“The Crime of Christmas” is
the title of a provocative essay by Lionel Basney, an English professor at Calvin College. The true crime of Christmas, According to
Basney, is the way we “heap pretensions on its beauty and simplicity.” In other words, we try to force our culture,
our preoccupations, our self-indulgence and noise and our “stuff on the
story. The absurdity of our
preoccupation was impressed upon me a few years ago when I came across an
obnoxious figurine in a Christian bookstore.
It was a porcelain portrayal of the nativity with one significant
addition: it had Santa Claus peering into the manger looking at the baby Jesus
with moist eyes. YUCK! Now, I’m not an anti-Santa guy (I really like
old St. Nick!), but keep him out of the nativity scene! Kris Kringle may be alive and well on 34th Street
in New York City,
but I don’t want him anywhere near the holiest scene of all.
Who among us cannot identify
with the little boy – exhausted from a hard day of Christmas shopping and all
its rush and noise and shoving – when it came time to say his prayers before
crawling into bed, he used the Lord’s prayer with one small yet significant
change: “Lord, forgive us our
Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us.” Indeed.
Can we get back to the
beauty and wonder and simplicity of Christmas?
Can we be forgiven of the “Crime of Christmas?” Luke the historian recorded these words of
Mary the mother of Jesus 2000 years ago by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit:
“My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in
God my Savior…From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the mighty
one has done great things for me – holy is His name.” Luke 1:47-49
Luke seems to realize the
overwhelmingness of the Christmas event.
In Mary’s song, he captured the beauty, mystery, and wonder of the
foretold birth of the Messiah. Mary
seemed to recognize something miraculous was happening yet she did not press
the angel for an explanation. She simply
believed. That’s the message I would
like to share with you this Christmas season.
To avoid the crime of Christmas we must believe, not understand; we must
experience Christmas, not explain it; we must revel in its mystery, not reveal
it.
So this Christmas season I
invite you to get lost…in the words of the famous hymn writer Charles Wesley, “Get
lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Wishing you a holy
Christmas,
Pastor Duane
Directions to Church 
0 Comments | Login to Post Comments