I know, I know Christmas magic won’t really make reindeer
fly or an overweight bearded man slide UP a chimney…Santa is only a legendary
figure and unfortunately that’s true whether you want it to be or not. At some point we all succumb to the harsh
reality that the North Pole really is just a hunk of ice at the top of the
globe and that there aren't traffic-directing polar bears or toy making elves
laboring away in an out of sight secret castle where hot cocoa flows like a
river. I get it, don’t rub it in.
Still though, I firmly believe that Christmas does hold with
it a mysterious kind of magic, which if one would only believe in and harness, can
make the fiction of Santa pale in comparison to the true story of Christ.
Christmas is the celebration of the giving of a most magical
gift, mankind’s greatest gift ever received to be precise. A birthday party that began some 2013 years ago
and still being celebrated, now that’s a special magic indeed. Now I know Christmas as we celebrate it today
in Western culture is a far cry from the Christ-centered remembrances of early Christendom,
but that doesn’t detract from my point.
My point is this, Christmas whether celebrated in the US, Europe, Australia or anywhere else on the planet is in its essence a celebration
of Heaven’s greatest gift, Jesus, given to a dying and desperate world. We may have mixed it in with some pagan
solstice celebrations or some winter recognition or rituals of one sort or
another, but it is still, as we celebrate it today, centered on that greatest of gifts. It's a birthday party. And we all celebrate those occasions in our
own unique ways. Whether you believe in
the reality of Christ as the center of the celebration or not, guess what – by celebrating
Christmas you are joining in our fun and joining in His party.
Last night we took a ride to the North Pole. A ride on the Polar Express to be exact.
It may have been a train that spends the rest of the year on
less lofty excursions and sure, the North Pole we visited last night may have,
in other seasons, been in Peninsula, Ohio, but last night in the hearts and
minds of the children aboard the train we were there. It was magic.
It's a Christmas kind of magic that allows a 10 year old who in
his mind knows we're in Akron Ohio to suspend disbelief just long enough to
allow his heart to take over and be transported to the North Pole. It was the spirit of Christmas that prompted parents to smile and stare glassy-eyed through the foggy windows at the lights
and painted cutouts and want just as bad as their children to be there in the
moment, in the magic. It may not have
focused on the Christ in Christmas, but what does cake have to do with someone
turning a year older? It is part of the
celebration. It creates the energy that
makes the Season bright and makes these moments memorable. Who can, regardless of their religious persuasion,
experience Christmas magic of this type and not have a favorable feeling about
Jesus, of whom the Holiday is named. Who
can see the pure Joy in a child’s eyes as they open the gift they have been
dreaming of and not, for at least a moment, feel the Joy that must have been in
the hearts of the shepherds as they gazed upon the Savior’s face in the flesh
on that first Christmas night?
Christmas magic, if we look at it through this lens, can
help us to understand the emotions that surrounded the birth of Jesus. Think about the logistical nightmare of
traveling, by donkey, hundreds of miles with a pregnant wife and no GPS only to
find that there are no spots to sleep when you get there. Contrast that with finding a parking spot,
then navigating the mall in late December with a Christmas list of specific
items for those you love and don’t want to disappoint.
Think of God who knew what we needed, gave it to us with no
strings attached and only asked that we accept it, only to be turned down by an
ungrateful bunch of self-centered whiners.
Ever try to give a child new clothes or underwear as a gift under the
tree instead of a toy? A small sense of what God must
feel.
There really are lessons that we can take from the
commercialized Christmas that exists today, one needs only look out into the
faces of the lost sheep at the malls or into the eyes of the child who won’t be
getting even a full meal this Christmas let alone any nicely wrapped gifts
under a brightly lit tree and you can understand why God gave us Christ, His
son and why He showed us how to love the lost and care for the needy. He knew we needed saving and that Jesus was
the Savior we needed. He surely knew that we wouldn’t all like it either, just
as we know as parents that our children need more than candy canes and
marshmallow filled Santa chocolates to eat on Christmas, it doesn’t mean that
they are all going to like a healthy meal.
There are lessons to be learned and gifts to be given and received even
today, 2013 years into the birthday party.
Personally, I think that Christ loves Christmas, and I
believe that He loves seeing the magic it creates even if we don’t always
attribute it all to Him. It is a means
to understand that which is beyond our normal mortal comprehension. It's a way to get a glimpse at the feelings
of Christmas in the Christ-centered sense.
We can’t teleport back 2000 years to be there with the Shepherds or the
Magi in that stable, but we can celebrate and experience the magic and wonder
of Christmas this year right in our homes.
Merry Christmas as you celebrate in whatever way brings Joy
to your heart and a twinkle to your eye, and if you want to bring a smile to the
One whose birthday we celebrate, maybe light a birthday candle and sing Him
happy birthday, after all He is allowing us to receive all of the gifts on His
special day.
