I Know Him!

There aren't many Christmas movies as good as Elf.  It's hilarious and it is also poignant. Like most other Christmas movies related to Santa Claus the issue at the center is belief, or the lack thereof. One of the best moments is when Buddy finds ou that Santa is coming to the Mall...

This scene has been in my mind for a few days now. I keep thinking about it's illustrative purposes for me as a follower of Jesus.  Buddy's excitement is overwhelming and full of passion. It is clear that he loves Santa and that he desperately wants others to know him too. Look what happens when he finds out that the real Santa isn't at the mall...

These two clips paint a picture that ought to challenge us as Jesus followers.  We do not know an omniscient, legalistic, elf.  We know the God of the universe. We know the King of kings and Lord of lords.  

Isaiah 9:6 describes Jesus this way, 

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upont his shoulder,
and his name shall be calledt
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Buddy the Elf loves Santa for who he is, he defends his honor, and desires for people to know the real Santa. When we think about Jesus too often we are afraid what people will think of us.  Often times we shy away from challenging wrong understanding of who he is at the risk of offending others. 

I want to love Jesus the way that Buddy loves Santa. 

 

A Baby, A Cross, and a Catharsis

Don't we all love the prayer scene from Talladega Nights?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7pco3TTV5k

OK, maybe not all of us.  But, I sure do.  What strikes me is that today is the day when we all celebrate "sweet baby Jesus". On Christmas Eve we watched a full slate of classic Christmas movies for kids and all of them dealt with skepticism regarding the existence of Santa.  At the end of the day the point was always, "Christmas is about helping poor people" or some derivation.

In my head though this wasn't ringing true.  I am becoming more and more convinced that Advent and Christmas cannot be separated from the Cross. The Magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all important for middle eastern burials.  Jesus was most likely born near Passover (that's a discussion for another time) and he died at Passover.

The Lamb of God born at Passover, the Bread of Life born in the City of Bread.

What is Christmas about? It's simple, it's about a Cross and a Resurrection.

It had to start somewhere and it started in Bethlehem in a common cave used for the keeping of animals.  To close I want to leave you an extended quote from Jonathan Edwards (this quote was taken from here):

What an amazing act of grace was it when Christ took upon our human nature. In this act of great condescension, he who was God became man. The Word should be made flesh, and should take on him a nature infinitely below his original nature. We should appreciate the remarkably low circumstances of his incarnation: He was conceived in the womb of a poor young woman, whose poverty appeared in this, when she came to offer sacrifices for her purification, she brought what was allowed of in the Law only in the case of poverty, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons. Christ's infinite condescension marvelously appeared in the manner of his birth. He was brought forth in a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn. The inn was taken up by others, that were looked upon as persons of greater account. The blessed Virgin, being poor and despised, was turned or shut out. Though she was in such need, yet those that counted themselves her better would not give place to them. Therefore, in her time of giving birth, she was forced to give birth to her son in a stable, and laid him in a feed trough. There Christ lay a little infant, and there he eminently appeared as a lamb. But yet this feeble infant, born this way in a stable, and laid in a feed trough, was born to conquer and triumph over Satan, that roaring lion (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). Jesus came to subdue the mighty powers of darkness, and make a show of them openly, and so to restore peace on earth, and to manifest God's good-will towards men, and to bring glory to God in the highest!

Community and Christmas

Media_httpdanielmrose_muhge
What is the meaning of Christmas? That was the question that NBC's Community asked last week in an incredibly creative stop motion animation episode that left me laughing. The episode was full of hat tips to great Christmas specials of the past and a few nice shots at the Christian faith. Shots at Christianity in a Christmas special? Yes. Are you offended? The shots that they took weren't the kinds that you might expect.  The most crushing one came from Shirley, whose character is an outspoken Christian. She said, "I am a modern day Christian, I have learned sensitivity and so I say Happy Holidays not wanting anyone else's religion to feel inferior to mine." I laughed. Then, I cried. Not really. But, I have been thinking about this for the last few days. Christmas has lost something in the post-modern malaise of mutual worldview affirmations. Then I remembered last Friday, my son sang in a "Holiday Concert" at his school.  They sang Happy Hannukah, Mud Slide, and Up on the Housetop. Silent Night was played on the piano, no singing. Something manifestly changed. A hush came over the crowded cafeteria. You could have heard a pin drop. Christmas, the moment when God split time one passover many years ago and entered into history. Even today with all of our sensitivity and complacency humanity still becomes silent before the reality that took place when God moved into the neighborhood. Everyone in that cafeteria experienced something different in that moment than all that had come before. That moment was thick with the holy. I wish I could sit down with Abed and over a peppermint mocha just talk about the meaning of Christmas. Maybe I can, maybe there are people all around me looking for the real meaning if I would just open my eyes to see and have ears to hear.