Movies – TV specials –
every year they come up with a new way to make it seem like Christmas is in
trouble. What if Santa can’t get through the storm or crashes his sleigh? What
if he falls off the roof top and Tim Allen isn’t there to take over? What if
Ebeneezer Scrooge or all the children of New York lose the Christmas spirit?
A dozen years ago, in
2002, Christmas almost went by in the actual city of Bethlehem uncelebrated.
There had been a major Israeli raid, The Church of the Nativity was occupied by
snipers. And for half that year, the city was under a strict evening curfew.
Manger Square was
undecorated, no glistening lights, no bells or holly…and very few pilgrims.
There were many open inns, but almost no tourists to fill them. It
was as if Dr. Seuss’ Grinch had driven his sleigh into Bethlehem, into the
heart and the very starting place of Christmas, and had taken everything,
leaving it bare. Except that Christmas happened again anyway.
Now, today in the Holy
Land, it is a completely different scene. The new Mayor of Bethlehem is named
Vera Baboun. She is first woman elected to that position, an Arab Christian who
has been encouraging Christians and businesses to stay in Bethlehem.
She is determined to
make sure that Christmas is celebrated in Manger Square the whole month of
December. In fact, it’s a bit over the top with dancing Santas and fireworks…filled
with music and trumpets, and their “jing tinglers, their flu floopers, and tar
tinkers.” You might think that the Mayor of Bethlehem has saved Christmas, or some
think she’s lost it by going over the top with all the noise and hoopla.
Except that, right now,
it is about 5:30 [9:30] AM on Christmas morning in Bethlehem, and people there are
learning the same lesson that God has been trying to teach us for over 2000
years ago. The lesson is simple: nobody—no Grinches, no Scrooges, no soldiers,
no lack of decoration, or packages, no crowded squares or empty inns, nor power
hungry King Herods, or dancing Santas—nothing and no one stops Christmas from
happening. And no one saves Christmas. …Christmas saved us!
Christmas in its most
basic form was and is the will of God in the flesh. And you cannot
stop what God wills. God said, “Let there be light!” And then there were
suns and stars, reflections and rainbows. It may have happened in an
instant, or over billions of years; it’s all the same to God. He
wills it; …it happens.
God said, “Let there be
salvation!” And there was Jesus Christ. God’s will, God’s
love and joy came to us in the flesh.
So, you cannot stop
Christmas. Christmas is Christ! But you can let Christmas get
crowded out of your own heart. That can happen if we ignore all that God has given, or refuse to
rejoice, or let our hearts get too cramped.
One of my favorite
writers is John Ortberg. In his book, The Life You’ve Always
Wanted, he wrote,
“The Bible puts joy in the nonoptional category. Joy is
a command. Joylessness is a serious sin, one that religious people
are particularly prone to indulge in. It may be the sin most readily
tolerated by the church… How much damage have joyless Christians done to the
cause of Christ?”
The joy that you and I
are called to have is not empty-headed. We are not called to walk
around with ding-a-ling smiles when we are faced with all the horrible stuff
that happens around us, but an over-riding peace and an underlying joy in us
that realizes that no one has the last word…except God. God has and
will always have the last word; and his Word from the beginning of creation has
always been “Life.” “Rise up!” “Live
again!” “Live forever!” “Life.”
Because of that Word of Joy, made flesh in Jesus Christ, our
biggest responsibility as a church, our greatest call as Christians could be summed up in that
Biblical commandment to “Rejoice!” And this follows: to help others rejoice
with us, as we all discover and rejoice in the God who loves us to death and
back again.
That is how we make room for Christmas. That’s how Christmas is
reborn every year. Christmas has come. Christmas is here. Right
here. His name is Jesus Christ. Let his love fill you
with hope for those around you. Let it fill you with expectation each year and
for all eternity.
I’ll say it one last time: Christmas cannot be lost, and
Christmas never needs to be saved! Christmas saves us! Joy to the world!
