Something is missing in our Christmas......
(Originally posted as a facebook note in December of 2009)
I live in Branson. In Branson, Christmas begins November the 1st, and occasionally, late October 31st, as soon as the last candy is doled out. I sometimes hear people say that Christmas starts way too early. And, in a way, maybe it does. Maybe "Jingle Bells" makes your ears bleed long about the 1000th hearing of the year. And maybe the 60th night you drive by the lovely colored lights on your way home in the evening, the wonder has worn a bit thin. That may all be true, in a way.
But in another way, I've come to think that Christmas starts way too late. I don't mean that we begin the commercialized celebration too late in the calendar year. I just mean that we think of the story of Christmas having it's beginning in a barn in Bethlehem, or maybe in an angellic visitation to a virgin, who found favor with God, or to her fiancee, who was struck speechless by it all. Or, maybe, we think of the Christmas story beginning with the prophet Isaiah, foretelling the coming King, the coming Sacrifice, the coming Savior. I think it begins much earlier, much earlier, indeed.
I think the Christmas story is the greatest story ever told. And I think we lose a bit of it's impact if we only remember that night, silent or otherwise, when God burst into this earth in the fleshly form of His baby son, Jesus. In my mind, the Christmas story began in a garden, with a woman, and her man, who was with her, and a lying serpent, lying in wait to take vengeance on the God who cast him from the Heavens for his pride and lust for godhood. So began our great need, not just for a savior, but for The Savior. The story begins with a people separated by sin from their Creator, a Creator who wanted only and infinitely to be with them, because He is Love. That story, The Story, continues through a few thousand years of God's chosen people blundering through the wilderness of sin-sickness, soul-sickness, and plain old fashioned home-sickness, in desparate need of the Messiah, the Savior, even if many would fail to recognize Him once He came. The soul rending longing for that Savior is what we mustn't gloss over. Our need was, and still is, so very great.
So, God made a way. He made the only way, as our sinful selves and our meager burnt offerings and sacrifices could not, would not, will not restore us to communion with the Father. So, He sent the Son. He gave the greatest Christmas Gift ever, Himself. So, the wheels of our atonement had begun to turn in earnest on that holy night. The story of His birth is a beautiful one......a baby, born in a barn, since there was no room for Him anywhere else, with shepherds and angels to welcome Him into this world He came to save, so small, so tender, so human.
The story continues through 30 odd years of life on this earth, through a ministry which shook the establishment and opened up the gates of Heaven to all mankind, should they follow Him through them. It continues through one horrible Friday, when He bore the sins of us all, the sins of us each, on a wretched Roman cross. The story continues through one terrible Saturday, when those who had followed Him were scattered, terrified, and devastated by emptiness and loss. It continues through an amazing Sunday, when He discarded the burial clothes He had been laid in and rolled the stone away from His tomb, when He conquered death once and for all, for one and for all. It continues even today, 2000+ years later, as the souls He bought with His blood wait for His return, and for the Home that He has prepared for us, filled with the Spirit He gave to us. And it will continue for all Eternity, in the unimagineable Glory of Heaven, the unfathomable beauty of the Father and the Son, the Praise of the people from every tribe and every nation, and only God knows what else.
I know that I keep coming back to Andrew Peterson's Christmas musical, "Behold, the Lamb of God." But, here I come again. One of the reasons that I love this musical so much is the setting of when the story begins......in the time before Christmas, when the Children of God were so fully aware of their need. My favorite song from the musical is "Deliver Us," sung on the CD by Derek Webb. It's beautiful, and haunting, and full of longing for a Savior. I think that's the thing that we miss out on at Christmas....just how much we needed Christmas, and just how much we still need Jesus. So when you sing "O, Holy Night," don't just think of the "O, night divine." Remember the "long lay the world, in sin and error pining," too.
And so, the story does continue.....the story of the Savior. Christmas is such a moving, beautiful, powerful part of that story. It's so humbling, so tender, so loving. And I so love Christmas. I just wish it didn't start quite so early..........and quite so late.
