Christmas Thoughts (from 12/23, not 12/12)

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of the whole inhabited earth. This was the fist census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. While they were there the days were completed for her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was nor room for them in the inn.
Luke 2: 1-7

You know the rest. Angles had already shown up and freaked out Mary and Joseph - told them not to worry that they were favored by the Most High and Mary was going to bring the Son of God into the world. They go to Bethlehem. Mary gives birth to Jesus as cows and donkeys stand guard. Wise men show up. Angles sing choruses. And then the whole scene ends up as a plastic scene lit up by halogen bulbs in your neighbor’s front yard.

It’s what we’ve come to see Christmas as. Ask anybody to tell in your church to tell you the Christmas story and you’ll get something like that (except that last bit). We love this stuff. And why not? It’s beautiful.

That’s not really what scares me. What scares me is how we just leave it as a beautiful story. But it’s not just a warm, fuzzy. It’s the biggest thing that’s happened to humanity, EVER. Bigger than 9/11, bigger than the AIDS epidemic, and even bigger than Wal-mart’s unbelievably low prices at 4a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. How quickly we’ve become desensitized to the hugeness of this event and allowed to become a nice story we read at Christmastime (if there’s time after we set up our house decorations and finish our shopping).

But this isn’t just a cute baby in a manger. It’s the God of the Universe. Omnipotent. The King of Kings. The Christ. Yet, there he lies - in a manger in the middle of a filthy barn surrounded by stinky noisy animals. He’s crying because He’s hungry and He needs His mother to feed Him. Yes, the Creator of the Universe is crying because He needs His mother to feed Him. Why? Because He loves you and wants to restore you to the purpose of His creating you - to take joy in Him and drink His ways in deep and be satisfied like you can be by nothing else. This is the depths of His love for you - to take on this flesh for no other reason than glorifying His father by redeeming you. And this is just the beginning.

Certainly, this among the most beautiful of all stories. But it’s a lot more than that. Skip down a few verses. Joseph takes his wife and this beautiful child and they flee. Then they hide. Not just for a week or two. They hide in Egypt until Herod finally dies. There’s a reason they had to hide. The birth signified the beginning of something huge. Something so big that even the ruler of all the known world would seek out this little baby born in a filthy barn to destroy him.

I was reading in Revelations this morning and stumbled upon a passage that reminded me of how big this story really is. How much more it is that just a warm, fuzzy story to read at Christmas time.

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold; a great dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his head were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that she gave birth he might devour her child.
And she gave birth to a male child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled inot the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God…
And there was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.
Revelation 12:1 -7


Puts things back into perspective doesn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Scrooge. I love Christmas. I love sparkling lights. I love spending time with family whom I love. I love the sparkle in my wife’s eye when I break down the day after Thanksgiving and finally turn on a Christmas cd and sing it with her, I love the plastic tree in our living room covered in shinny balls, I love the gifts, and heck, I even like some of the tacky yard art. Enjoy it. Enjoy your family and that precious time off of work and school. But don’t leave it at that.

Let’s just not forget why we have this season. Let’s not forget why we celebrate this baby and his birth. Let’s not let it just become “holiday” season. In the midst of all the wonderful traditions and hustle and bustle of the season, let’s not forget how blessed we are that the God of the Universe would become a helpless babe for us. That all of heaven watched in awe and anticipation of this baby and the redemption he was to bring and how hell and all of it’s minions were bent on destroying Him and all that hope that came with him. Lastly let not forget, this is a battle that isn’t over. This baby’s birth was just the beginning.