Always Winter, Never Christmas
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The world has always hated the exclusivity of Christians and our peculiarly dogmatic religion. The world would much rather Jesus had said something like this to Thomas:
“I am one of many ways a man can travel. As you go, please do not bother yourself about the destination, it’s all about the journey. In any case, even nowhere is somewhere in My world! So choose your gender and grab your preferred pronouns, and let’s go anywhere or nowhere. It’s all the same to Me.”
“I am also a truth - more of an opinion really if we really want to be nit-picky, which we most definitely do not want to be. For there’s absolutely no dogmatism to My religion; I am dogmatically opposed to such things.”
“I also am one of the many equally valid ways of finding life. In my religion, there really are only two golden rules, “Just be nice, and while you are at it, be safe!” There is no point risking what you cannot keep in order to gain what you cannot lose! Everyone is justified by death.”
Such a Jesus is the ultimate flexible friend. He can be anything you want Him to be, even nothing at all. But the real Jesus, of course, bears no resemblance to that. There is nothing indefinite about Him. He is as precise, as precise can be--lovingly precise, to be sure, but precise all the same. All facts are His facts. He is uncertain about nothing. Reality is His to shape, for it was He who made it and not we ourselves!
This is the real Jesus, and He towers, Colossus-like, above, behind, and beneath Christmas. No matter how secular the humanists try to make the holiday, they cannot deChristianize the festivities enough: The gifts, the music, the Stars atop the tree, the manger scenes, and of course, the lights. Wherever they see them, they see Him, and they are offended. He reminds them too much of a truth they know only too well. He brings them fact to face with reality.
We saw a startling example of such antipathy this week in the news St Athony, Minnesota, as one neighbor protested the Christmas lights of another neighbor, we saw a most startling illustration of this antipathy--light and darkness, side by side, for all to see. The protest read as follows:
“I couldn’t help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times, we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don’t describe what we’re feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights [is] a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas or who can’t afford to put up lights of their own.
We must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward-facing display like yours can have. I challenge you to respect the dignity of all people while striving to learn from the differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities; St. Anthony is a community welcoming of all people and we must demand better for ourselves.”
What kind of light extravaganza, you might well wonder, sparked such an irrational missive? One, perhaps like Danny De Vito’s epic showdown with Matthew Broderick in Deck the Halls? You remember the story? Desperate for a house visible from outer space, De Vito’s character light-lusted His way into conflict with the Christmas guy across the street, Matthew Broderick. But no, the light display in question was actually quite modest, amounting to basically one strip of fairy lights along the top eave of the house, and a circular arrangement front and center on the wall. In the final analysis, it doesn’t seem to have been the size of the lights that bothered this neighbor, it was that they were there at all. To the radical secularist, any lights are too many, because any Christ is too much.
The whole sorry affair reminded me of the White Witch’s brutal Narnia, a land where it was always winter and never Christmas? From the Witch’s perspective--Better to endure a black midwinter than the bleak one graced by the Savior’s rude arrival. Even the very name, “Jesus” (Savior) insults the refined sensibilities of unbelief. His very Name proclaims to all who have ears to hear: “The best you can be without Me is lost, and the best you will be without Me is damned!” To the Christless soul, such a message drips with unspeakable, unforgivable political incorrectness.
But facts are, as they say, stubborn things: “Who is He in yonder stall? Who is He in yonder stall, at whose feet the shepherds fall?”“Tis the Lord! O wondrous story! Tis the Lord, the King of glory!”Why did He come? He came to save us from God—not just from ourselves and our sins.
The baby Jesus defines our history because He defines reality itself. When it comes to Christmas, Jesus is much more than the reason for the seasons, he is the Way, the Truth, and the life. No one else can bring sinners like us back home to God.
So let me encourage you, my beloved flock, in world that is increasingly willing to fight even over Christmas lights. Let us face the darkness boldly, kindly, and winsomely. Let Christless souls wish one another, “Happy Holidays.” But Let us never fear responding with the glad tidings of a very merry Christmas. Aslan is on the move. Springtime has already come to Narnia. Though she may not know it yet, or want to comprehend it when she does (John :5), the White Witch’s days are numbered. History belongs to Bethlehem’s babe. Now the Light has come, the darkness doesn’t stand a chance….