As a child, I attended a large, traditional church with cathedral-style, stained-glass windows. There was also a fresco of Jesus and a herd of sheep. I don’t remember much about the sheep – just that they were there – but I do remember that in Jesus’ arms were two or three little lambs looking up at him. He was looking back at them with a grave, tender expression on his face.
We sat in the same place every week in order to be close to the side door, where Grandma could slip out unobserved if she had a coughing fit. It made her feel more secure to sit there, and I got a lot of face time with this fresco while half-listening to a grown-up talk about things I did not understand.
While still very young, I remember gesturing toward the fresco and asking my mother, “Who’s that?”
“That’s God,” she replied, as if I were asking about someone in Bradner’s Department Store. There was no question – just a matter-of-fact, positive ID. So I filed this away in my subconscious: God is a person and he sure takes care of those lambs.
As for me, I had this information, but acting on that information is quite another thing. Time passed and I happily took my eyes off of him. He patiently and faithfully pursued me for decades, through awful choices resulting in pain. He did not give up. He did not even prevent me from making those life choices. In fact, He used them as if to say, as effectively as if He were standing next to me, “Have you had enough of your way yet?”
Eventually and gradually, my flight from Him turned from an energetic run into slow, exhausted steps, until I turned around and, by faith, fell gratefully into His strong arms – just like those little lambs on the fresco.
It is an unspeakable comfort and joy to know that over 2000 years ago, Jesus, Lamb of God, came to this earth as a helpless baby, grew up to be the Good Shepherd and Savior of his flock, died a death that was justly mine. He saved me, He saves me and He will save me.
On what are you relying this day for your salvation? A husband, boyfriend, child, best friend, career, home, good works, yourself? What a relief to know that we don’t have to put that kind of pressure on ourselves or anyone else! This is the season we celebrate the coming of the One who loved us enough to come meet us where we are – on this earth in all our messy humanity – and truly save us.
“Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lay His glory by.
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angel sings, Glory to the new-born King!”
Introduction
Christmas is not just a day. It is a full season with three traditional parts:
*The sober, reflective, preparatory time of Advent, which comes twenty-one to twenty-eight days before Christmas Day. It is during this time that the Church, traditionally, has prepared itself for the coming of Jesus the Christ: His past coming as a squalling infant into the dark grotto of a Bethlehem stable; His future coming as King of kings and Lord of lords, the Messiah who will rule and reign forever; and His present coming into our individual lives and our church communities as living Lord, Redeemer, Savior, Healer, Deliverer, and ever-present Friend of friends.
*The grand celebration of Christmastide, the twelve days beginning with Christmas Day. It is during this time that Christians around the world have traditionally "made merry" with joyous abandon. Christmastide is a time for family and friends, for singing and feasting, for sending greetings and hosting parties. It is a time for rejoicing that heaven has struck a path all the way to the very gates of hell and has invited every human being to walk upon it toward everlasting life.
*Epiphany, January 6, the day that the Church commemorates the arrival of the wise men from the East bearing their precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is a day traditionally associated with gift giving, a day for reflecting upon the Gift of gifts from a heavenly Father to a needy world. Many of us have combined the gift giving of Epiphany with the celebration of Christmas Day.
The three facets of the Christmas season have a wonderful harmony to them. The sober, reflective, quiet days of Advent give way to the glorious light and merriment of Christmas, and out of a spirit of joy and thanksgiving, gifts flow naturally.
In our culture today, the three seasons of Christmas seem to have become a little muddled. Our children often await Santa Claus more than the birth of the Christ child. We put up our Christmas trees just after Thanksgiving and take them down the day after Christmas rather than putting them up on Christmas Eve and enjoying them until Epiphany. We delight in the bustle and parties before Christmas Day and then wonder why we feel a little depressed and lonely in the days that follow it. By New Year's Day, the party seems to be over. We begin the new year in debt, dread taking down the lights on the house and bushes outside, resolve to embark on major life changes, and often harbor a lingering feeling of unfulfillment.
52 Simple Ways to Make Christmas Special is a challenge to return to tradition. It calls for Advent to be a personal advent, Christmastide to be a celebration, and Epiphany to be a glorious conclusion to the holiday season. This book provides ideas, loosely grouped, for each facet of the season...
Truly it is a marvel that we commemorate Christmas year after year after year. If Christmas were only a time of commercialized gift giving, we might have let it run its course years ago. No, our souls need Christmas. We have a deep human need to call attention to the origin of our faith on a periodic basis, to become aware once again that God reached down and extended to the earth His love incarnate. We need a starting-over point for our inner lives, a time for renewal, rededication, and rejoicing. Christmas is something we cannot do without.
Therefore, let's make Christmas even more special. Let's delight in it to the fullest! Let's mark the holidays as holy days. In so doing, we will find more meaning, more fulfillment, and more joy.
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