Am I imagining things, or does the world seems a little darker this year? Could it be the pall that seems to hang over our Canadian national mood since the discovery of unmarked graves near the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, on the lands of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation? Perhaps it is the lingering global fear of catching the Covid-19 virus or its mutating brother Omicron. Or, maybe it’s the number of global ‘hotspots’ in parts of the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC) and the growing bully threats of Russia towards its neighbor Ukraine. I suspect you have plenty of your own examples.
So, I wonder what this Christmas will feel like when so much of the world seems to be in turmoil … and the angel’s cry of “Peace on Earth” (Luke 2:14) seems more like a wish than a blessing … and those of us who gather to sing carols, light our candles and hear the Christmas story seem so very small against the backdrop of this troubled world?
Well, that is where a part of Luke’s nativity story, found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Two, stood out to me.
“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.”
In the Christmas message we raise our eyes one moment … then lower our sights the next. We have a look at God … and then see an infant in a feed trough. We catch a glimpse of “Glory in the highest” … and then look downward to read “Peace on earth good will to men.”
Now what strikes me is that the events Luke describes here seem incredibly small. I mean, what does Emperor Augustus or Governor Quirinius care about a pregnant teenager or wandering shepherds? Mary, Joseph, and the rest of the gang – these folks are all so incredibly small compared to an Emperor and a Governor. And yet Luke says that whether these rich and powerful leaders care or not – whether they even notice or not – the events described in detail are going to change the whole world.
It is a rather audacious … bold … daring … cheeky claim, when you think about it: that the birth of a baby to an unwed teen in the middle of the squalor of a backwater town could possible matter … could possibly mean something. And yet there in a nutshell, is the promise of the Gospel: … that God regularly shows up where we least expect God to be. Read Luke, Chapter Two yourself and you will see what I mean.
So even though this world might seem rather dark these days, it is not forsaken and the headlines we read and worry about will have their day and then fade away. But the Christmas message that has been told now for nearly 2000 years – that God loves this world (you and you and me) so much that He has His divine Son enter it to ‘save us from our sins’ – will never be lost. We should be very careful about concluding that small things … are insignificant things. Not true! In fact, the moment that Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger – over 300 prophecies in the O.T., recorded over a long period of time, and by many different people – were instantly fulfilled.
Jesus was born at a divinely appointed time;
Jesus came in a divine appointed way;
Jesus came to a divinely appointed place;
Jesus came for a divinely appointed purpose.
The Book of Luke reminds us that the Gospel / the ‘Good News’ has been set in the middle of world events as a promise that God works with the seemingly small and insignificant to change our world. Yes - God regularly shows up where we least expect God to be.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. " Maybe Christmas ... means a little bit more!"
Dr Seuss, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
There are lots of folks who struggle to see God in the darkness of the daily news headlines. Like you, I have had them ask me, “Where was God when that happened?” Or “Why would God allow that?” … suggesting that the problem is with God, not the evil ones who did it.
Still others wonder where God is when they go through the personal pain of a ruptured relationship, lost loved one, loneliness, illness or depression. They have a hard time imagining that God could possibly make a difference in their world. Sure, they believe in God in general, but sensing God’s presence – or seeing God in the nitty-gritty of their lives seems a bit much.
For sure, the Book of John calls to mind a very realistic assessment of human life. John writes in John 1:18 … “No one has ever seen God”; to which I want to reply, “no kidding! Isn’t that the truth.” However, before we shut down reading any further here, I remind you that John, the disciple of Jesus, does not stop with his stark assessment that “No one has ever seen God”, He goes on to say that …
“… the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him [God] known.”
I would offer that the problem is not that it is impossible to see God, but rather that we are prone to look in all the wrong places for Him … wasting our time speculating about whether He exists or not. John simply says (John 1:18):
If you are looking for the extra-ordinary - you will find it in the ordinary!
If you are looking for God – you will find Him in Christ.
In observing the surface, don’t miss what is underneath it. This will require not just vision on our part … but perception. Look at the One in the manger who became flesh — and you will have seen God. It’s really just that simple!
Philip Brooks, that Episcopalian who wrote “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was right — “How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given!” Without a fuss, without making a stir ... this ‘small’ event slips into history ... and changes it!
I was blessed with a great, but nutty English teacher – Ms. Shaw! She was the Perfect Storm long before Hollywood ever made the film popular in 2000. She was British, a spinster …. and passionate about teaching young, unruly boys who did not seem to want to grow up. She once made her students wear leotards and act out parts of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, the Nutcracker, where Nutcracker battles the evil Mouse King and his army of mischievous mice. You guessed it. I was a mouse!
Ms. Shaw wore orthopedic shoes that looked like oven mitts and barked commands as us as if she had spent half of her life-time as the Commandant of an English Concentration camp during WW I and II.
For all of her quirky-ness, Ms. Shaw takes the credit for introducing me and all of her other juvenile delinquents to C. S. Lewis and in particular, his fabulous fantasy novels “The Chronicles of Narnia – where through allegory and symbolism, he re-tells the story of Jesus’ [Aslan, the Lion] death and triumph.
If you have read the series – you know that Lewis introduces us to four children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) who find their way into an astonishing land through the back of a magical wardrobe in their uncle’s house. This land is called Narnia and it is a kingdom where animals talk and where Kings and Queens rule from tower-filled castles.
When the children first enter Narnia, they discover that it is under the control of a wicked White Witch who rules with an iron fist and a cold heart. One of the children, Lucy, meets a faun named Mr. Tumnus. He describes the White Witch to Lucy by saying, “Why, it is she that has got all of Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and…NEVER CHRISTMAS; think of that!”
Indeed – think of that! How awful! A land where it is Always winter and … NEVER CHRISTMAS. That does sound dismal. I mean, no season of green – just cold, icy despair, No laughter. No optimism. No dreams. Perhaps you are feeling that ‘metaphorical winter’ in your life. The death of a long-time friend or family member ‘too soon’; a heartache or horror that seems impossible to reconcile; a health-related circumstance that has brought a hardship you just cannot seem to shake.
Aslan, brings with him a deeper magic from before the dawn of time, defeating the curse and dark world of the White Witch. Believe it!
Always winter. Never Christmas! If life seems like that to you this season, where you feel as though you have stumbled into Lucy’s Narnia, with its one long winter of cold, snow-covered ground, trees with leaf-less branches, constantly clouded skies – I have good news. In Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, readers are introduced to the bringer of Spring! Listen to Mr. Beaver (Chapter 8):
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
Later, the children hear sleigh bells in the distance. Thinking it is the White Witch coming for them, they hide for fear of her. But it was not the Witch after all. It was Father Christmas.
“I have broken through at last,” he cries. She has kept me out for a long time, but her magic is weakening. Aslan is on the move.! A merry Christmas! Long live the true King!”
To read the ‘rest of the story’ is to learn that the great thaw is on and Christmas is coming all because “Aslan IS on the move.” There it is. Did you get it? C. S. Lewis wants us all to make the connection here. It is Father Christmas who brings us the news of the arrival of the long awaited, promised One … an arrival foretold long, long ago … one who would break the White Witch’s power, melt cold hearts and become the True King.
“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon his shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:2, 6)
With Christmas day around the corner, I leave you with two thoughts: (1) God regularly shows up where we least expect Him to be, so do not dismiss small things – like a baby in a manger, and (2) It is not impossible to see God, if you have a mind to — for He is made visible and present in his Son, Jesus Christ.
Always winter and … NEVER CHRISTMAS? In the words of that old Christmas curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge — “Bah, Humbug!” “OnlySaying …”
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