Home Has Come to Us
Greetings reader! Well, I’m back again. I look back at my old blogs and I just can’t imagine how I managed to crank out 1 every two week or so. Anyway, allow me a brief moment to get you caught up in my life. Here are three things that are abundant in my life right now:
1) Snow! – Des Moines (where I live) got over a foot last week in the span of a little more than 24 hours, the most I can remember in my lifetime.
2) Engagements/Weddings – I’m 22 years old and I’ve been told that this the time in one’s life during which it seems everyone and their second cousin is getting engaged… Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy for all of my friends! But how many pieces of free cake can a guy seriously eat? (Okay, dumb question.)
3) Rehearsals! – I’m a worship leader at a church of about 10,000 (not positive on that stat) members and we are gearing up for the annual Christmas Eve Service Marathon. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I will sleep sometime in 2010.
So, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And before you get worried, no this won’t be a 1,000 word rant about how much I hate the over-used “politically correct” term “holiday season”. Even though I DO hate that, I’m not going to beat that long deceased horse. No, instead as the season of Advent draws to a close I thought I might take a moment to reflect on Christ’s coming… Future tense!
Ah yes, what would Christmas be without a visit from Charlie Brown and his diminutive little tree? The Charlie Brown Christmas Special is my favorite of all the annual cartoon television celebrations. There is always a slew of Christmas Classics this time of year (Burgermeister Meisterburger!) and Charlie and the gang stand head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. According to my internet sources (imdb) the special was first aired in 1965 and this year it will reach yet another generation of children and be rediscovered by countless adults as an beautifully simple examination of the Christmas season.
Of course the best scene comes late in the film as Charlie asks the question: Can’t anyone tell me what Christmas is all about? And you’ve got to love Linus’ answer, don’t you?
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 unto 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.’
I’m no Biblical scholar, but I’m pretty sure that’s in the Bible somewhere… And so the scene ends as Linus picks up his blanket and walks off stage, saying to Charlie, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” Can we pause a moment and applaud Schultz for his unapologetically Christ-centered Christmas special? Good job outta you!
The previously quoted passage is actually from Luke 2: 8-14. But isn’t it interesting that Linus (and Schultz) chose this passage to distinguish as “what Christmas is all about”? The passage that precedes this one is the one that reports the actual birth of Jesus. Isn’t THAT what Christmas is all about? Christ being born?
I’m going to say: no. Christ being born is certainly a life-altering moment for every last one of us… But that’s more the point. Christmas isn’t just about Jesus’ birth, it’s about Jesus’ birth and what it means for you and me. Have you ever stopped to contemplate how big of deal it is that Christ came to us? I mean really, think about it. I love the way that Josh Wilson puts it in his song, “Sing”:
‘Cause we could never get back home with broken hearts so home has come to us.
You and I weren’t going to be reconciled with God on our own. We are broken, messed up, wholly unworthy people. And yet God came down to us. God came to meet us, to be among us.
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant – the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live. – Luke 1: 68-75
What is Christmas all about? It’s about Christ’s birth, yes. But it’s about so much more than that. It’s about God keeping His promises of redemption, reconciliation, and new life. It’s about how God chose to come to dwell among us. It’s about our broken hearts and what God has done and is doing to bring everyone home to Him. It’s about that moment years and years ago when the angels appeared to the lowly shepherds with the news that everything had changed forever. It’s about God’s love breaking in and into and through all of the brokenness that keeps us from him.
As I usually do, I pose this question: what makes this piece of scripture more relevant? That it happened or that it happens. I do not wish to downplay the birth of Christ, it changed the world forever. But what I also know to be true is that every day I find myself rediscovering the ways that God has radically broken through all of my barriers and come to dwell alongside me. And the same is true for you and everyone.
One of the better pieces of film/television I have ever seen is the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” the first episode of which is entitled, “Currahee.” Currahee is a large, large hill located at the military base where the 101st Airborne trained prior to entering WWII. As depicted in the episode, part of the training was the seemingly endless running of Currahee. There is a scene that episode in which a young recruit is being chewed out by his training officer for yet another violation of protocol. He is instructed to run Currahee, by himself, in a time of 15 minutes to the top and back, an insurmountable task to be sure. The young solider jogs off and the scene cuts to him running, all alone, clearly defeated both physically and emotionally. Then, slowly, two members of the unit, not instructed to run Currahee, show up alongside him. It is a simple, but extremely powerful moment in the series. And what does the word “currahee” mean? “We stand alone together.”
I strongly believe that the reason Schultz chose that Luke 2 passage for Linus to deliver as “what Christmas is all about” is because Schultz understood what Christmas really meant. The shepherds weren’t deserving of good news such as that brought by the angel; they were a rag-tag, bottom rung of society group of people, not unlike the first disciples. But that’s the point, isn’t it? That’s what Christmas is all about. That’s what following Christ is all about.
When you’re feeling undeserving, down-trodden, beaten-up, broken down, lost, left behind, betrayed, defeated, alone, powerless, helpless, meaningless, insignificant, abandon, and you know in your heart that there’s just no way you could run that hill again you discover that God’s love has broken in and met you right where you are.
We could never get back home with broken hearts.
Home has come to us.