sweaters and stockings. Garland and tinsel are on the tree and
chestnuts are roasting on the open fire while the stockings hang from the
mantle. As I look out the window, I see the snow drifting down softly. Then, as
if on cue, I see my neighbor walking by with his dog leash in one hand and
holding his young daughter’s hand with the other. I raise my cup of chocolate as he passes by in
a gesture of greeting. He responds with
a slight tip of his hat while his daughter waves eagerly… (Insert screeching
tire followed by a crashing car wreck sound effects)
Right, whose reality is that other than
Norman Rockwell or Clement Clark Moore? Have you been to WalMart or Target
lately? Have you seen the horrific look on people’s
faces in the ungodly traffic? Have you
even seen your neighbor walk his dog lately? And around here if snow is falling outside, the world is probably coming to an end. Is there a more hectic – or stressful - time
of the year than Christmas? Plus it seems like this year everyone is hell-bent on killing each other...literally. What on
earth is the point of all this absolute insanity?
It wasn’t always like that, you know.
Normal Rockwell was inspired by something real that actually existed in our culture at
one point. There was a time when Christmas
was about spending time with family and creating lifelong memories. There was a
time when Christmas was first and foremost about the birth of Christ and only
secondarily about all the other stuff. That just does not exist anymore. Now Christmas is about the lights, the parties, and the shopping.
I can’t help but think that the guy who really had it all figured out
and saw this madness coming was Charlie Brown.
A Charlie Brown Christmas has always been one of my favorite Christmas shows, but not necessarily because
Charlie Brown was lamenting the commercialization of Christmas. It's just a good, wholesome Christmas story. As a child, though, Charlie Brown was the odd
one out. As a child, I always related more
to snoopy and the rest of the gang, wanting Christmas to be bigger and
better. Well, now it is. The irony is that even while
Charlie Brown longed for a simpler Christmas, the Peanuts Christmas is still far closer to the Normal Rockwell vision than the Christmas I see today. Hey, even in A Charley Brown Christmas they were still doing Christmas plays
and going Christmas caroling. If only…
Christmas today is more like Jingle
All the Way than it is A Charlie
Brown Christmas. Don’t get me wrong,
I’ve been Arnold Schwarzenegger (not that I am built like he is or anything –
only in my Christmas dreams - but I have been the guy going all over town
looking for THE gift). We all have at
some point. I just wonder what good old Charlie
Brown would say about Christmas in 2012.
Have you watched the commercials this year? I cannot even put into words the pressure
being put on us by the commercial machine to spend more and more of our
money. Half the commercials are preying
on our greed and materialism. The other
half are preying on the guilt that comes with the obligation of gift giving –
cheerfully and happily (read that manipulatively) encouraging us to be the
better gifter. And all of them are preying on that unexplainable instinct to
get the best possible deal. For pity’s sake, Black Friday started on
Thanksgiving evening this year! Now that
is just plain WRONG. A few places even
had Black Friday specials before Thanksgiving! The worst part to me is the trend this year for the big chain stores to hijack our Christmas Carols and rewrite them as their own personal commercial jingle. Have you heard these (shake head back in forth demonstrating shameful disdain).
And then there is all of the going and doing. I was so busy the first weekend in December that
I literally had difficulty going to work on Monday morning because I was too
exhausted and worn out. There are
parties, and band concerts, and church functions, and family gatherings, and
work gatherings. Plus, in our new found
culture of altruistic thinking (because, after all, it is not about us), we all
have to try and squeeze in some volunteer time at the non-profit flavor of the
day. It’s no wonder we are all so
discontent. I can’t wait for New Years,
so I can get some rest and life can get back to normal! Am I the only one that is exhausted already? Like the gang in A Charlie Brown Christmas, we have lost sight of what Christmas is
really about.
Here’s where I could be the legalistic, fundamental, self-righteous
Christian. Here’s where I could say “Jesus
is the reason for the season.” Or the
latest mantra – It’s “Merry CHRISTmas, not Happy Holidays!” Let’s all just put Christ back in Christmas,
right? The question is – who would
care? Who would listen? I can’t brow beat you into my expectation for a Jesus-oriented Merry Christmas mood.
At best it would make you feel guilty.
At worst, it would turn you off.
Of course, Jesus is the reason for the season, but that is not going to
fix our discontentment or make our Christmas any less hectic.
I don’t want to make you feel guilty.
Instead, I think I would like to remind you of something a bit more
basic. I would just like to take a moment and tell you a little bit about the JOY that is this thing we call
Christmas. I want to try and offer some JOY for your life – to encourage you to seek that JOY - and hope you find enough of that JOY to
help you through this insanity that we have created called the Holiday Season.
“Behold, I bring you good of great JOY
that will be to all people. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
“JOY to the world, the Lord
has come. Let earth receive her king.”
“When [the wise men] saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great
JOY.”
Lest we forget, Christmas is all about JOY. Yes it is about the birth of Christ; and no, Jesus was not really born on December 25. However, this is the day we have set
aside to especially remember his advent and it is supposed to bring us JOY.
Why? Aren’t we supposed to
remember his advent every other day?
Absolutely. But on the day Jesus was
born, angels declared JOY TO THE WORLD. The coming of Jesus was to bring us
gladness. The coming of Jesus was to
bring us JOY. Jesus himself said that his teachings were so
that “my JOY may be in you, and that
your JOY may be complete.” I look around my house and I see at least 3 sets of JOY figurines. Christmas is all about the JOY of the Lord.
Listen… nothing I can say can make you have JOY this Christmas. In fact,
if you do not know this Jesus and have not placed your faith in him, there is a
good chance you cannot have JOY this
Christmas. Even for the rest of us, celebrating his birth will
not bring JOY because the JOY is not in the birth itself, but in what he did after he was born.
It was his life and, yes, it was his death. More importantly, it was his resurrection
from the dead and what that means for us – none of which would have been
possible without his birth, of course. So we celebrate his birth with gladness and JOY - or at least that was the idea.
All I am asking is that you take a moment to STOP. Somewhere in this
busy, hectic, discontented season, let’s all just STOP - if for a moment. Don’t get me
wrong. The Commercial Christmas is here
to stay. We are still going to be
bombarded with a department-store redefinition of the holidays. We are still going to have more to do than we
can handle. I get that. I’m no different… I’m even trying to sell my
book as a last-minute Christmas present (enter shameless plug: www.tinyurl.com/faithbeyondbelief). All I am saying is that we take a step back, take
a deep breath, and then take a moment of silence and peace to just think about
the JOY of our salvation. As it says in Habakkuk 3:18 (not your normal
Christmas passage):
“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take JOY in the God of my salvation.”
And another, Psalm 46:10 (also not your normal Christmas passage):
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Stillness would be nice right about now...
Merry Christmas.
Comments are welcome.
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