Rejoice Voice: Some Christmas Readings

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God."--C.S. Lewis

"I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat. God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged mate, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well-being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God's heavenly country club. Santa Claus is another matter. He's cute. He's nonthreatening. He's always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without thought of a quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and he's famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus."--P.J. O'Rourke 

"The White Witch?" said Edmund; "who's she?"
"She is a perfectly terrible person," said Lucy. "She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryads and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals - at least all the good ones - simply hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things. And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia - always winter, but it never gets to Christmas. And she drives about on a sledge, drawn by reindeer, with her wand in her hand and a crown on her head."
Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets, and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable. But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else.
"Who told you all that stuff about the White Witch?" he asked.
"Mr Tumnus, the Faun," said Lucy.
"You can't always believe what Fauns say," said Edmund, trying to sound as if he knew far more about them than Lucy.
"Who said so?" asked Lucy.
"Everyone knows it," said Edmund; "ask anybody you like. But it's pretty poor sport standing here in the snow. Let's go home."
"Yes, let's," said Lucy. "Oh, Edmund, I am glad you've got in too. The others will have to believe in Narnia now that both of us have been there. What fun it will be!"
But Edmund secretly thought that it would not be as good fun for him as for her. He would have to admit that Lucy had been right, before all the others, and he felt sure the others would all be on the side of the Fauns and the animals; but he was already more than half on the side of the Witch. He did not know what he would say, or how he would keep his secret once they were all talking about Narnia."--The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S.Lewis

“The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings.”--G.K. Chesterton, Christendom in Dublin

Q: How is it possible for you to compare Christmas stories in the Bible to modern life today, a couple thousand years after it was written?
Max Lucado: I believe the Bible tells a story we recognize as true. I don’t just mean it tells an accurate story—though it’s telling that the Bible stands tall even after more than 2,000 years of secular criticism. What I mean is that its account of humanity and the world we live in rings true. Reading the Bible can be like meeting someone you don’t know who, oddly, somehow seems to know you deeply. It’s uncanny. Sometimes when you read the Bible, you find yourself asking, “How does this book know that about me? How does it know that about our world—especially when it was written so long ago?” When you read the Bible, it’s as though it reads you. And it’s my hope that as you dip your toe into the Bible’s story and viewpoint, you’ll find yourself feeling that the Good Book knows more about the world—and about you—than any normal book does.
Q: You say that Jesus promises a “repeat performance.” How will his next appearance differ from the first one in a manger?
Max Lucado: Bethlehem was just the beginning. I call his next appearance, Bethlehem, Act 2. No silent night this time, however. The skies will open, trumpets will blast, and a new kingdom will begin. He’ll empty the tombs and melt the winter of death. He’ll press his thumb against the cheek of humanity and wipe away all tears. “Be gone, sorrow, sickness, wheelchairs, and cancer! Enough of you, screams of fear and nights of horror! Death, you die! Life, you reign!” The manger dares us to believe the best is yet to be. And it could all begin today.
Q: How does the “hassle” of Christ’s birth give us hope today?
Max Lucado: It shows us that no day is accidental or incidental. No acts are random or wasted. Look at the Bethlehem birth. A king ordered a census. Joseph was forced to travel. Mary, as round as a ladybug, bounced on a donkey’s back. The hotel was full. The hour was late. The event was one big hassle. Yet, out of the hassle, hope was born. It still is. I don’t like hassles. But I love Christmas because it reminds us how “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Rom. 8:28 NLT).

Joseph Bottum, "And Heaven and Nature Sing":

Children know this, learning the season by learning the words: Bethlehem and sleigh bells, chestnuts and elves, wise men and candy canes. G.K. Chesterton once complained about Scrooge and Bob Cratchit and Jacob Marley and all the rest, insisting that Dickens proved with A Christmas Carol his very English separation from the deep wellsprings of European culture--for, said Chesterton, never was there an event that had inspired more mythology in Western Civilization, and still Dickens had to invent his own Christmas myth.

But Chesterton got it wrong. Christmas wants to grow richer. Christmas wants to be as extravagant as that impossible turkey Bob Cratchit receives from Scrooge on Christmas morning. Ornaments and tinsel, snowflakes and crèches, shepherds and magi. Christmas would gobble up the whole language, if it could, and Charles Dickens--the great intuitive writer of the age--knew it.

"The wind bit hard at Valley Forge one Christmas.
Soldiers tied rags on their feet.
Red footprints wrote on the snow..."--Carl Sandburg

Christmas at Valley Forge, by Ethelene Dyer Jones:

"There they were, twelve thousand tattered troops with their General, George Washington, encamped at Valley Forge. Despite the bitter cold and the seemingly insurmountable odds of disease, starvation and lack of provisions, from this lowest point of the Revolution, the troops were trained and drilled into fighting form. A miracle was taking place as men shuddered in the fields of Valley Forge.

Dr. Albigence Waldo was one of the doctors ministering to the troops at Valley Forge. His diary gives us insight into both the pathos and glimmers of hope of that Christmas, 1777: "Universal thanksgiving! A roasted pig last night! God be thanked for my health, which I have pretty well recovered. How much better should I feel, were I assured my family were in health. But the same good Being who preserves me is able to preserve them and bring me to the ardently wish'd for enjoyment of them again."

