Experience Christmas As a Child Again

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”            --Luke 2:10-12   NASB95

“Dad…would you stop acting like a little kid!” Those words or similar are repeated by my two boys every Christmas. ‘Tis the season to cherish the childish. I get so carried away that Dallas and Daniel just roll their eyes with a “there goes Dad again” look on their faces. Christmas is the time that Anissa and I see eye-to-eye on most things: warm holiday cookies, warmer hot chocolate, cold weather, Santa, and brilliant light displays. Most of all, we like the idea of having a birthday party for Jesus. I love the Christmas season so much that I listen to Christmas albums in July and like to sneak a Christmas carol into a worship service during the summer. I had a great Sunday afternoon putting festive lights in the yard and on the house. Later, Anissa and I stood at the darkened street admiring their simple beauty. As I stood holding her hand, I thanked God for the simple joy understood by a little child.

Some other Christmas trappings that never seem to weary me are certain stories and movies. One of my favorite books of all time is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. There is one scene that has always fascinated me. The Ghost of Christmas Past has just paid a very discomforting visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old miser is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakens from his sleep, does he take the message to heart? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: “Bah, humbug! It wasn't real.” He says to himself, “Just a bit of last night’s undigested beef. There is more gravy about you than the grave." Not portrayed in the stage plays and most movies, at the end of Dickens’ story, Ebenezer goes to church and sings the praise of the Christ child with the joy and wonder of a child. The Christ has changed Scrooge, not some vague “Christmas spirit.” Could it be that we don’t have the joyful spirit of Christmas because we are too caught up in the things of this world? So in love with this world, that embracing the joy of Jesus unnerves us? A vision to be taken to heart, or simple indigestion?

Listen to the angel’s tidings to the shepherds with the simplicity of a little child. See the Christ-child with the eyes of a four-year-old. May your heart be so filled with the joy of Christ this Christmas season that you feel like a kid again!

 Love,
Pastor Larry