(Originally posted as a facebook note in December of 2009)
I live in Branson. In Branson, Christmas begins November the 1st, and occasionally, late October 31st, as soon as the last candy is doled out. I sometimes hear people say that Christmas starts way too early. And, in a way, maybe it does. Maybe "Jingle Bells" makes your ears bleed long about the 1000th hearing of the year. And maybe the 60th night you drive by the lovely colored lights on your way home in the evening, the wonder has worn a bit thin. That may all be true, in a way.
But in another way, I've come to think that Christmas starts way too late. I don't mean that we begin the commercialized celebration too late in the calendar year. I just mean that we think of the story of Christmas having it's beginning in a barn in Bethlehem, or maybe in an angellic visitation to a virgin, who found favor with God, or to her fiancee, who was struck speechless by it all. Or, maybe, we think of the Christmas story beginning with the prophet Isaiah, foretelling the coming King, the coming Sacrifice, the coming Savior. I think it begins much earlier, much earlier, indeed.
I think the Christmas story is the greatest story ever told. And I think we lose a bit of it's impact if we only remember that night, silent or otherwise, when God burst into this earth in the fleshly form of His baby son, Jesus. In my mind, the Christmas story began in a garden, with a woman, and her man, who was with her, and a lying serpent, lying in wait to take vengeance on the God who cast him from the Heavens for his pride and lust for godhood. So began our great need, not just for a savior, but for The Savior. The story begins with a people separated by sin from their Creator, a Creator who wanted only and infinitely to be with them, because He is Love. That story, The Story, continues through a few thousand years of God's chosen people blundering through the wilderness of sin-sickness, soul-sickness, and plain old fashioned home-sickness, in desparate need of the Messiah, the Savior, even if many would fail to recognize Him once He came. The soul rending longing for that Savior is what we mustn't gloss over. Our need was, and still is, so very great.
So, God made a way. He made the only way, as our sinful selves and our meager burnt offerings and sacrifices could not, would not, will not restore us to communion with the Father. So, He sent the Son. He gave the greatest Christmas Gift ever, Himself. So, the wheels of our atonement had begun to turn in earnest on that holy night. The story of His birth is a beautiful one......a baby, born in a barn, since there was no room for Him anywhere else, with shepherds and angels to welcome Him into this world He came to save, so small, so tender, so human.
The story continues through 30 odd years of life on this earth, through a ministry which shook the establishment and opened up the gates of Heaven to all mankind, should they follow Him through them. It continues through one horrible Friday, when He bore the sins of us all, the sins of us each, on a wretched Roman cross. The story continues through one terrible Saturday, when those who had followed Him were scattered, terrified, and devastated by emptiness and loss. It continues through an amazing Sunday, when He discarded the burial clothes He had been laid in and rolled the stone away from His tomb, when He conquered death once and for all, for one and for all. It continues even today, 2000+ years later, as the souls He bought with His blood wait for His return, and for the Home that He has prepared for us, filled with the Spirit He gave to us. And it will continue for all Eternity, in the unimagineable Glory of Heaven, the unfathomable beauty of the Father and the Son, the Praise of the people from every tribe and every nation, and only God knows what else.
I know that I keep coming back to Andrew Peterson's Christmas musical, "Behold, the Lamb of God." But, here I come again. One of the reasons that I love this musical so much is the setting of when the story begins......in the time before Christmas, when the Children of God were so fully aware of their need. My favorite song from the musical is "Deliver Us," sung on the CD by Derek Webb. It's beautiful, and haunting, and full of longing for a Savior. I think that's the thing that we miss out on at Christmas....just how much we needed Christmas, and just how much we still need Jesus. So when you sing "O, Holy Night," don't just think of the "O, night divine." Remember the "long lay the world, in sin and error pining," too.
And so, the story does continue.....the story of the Savior. Christmas is such a moving, beautiful, powerful part of that story. It's so humbling, so tender, so loving. And I so love Christmas. I just wish it didn't start quite so early..........and quite so late.
