The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"What It Is All About"
In the Peanuts Christmas special, Charlie Brown asks in great frustration, "Is there anybody who knows what Christmas is all about???" His friend Linus replies without hesitation, "Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about." Linus then reads Luke's account of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"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 good tidings of great joy, which shall 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 a 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." (Luke 2:8-14).
"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown" concludes Linus. He was right, of course, and I have never heard a reading of the passage that touches my heart as much as Linus's version.
Let us further consider Charlie Brown's question: "is there anybody who knows what Christmas is all about?" The answer is yes. One knows what Christmas is all about. God alone fully sees the significance of the Lord Jesus taking upon Himself our humanity after a "from everlasting" existence as the infinite and boundless Son of God (Psalm 90:2). God alone knows the sacrifice involved, the life lived by a holy being in an unholy world, and the continual challenges known by the "man of sorrows… acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). God alone knows what it meant for the Prince of life to experience death and bear the Divine wrath against our sin, as suffered on the cross of Calvary. Yes, God alone knows what Christmas is all about, and we do well to ask Him to increase our knowledge of what means that "God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).
A new thought that came to me in today's reading involves the fact that while so few humans attended the birth of the Lord Jesus, "a multitude of the Heavenly host" joined the angel of the Lord in praising God. What must the angels have thought, and what they must continue to think about the frequent lack of human response to the greatness of God's doings. Perhaps they wonder in bewilderment. "How are they not seeing this?" I do not know if this is the case. But of this I am sure: I too often join Jacob in his plaintive cry at Bethel, "Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not!" (Genesis 28:16). If angels do wonder, I must be a primary source of their astonishment. "How is he missing this????"
Thank you, Linus, for the most beautiful of all Christmas readings (and thank you, Charles Schultz, for fighting so hard to have the reading included in the Peanuts special - a story for another day). Most of all, thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your "unspeakable gift" (II Corinthians 9:15). You are a wonder. Your Son is a wonder. The Holy Spirit is a wonder. I hope to wonder much more in days to come, joining the Heavenly multitude in grateful realization that we will find the Lord Jesus not among the masses, not under the bright lights, not amid the noise, but rather in places where we least expect Him to be…
"Ye shall find the Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger."
(Luke 2:12)
Weekly Memory Verse
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
(II Corinthians 9:8)
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