What Christmas Is All About

In It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey learns that Christmas is about giving and receiving and relationships. "No man is a failure who has friends," Clarence the angel reminds George, who has just had the opportunity, on Christmas Eve, to see what the world would be like if he had never been born.

The experiences of Ebenezer Scrooge show us that Christmas is about being kind and generous and embracing relationships. Once a miserable, stingy, hate-filled old man, Scrooge learns to keep Christmas as well as anyone living.

For Ralphie, Christmas is mostly about getting a Red Ryder BB gun, and a little bit about spending some time with family making memories.

The Grinch's heart grows three sizes when he realizes after he has stolen all of Whoville's presents, decorations, and Who-ham that Christmas comes anyway. Christmas is far more than Christmas presents.

The stories of Christmas tell us that the holiday  is about being a little nicer, feeling a little warmer, being more inclined to perform acts of generosity and kindness to our fellow human beings. And doing all of these things gives us that--well, you know--that feeling of Christmas, children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile while hearing silver bells ringing on every corner.

As much as I love the stories of Christmas, though, most of them get it wrong. Most of them communicate that Christmas is about something we do, something we get, something we make, or something we buy. But how empty a Christmas created by us leaves us! The decorations come down. The presents break, get old, don't fit, get returned. The little love we've put in our hearts for our fellow man drowns in January's slush. We find ourselves asking Charlie Brown's question: "I guess I don’t really know what Christmas is about. Isn’t there anyone who understands what Christmas is all about?"

And Linus gives Charlie Brown the best answer:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger.’ And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men.’”

For George Bailey, that old building and loan will continue to struggle to survive, Uncle Billy will continue to drink too much, and chances are good that George will never get to go to college or travel around the world.  Scrooge will find that despite his best efforts at good will toward his fellow man, he will continue to be frustrated with fellow humans who are irresponsible, tardy, and, in his opinion, spendthrifts. Ralphie will outgrow his BB gun and want something bigger, more expensive, and, most likely, well beyond his grasp. And the Grinch will find that a heart that grows is not necessarily a heart that has been changed and will continue to battle the demons of jealousy and bitterness despite the warm feelings he experienced in Whoville that Christmas day.

But Linus's Christmas story give us hope because it isn't about us. It isn't a story of our becoming stronger and improved as we come to a better understanding of who we are and what we have; it is about God taking the form of a baby, becoming smaller and weaker than those He would save. It isn't about obtaining the very things of this earth that our hearts most desire; it is about God giving up the glories of heaven and living a life of poverty to rescue us from hell. It isn't about how we generate peace and good will from inside ourselves as we reach out to others, donate to our favorite charities, or lend a helping hand. It is about the peace and good will  that God offers to us as He sends His Son to die so that we can be reconciled to Him. It isn't about a season; Christmas is a reality that will carry us through the disappointments and tragedies of life, whether they happen in February, May, or October. It is about a happy ending that continues beyond the happy ending, whose next chapter does not disappoint.

Come, thou long expected Jesus, 
born to set thy people free; 
from our fears and sins release us, 
let us find our rest in thee.  
Israel's strength and consolation, 
hope of all the earth thou art; 
dear desire of every nation, 
joy of every longing heart.


Born thy people to deliver, 
born a child and yet a King, 
born to reign in us forever, 
now thy gracious kingdom bring. 
By thine own eternal spirit 
rule in all our hearts alone; 
by thine all sufficient merit, 
raise us to thy glorious throne.

~Charles Wesley

The Challenges of Gift Giving

Another Christmas has come and gone, and with it the pressures of Christmas shopping and gift giving. It's not that I'm a stingy person--I love to be generous and give gifts to the people I love. But I don't like feeling like Christmas gift giving has evolved into a duty, the challenge of buying things for people who have everything that they need--as well as a lot of stuff that they don't need. It's the tension of avoiding Christmas becoming all about the physical things we can buy for each other while focusing on the reality that the Word became flesh--our God took on a physical body to attain for us the spiritual blessings that none of us could ever buy.


I wouldn't want to do away with gift giving, I suppose. Gift giving motivated by love can be meaningful and joyful. But I yearn, like blogger Amy Julia Becker, for a time when gifts meant more because they were something beyond the everyday. Amy Julia explains:


My idealized version of Christmas comes from “Little House on the Prairie,” where Christmas involved treats and presents that weren’t a part of every day life. Laura and Mary couldn’t imagine anything better than a stocking with a tin cup, a peppermint stick and a shiny new penny. I would love for our Christmas celebration to approximate their sense of delight. But I can only imagine one way for Christmas morning to become a time of celebrating the material world and humbly receiving from one another. We would have to live more simply for the other 364 days of the year.

In the world of the Little House family, when an orange and peppermint stick were once-in-a-year events, it was relatively easy to find gifts that would delight the receivers.  Those peppermint sticks and oranges didn't have to compete with smart phones, flat-screen TVs, game systems, and e-readers. And the relationships among family members satisfied then what many of us try to satisfy today with things that drive us away from meaningful human relationships. What could possibly provide this level of delight in our fast-food, Facebook, texting, smart-phone world, where our problem is finding space for all of the stuff we already have, never mind room for all the new stuff we don't need--or even want? 


This year, I think my daughter Katie had the right idea. A college student, she is operating on a limited budget. We encourage her to use whatever money she earns from babysitting jobs, photography clients, and her on-campus job in the library for the things she needs: tuition, books, day to day expenses. She wanted to give gifts to her family, but she didn't have much to work with. She adopted a chapter from the Little House books and bought each of us small treats that she knew we would enjoy. For Henry and me, a small box of Belgium chocolates. For her brother, some kind of Japanese soda with a marble in it that is released when you open the bottle. She gave similar treats to her grandparents. I loved watching her hand out her well-thought-out treats and the delight she obviously felt as we received them with gratitude. Things that aren't part of the every day, things carefully thought out and lovingly given. Things that didn't cost much in dollars.


And then there was Jonathan, whose face lit up when he opened up the package with the Answers in Genesis book that he asked for. The truth is, he would have been thrilled to have found a laptop or expensive game system under the tree. But if he had, I'm not sure he would have found the book so exciting, and I'd rather he learn, for now, the value of the gift of learning.


So while I still haven't entirely figured this gift-giving thing out, some good things happened this year at Christmas. Next Christmas, I'm sure, will be the one where I figure it all out.