On getting Christmas right…

As I write this, it’s just a mere nine days until Christmas Day is here.

Tonight we held mugs of hot chocolate with whipped cream and we pulled out our small TV to watch the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

It’s been a long day.

The news told stories of a school shooting within driving distance from our home.

The sky was grey. The ground was brown.

There’s financial strains. There’s heavy work days. There’s sickness hitting loved ones and messing up the carefully made plans.

It’s almost as if life isn’t catching on…

The lighthearted Christmas music we listen to sometimes feels more like we’re trying to wish something into being rather than the right fit for our existing mood.

We are all searching for something.

And then I hear these lines from the beloved classic that my dad always made us all gather round to watch as kids—

Charlie Brown: I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel.

Lucy: I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want.

Days earlier we hold mugs of coffee as we drive, the weather outside feels a bit more like Easter might be just around the corner instead of Christmas. I ask him, “What do you want to make sure we do before Christmas?”

We chat of ice skating rinks, movies to watch, light shows that could be visited, cookies yet to be made.
We chat of the work parties to be coordinated, the gifts yet to be wrapped up and finished.

We are all searching for something.

Almost as if we believe that if we get it right—if we participate in enough festivities we will then unlock an enormous amount of joy!

But here’s the reality, Christmas is a taste —a glimpse of what is to come.

As I get ready for bed I think about the lines to a beloved Christmas carol:“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”

I remember how these words were written to describe not the coming of a baby in a manger but the coming of our King triumphant. The final coming when all will be new and all will be restored and the very height of fulfillment will be experienced as our eyes meet the gaze of our Maker.

Christmas is just a glimpse.

And so it is right for us to long for something more. But it is necessary for us all to be reminded that festive gatherings, jingle bells and the perfect snow day can’t bring the joy that we long for.

That it’s not at all about getting Christmas right and it’s not at all about getting what you want either.
Because Christmas gives us an opportunity to savor just a taste of what Christ’s first coming to earth was like, but we would be foolish to forget that we still have Christs second coming yet to anticipate!

Christmas gives us a shadow —a glimpse of what’s to come.

But even after the tree is put away and the last cookies have been eaten, the gifts all unwrapped, we can hold this melody in the our hearts as a promise—

That joy is still coming to this world.
That the Lord is coming soon.
That we are not yet home.
That there are far better things ahead than what we’ve tasted yet.

That Christmas brings us the most joy when we allow it to invite us into reflecting on these things.

That Christmas brings the most fulfillment when we allow it to point our gaze to that day.

So as we make our way through this last week of Christmas festivities, what if we squeezed as much hope, as much of Christ’s joy, as much of giving unto others, as much worship of our Savior as we could out of it all? What if we let it all spur us on into another year of living in joyful anticipation of the day when our King comes to earth once again?

Perhaps that is the true meaning and purpose of Christmas.