Blah, blah, blah and a merry Christmas!
It’s the same old thing every year. About this time we realize that C Day is just around the corner, and we ain’t got everything done yet. We pound away at work to get things done so we don’t have to work on our vacation. Every commercial has a holiday twist to it trying to get us in the mood to spend our money all the while under the guise of ’tis the season to give.’. Each night we count the days left with our kids and wonder if we’ll survive.
Is this what it’s become? Are good intentions enough to make up for traffic jams, shopping injuries, paper cuts from wrapping gifts, the endless nagging “mommy I want that.”, and the drain of the final 12 day dash to the the finish line? Has Christmas been diluted down to a baby Jesus ornament on a Christmas tree?
I remember hearing someone that could easily be labeled as a Christian bemoaning the fact that due to tight finances they wouldn’t have hardly any gifts under their Christmas tree this year. He said, “It’s just so sad that we won’t be having much of a Christmas this year.”. You get my point, right?
Now what? Remember the manger scene? I mean the one that we portray to the world. Cute little white Caucasian baby Jesus lay cuddled in clean blankets in the soft hay. Mary and Joseph, peaceful and brimming with joy look at their Savior. Gentle beasts silently laying nearby. Clean-shaved shepherds stand around holding knarly wood staffs, and three really smartly dressed guys kneel with expensive gifts to give. It’s lovely and safe. Nothing to worry about. Sure.
In reality, the first Christmas was probably a total nightmare for Mary and Joseph. Imagine about 9 months ago Mary was ecstatic and pondering in her heart the amazing revelation given to her. Now she lay in a dark and damp and cold cave in labor pains. Joseph I imagine was totally bewildered. I mean his wife is pregnant and he had nothing to do with it. After somehow working through the public humiliation of trying to explain things, here he is traveling around the countryside trying desperately to find a place to sleep for the night. They were homeless, and more than likely had little to no money.
Could I go on? Of course, but you are getting my point. It was anything but Silent Night. Amidst the chaos of the first Christmas the Kingdom of God was advancing with force. In my mind there must have been relentless blood being shed in the spiritual realms as Satan began to realize that this was it. Remember hundreds if not thousands of baby boys would be murdered in their mother’s arms in about two years of Jesus birth once king Herod realized that he had been tricked and could not discover the newborn King’s whereabouts.
Yet, the presence of the Self-Existent One was not to be diminished. His glory was probably the only thing that sustained the two young parents. In Luke 2:19 we read about Mary’s response as the shepherds went around the countryside telling everyone about the angels appearing and proclaiming the coming king to all the people in the surrounding area. It says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”. In the middle of chaos she reflected on all that had been said and was occurring. Her perspective was on God and this amazing gift of life He had brought into the world through her womb. Her faith was not based on the craziness of the world around her, nor the desperate living conditions they found themselves in. Her faith was in the One who would deliver.
Where is your faith? Have the trappings of the American Christmas season captured your attention? Are you waiting for a special visitation from angels? Or, is your faith in the One who sent His Son to live, die, and rise from the dead so that you might have life? Is your Christmas just the same old blah, blah, blah, or is it a time to reflect on what the Almighty has already done out of the abundance of His infinite love?