It's that time of the year again. The season of Advent begins four weeks before Christmas (Nov. 27 this year) and leads up to the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus. It's a beautiful time of the year with gift giving, family reunions and all the sparkling lights and decorations all over the place. Our churches normally have special programs and music and remind us once again why we celebrate Christmas. I love it and hope that you do too.
But the spirit of Christmas goes much deeper than its outer appearances. Yes, it's great to give and receive gifts, to have family get-togethers and parties; but what about how we actually feel about Christmas? Is the Christmas spirit contagious or is it somehow swallowed up in the traditions developed throughout the centuries of time?
One of my favorite devotional books that really makes me think is "$3.00 Worth of God" by Wilbur E. Rees. In one of his devotions for this time of the year, the author quotes from Luke 2:12 about the birth of Jesus. It says, "And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." He then follows with a devotion reflecting someone's shopping for Jesus. The shopper says:
"I'll take that plastic Christ, please. No! No! Not the flesh and blood one! He's a dirty little Jew that smells of the barn. He will keep me from my appointment with the hairdresser and make me late for the cocktail party. He will soil my linen and break my strand of matched pearls. I can't put up with pundits from Persia or sweaty shepherds trampling all over my nylon carpet with their muddy feet. My name isn't Mary. I want no living, breathing Christ but one I can keep in his crib with a rubber band. That plastic one will do just fine."
When I read that, I had to say, "OUCH!" That guy really knows how to irritate my weak points. But then, I had to reflect on what he said more carefully. When I separate Christmas from all of its trappings and traditions, what do I have left?
Biblical prophecies predicted the coming of the Messiah (Christ), but the expectations of the people receiving him didn't agree with the Old Testament prophecies. They wanted a "prophet, a priest, or king (and perhaps a food provider)." They did not want someone meek and mild, who was a friend to the poor and lonely, who forgave more than he condemned and, in general, did not meet any of their expectations. They wanted someone who predicted the things from God, someone to take over the temple worship and sacrifices and surely someone strong enough to overthrow the Roman Empire. For many, Jesus was a big failure.
The season of Christmas exudes a different kind of spirit. It speaks to the disheartened, those who are living either on the outside or on the edge of contemporary society. They are tolerated but not appreciated. Consider the shepherds in the Christmas story. Of course, everyone knows how Jesus became the "sacrificial lamb" but almost no one stops to consider either shepherds or sheep. Baby sheep are darling and cuddly but not so when they grow up.
On the way from Jerusalem to Jericho on the Jericho Road, there is a place called the "Shepherd's Inn." It is so smelly and dirty guides refuse to take their customers there. Think about it for a minute. Although Hollywood has cleaned up the shepherds and clothed them with good clean robes, the word "bath" is not known among shepherds and laundry is nonexistent. In addition, sheep manure is the foulest smelling stuff in nature. I once encountered a guy who was working with sheep when I was a young man and I could hardly remain in the same room with him. It's no wonder guides do not take people to the Shepherd's Inn. But these were the first people to come and worship Jesus as a baby! And Jesus was probably born in a sheep's stable, not a horse or cow barn.
Many of us lay claim to Jesus as the center of our particular kind of religion but the biblical fact remains that Jesus came into the world for everyone. And, let us also remember that Jesus said in reply to the criticism about his eating with a tax collector, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13)."
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Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 30 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff 's Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.