Is it just me, or do some Christmas movies really cause
problems for you, too?
That kid in “The Polar Express” who says, “Christmas just
doesn’t work out for me”….he doesn’t believe in Santa. He’s got good reason…Santa has never left him
any gifts. That’s the implication,
anyway.
But oh – there’s a Christmas miracle, isn’t there? A magical train comes to take him to the North
Pole to meet Santa. When he returns
home, there are Christmas decorations adorning his home and the gift he always
wanted underneath the tree. Santa came.
Do find yourself asking ridiculous questions at this
point? “Well then why didn’t he show up
every year before that? Or even one year
before the kid had become cynical?
What’s going to happen next year?
Will Santa disappoint him again?”
If so, reality hits at this point and you think about the real kids out
there who won’t receive any Christmas gifts this year. You think about the parents of those
kids. Single? Struggling?
Imprisoned? You think about the
message this sends: if you just believe, Santa will come and make your dreams
come true.
How many of you believed…believed with all your heart…and
woke up Christmas morning to find that you must not have believed enough?
“A hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a
tree of life.” – Proverbs 13:12
I was pretty worried that we were going to create quite the
case of heart-sickness for Andy when we told him the truth the other
night. I sort of thought he’d cry. I mean, to find out that there’s no magical
guy that somehow knows everything you’ve ever done and still brings you
gifts...and knows you so well that those gifts are, year after year, the best
ever…it’s potentially disappointing.
However, Andy’s hope has never been in Santa.
I’ll never forget when, in preschool, Andy’s teachers were
driving home the “You better watch out…” concept. Andy broke down in sobs because he was
(shockingly) keenly aware that he had not “been good” that year, and did not
deserve a visit from Santa. His teacher
attempted to convince him that he’d been good enough to receive Santa gifts,
but he wasn’t buying it. So, we let him
in on the secret about the “Naughty” list:
Everyone’s on it.
There is no “Nice” list.
Santa brings gifts to demonstrate God’s incredible grace
toward us. All of us have gone our own
way, that is, the very opposite way God made us to go. We have all become corrupted by our own
sin. None of us is holy, as He is. None of us deserves a second thought from
Him, and we cannot have a relationship with Him.
But He did give us a second thought. In fact, He gave us a greater number of
thoughts than we can count. And those
thoughts contain a plan to bring us back to Himself.
Andy’s views on Santa are a bit different from others. The One who formed Andy and knows his words
before they are on his tongue…knows when he’s sleeping or awake…knows he’s been
bad and loves him anyway….He’s God.
Santa’s job is just to point to Him.
So when “Santa” turns out to be your parents, I guess it’s
not so bad. I’m not advocating for lying
to your children. I’m not even
advocating for the practice of the good old breaking and entering Santa Claus
tradition. What I am saying is that when
a person’s hope rests in the Rock of our salvation, life looks different.
“For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath
given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show
to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed
with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for
God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take
hold of the hope set before us. This
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one
which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,
having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” –
Hebrews 6:16-19
When hope is deferred, it is usually because our
expectations have been shattered by harsh reality.
When our hope is in people who change, money that
dissipates, a future we can’t see, health that fails, intellect that is
limited, or stuff that can be broken, we live on a shaky bridge above an abyss
of despair.
When our hope is in a God who cannot lie, whose purpose is
immutable, who has promised eternal life to His children and swears by
Himself….by His own unchangeable character…our very souls are anchored within
the veil. Within the veil…where God
Himself dwelt before anyone could approach Him, except for the high priest once
a year. That high priest had a rope tied
to him, just in case he died upon entering God’s presence and had to be dragged
out. I like to think of Jesus having a
rope tied to Him as well, with the other end attached to me. He has run beyond the veil before me, and so,
has become my sure and steadfast anchor inside the source of comfort, strength,
peace, and joy. No matter what comes in
this life, I am tethered to my high priest who, because He exists forever to
make intercession for me, will one day pull me in to stay forever.
How glorious! Is this
not the ultimate in “fulfilled longing”?
This time of year is hard because the harshness of this life
has a far more bitter sting against the backdrop of tinsel and lights. Charlie Brown says, “I know I’m supposed to
be happy, but Christmas always just makes me feel like no one cares about
me.” There are still starving, shivering
kids. There are still homeless, hopeless
adults. There are still outwardly
affluent but inwardly empty people.
There is still cancer and there are still car accidents. We hope for Christmas to be a time of joy for
everyone, and our hope that a season can change reality brings sadness. Many will conclude, like Charlie Brown, that
no One cares about them.
Here’s the thing. The
Christmas season comes and goes and has no power to change anything. It’s a season.
However, the reason Christmas exists screams out to Charlie
Brown and to you and I: “I AM cares about you!
I AM loves you! I AM is doing away with all sadness, death, illness, and evil! I AM will wipe away every tear from every
eye! I AM is the good King whose kingdom
will never, ever pass away! See? I AM is making all things new!”
Charlie Brown’s blanket-toting buddy Linus knew just what to
say when Charlie had his little breakdown about Christmas. He recited Luke 2:8-14 for him. That baby, Charlie Brown, who lay in a
manger, is the anchor for your soul. He
will not disappoint you. He will not
change His mind. He will not turn out to
be a figment of your imagination or a lie your parents dreamed up to keep you
in line. He is sure, He is steadfast,
and the tree he hung on is the tree of life for you…and brings the fulfillment
of all your longings.
Friend, wherever you are today, whatever you’re struggling
with…hold fast to your anchor within the veil.
Go to Luke 2 today and remind yourself that your God came back to get
you. He was not content to watch you run
away and leave you to your fate. He came
for you. And this…this is the reason we sing and dance and stand awe-struck at
Christmas. This life isn’t the end,
friends. Our highest joys here will be
nothing compared to what awaits us beyond the veil; and our lowest lows here
cannot be compared with the eternal weight of glory to which we are anchored.
Believer, do something in audacious joy today. This world and its prince would love for you
to slog your way through the Christmas season and believe that it’s all a sham.
Go show em. Show em
there’s reason to dance when your anchor is sunk deep in the heart of God.
"Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive tree should fail and the fields produce no food, thought the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation". - Habakkuk 3:17-18