On December 25 Dr. Waldo wrote: "We are still in tents."

Of General Washington, Dr. Waldo stated: "He has always acted wisely…His conduct when closely scrutinized is uncensurable. Were his inferior generals as skillfull as himself—we should have the grandest choir of officers ever God made."

General Washington from his cold tent began a letter to the President of the Continental Congress, tendering his resignation, citing "abandonment to starvation and neglect."

In the midst of his writing, General Washington heard sounds coming from the field. Was it a mutiny, as one of his officers had predicted? He braved the falling snow and bitter wind, going from platoon to platoon where fires glowed, embers sputtering and hissing against the snow. Pots on the fires at each location gave off strange odors of whatever provender the soldiers had found of wild game to flavor their gruel.
At each location he was met with shouts of "Long live the United States! Hail to our Chief! May Liberty prevail!"

At one stop General Washington asked, "Have you not suffered enough?" The lieutenant in charge responded, "Having come this far, we can but go the rest of the distance. With you to lead us, we can't lose!"

Washington and his aide made their way back to the General's tent. When they arrived, they found garlands of holly and cedar twined around the marquee that identified the headquarters tent, and draped above the tent-flap door. General Washington took the letter he had started to Congress. He burned it at the fire his aides had built outside his tent.

"May God relieve your sufferings, if the Congress will not. And a good Christmas to you!"".......

 

"Before his ascension Jesus told the disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). Orthodox doctrine must be proclaimed.
When the shepherds had seen the baby Jesus, "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child" (Luke 2:17). Just as the shepherds' proclamation was spontaneous, carrying out Jesus' final instructions should be natural to us. If we really believe the truth of the gospel, we should voluntarily declare it. The spontaneity of telling part of the Christmas story. Yet it is intriguing that the telling is not the final emphasis. The next to the last verse of the Gospel of Luke tells us that the disciples "worshiped him" (Luke 24:52). The doctrinal reality and the telling of it are never allowed to stand alone; in tremendous balance with it exists worship, personal relationship. The same thing was true in Bethlehem, in this case with the wise men and the baby Jesus, for "they fell down, and worshiped him" (Matt. 2:11). They did not only bring frankincense and myrrh; they really worshiped. But even worship is not the end of the matter. After Christ's resurrection and ascension the disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:52). Joy is part of this, too. Certainly the shepherds were glad. the angel had said to 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 Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10, 11). This does not mean a stupid kind of happiness or a sick smile, nor does it mean there are no tears or that things in this world are not as bad as God says they are. This joy is connected with the reality of our knowledge of who Jesus is, our relationship with Him and our worship of Him. Imagine you are a shepherd on the hillside, and when the heavenly host appears you are not to be afraid; you are to have joy. It is the same with all the teaching of the Gospel which flows from the event when the shepherds saw and heard the angels, when they ran down the hill and looked upon Jesus. And at the end of Luke's gospel, while not despising the doctrine or the telling of it, the central thing is worshiping the Lord--not coldly, but with joy. It is tremendous that the closing of the gospel of Luke fits so perfectly with the second chapter: "I bring you good tidings of great joy." "And they worshiped him…with great joy."--Francis Schaeffer,"What Difference Has Looking Made?", No Little People.

“The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why."--G.K. Chesterton,  On Christmas, Generally Speaking

"When you say Merry Christmas, what do you think the word Merry means? My whole life Merry Christmas, simply meant, “Hey, happy Christmas to you.” But, what if merry didn’t mean happy?
Think about it. Remember Robin Hood and his Merry Men? It wasn’t Robin Hood and his happy-go-lucky cheerful men joyfully jumping up and down in tights. No, in the old English, merry meant mighty or powerful!
I don’t often quote my own song lyrics, but these are about as succinct as I can be:

What if all of this were true
Emmanuel, how God came through
Is this more than Christmas cheer
Is this just a story or what if it’s real
 
Would I still be lonely would I know fear
Would my worry hold me, could I be healed
I’m crying out loud
 
This year like never before
Jesus reveal a little more
To my soul would you
Show me just how powerful
You are more than a manger
Jesus the mighty savior
In my soul turn this
Merry into Mighty Christmas
 
What if in my silent nights
You were enough, You were the light
Angels saying “Do not Fear”
Is that still a promise, do You still come near?
 
Meet me in my lonely, tear down my fear
Hold me through my worry, Lord would you Heal
 
This year like never before
Jesus reveal a little more
To my soul would you
Show me just how powerful
You are more than a manger
Jesus the mighty savior
In my soul turn this
Merry into Mighty Christmas

Whatever you are dealing with this Christmas season, remember, this is either a Happy-go-lucky safe and boring Christmas or this is a powerful and Mighty Christmas where Jesus, Emmanuel, God is With Us."--Tim Timmons

Isaiah 9:6-7 The Message Bible (MSG)

^2-7 The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
    light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
    you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
    Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
    sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
    all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
    as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
    along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
    a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
    the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
    the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
    Strong God,
Eternal Father,
    Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
    and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
    over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
    and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
    beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    will do all this.