My Favorite Christmas Character

Who’s your favorite character from the Biblical Christmas story? Obviously, we are most focused on the Baby Jesus – after all, it’s His birthday, and He truly IS the “reason for the season.” But beyond Him, which person from the narrative really stands out to you?

Some people will probably choose Mary, and I could easily agree. A teenage girl with enough faith to accept the angel’s announcement, then go through the gossip and public shaming she would have endured – it really says a lot about her character. Her betrothed, Joseph, too, was a man of Godly integrity and faithfulness, shown by his willingness to obey God.

There are many other characters in the familiar story. From the priest Zechariah, who is visited by the angel in Luke 1 and learns that he is going to be the father of a baby who will become John the Baptist, to his wife Elizabeth, who greets her cousin Mary; from the shepherds on the hills above Bethlehem, to the Wise Men bringing their gifts – there are quite a few interesting folks involved. But I want to tell you about my favorite: an old man named Simeon.

According to Luke 2:25-35, Simeon was “righteous and devout,” and he was waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises of the “consolation of Israel.” He was also apparently an elderly man, and he knew that he did not have many days left. He was ready to go, except for one thing: Luke also tells us that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen, with his own eyes, the Messiah coming from God.

It’s hard for us to imagine how momentous this really was. The fact is, our culture is terrible at waiting. We grow up longing for Christmas morning, then by the middle of morning, the kids are playing with the boxes instead of the toys that had been inside. We barely finish counting the results of one election before the media is speculating about who’s going to run next time. We hurry and rush and frantically move from one thing to the next, but rarely do we slow down long enough to really think about what this story is really telling us.

For thousands of years, God’s chosen people had been waiting for the “Anointed One,” known in their language as “The Messiah.” He would bring justice to a world of unfairness. He would bring righteousness to a world filled with so much evil. He would bring peace to a world torn by violence. Kindness. Compassion. Goodness. Simple decency towards one another, and genuine, heartfelt worship to God. This is what Messiah would bring as part of the Kingdom of God.

And somehow, the Holy Spirit had communicated to this tired old man that he – Simeon! – would be allowed personally to see God’s promised Savior. That God’s grace would be poured out on him, to view the One that so many, for so many generations, had wanted to see but never had. So on this otherwise ordinary day, Simeon leaves his house and goes to the Temple, as he had done so many other times. But this time was different.

As Simeon works his way down the line of parents with their newborn boys, he looks from infant to infant. “Is it this one? Is he the one? No.” He keeps going until he gets to Mary and Joseph and the baby, and somehow, he knows. He somehow manages to persuade Mary to allow him to hold the precious little one, and then he prays over the infant –

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

If the birth of Jesus teaches us nothing else, it should teach us this: God is always faithful, and He always keeps His promises. It is rarely according to our timetable, and the fulfillment is often done in ways that we could never have imagined. But God is always faithful.

As we move from one holiday event to the next this year, let us hold on to this truth: God is absolutely, undeniably, and unshakably, faithful to His word, to His promises, and to us. Merry Christmas.

Legends of Christmas

Among my favorite things about Christmas are the many wonderful and inspiring legends that are incorporated into our celebrations. How many of these stories are you familiar with?

The Christmas Candy Cane

Some legends have beginnings that trace their roots back to multiple origins. One of these is the legend of the Christmas Candy Cane. The earlier dates back to 1670 when, according to the story, the choirmaster of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany would hand out sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the extended program of a Living Nativity Scene. In keeping with the celebration, he had the candies bent with a hook at the end, to remember a shepherd’s staff.

Then in 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant, August Imgard of Woosted, Ohio, had a small tree decorated with candy canes. Sometime around the turn of the 20^th century, someone added red and white stripes and peppermint flavoring to the candy. In Indiana in the early 1900s, a candymaker wanted to make a treat that would be more of a tribute to Jesus, so he developed the Christmas candy cane that we know today.

The white represents the virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and the red stands of His blood, which saves us from sin. Many versions have three red stripes to remind us of the scourging which He received. The shape of the candy reminds both of a shepherd’s staff – He is our “Good Shepherd” – as well as the letter “J” to remind us of His name. The hard candy teaches that He is the Rock of Salvation, and when the candy is broken, it reminds us that when He was crucified, His body was broken for us.

That’s a lot of meaning in a simple piece of candy.

The Legend of the Poinsettia

The story is told of a young orphan girl in Mexico named Pepita. On Christmas Eve one year, she was walking by herself to the village church, and thinking about all the beautiful gifts that would be presented at the manger. She began to cry, because she was too poor to have a gift to bring. As she wept, suddenly an angel appeared, and told her to gather a group of weeds from the side of the road and to give them to the Christ Child.

Pepita did as she was instructed and went on to the cathedral. She ignored the angry looks from other churchgoers, who could not believe this poor child would bring a handful of weeds. As she knelt in front of the manger, suddenly the leaves burst into beautiful, brilliant red leaves! And so the villagers renamed this gorgeous crimson plant with the yellow-gold buds at the center Flores de Noche Beuna – Flower of the Holy Night.

A Christmas Prayer

Finally, we close with a poem that was legendarily written by famous author Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson was born in Scotland in 1850. As a young man, he rejected religion and the organized church but later in life, he is said to have developed a very personal faith and a journal of his prayers was published after his death from a stroke in 1894. We’ll give him the final word today in this poem, “A Christmas Prayer.”

Loving Father, 
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing 
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning 
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven, 
for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

“Chains Shall He Break…”

I have been reading recently about a controversy involving a well-loved Christmas carol and the mistaken claims that some of its lyrics, and especially the third verse, are a recent invention. Let me tell you the story behind this great hymn. (Parts of this material were adapted from Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins, Copyright © 2001, Andrew Collins, published by Zondervan.)

The year was 1847. Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was the commissioner of wines in a small French village who had a reputation as a poet. Although he was not a regular churchgoer, the local priest asked him if he would compose a special poem for use at that year’s Christmas service, and Cappeau agreed, and soon completed the poem entitled, “Cantique de Noel.” But Cappeau felt that the poem needed to become a song, and so he turned to a musician friend, Adolphe Adams, for help.

Adams was a Jew, but he agreed to help his Gentile friend compose a melody for a holiday that Adams did not celebrate, to honor a Messiah that he did not worship. The tune was finished, and three weeks later, “Cantique” was performed for the first time at the midnight Christmas Mass. The song found wide acceptance in churches across France.

But a few years later, Cappeau walked away from the church; meanwhile, French church officials discovered that the music had been written by an unbelieving Jew. They denounced the song as being unfit for worship services, without musical taste, and completely lacking in “the spirit of religion.”

That might have been the end of “Cantique,” except the song found its way to America a few years later, and was given new life by a staunch abolitionist, John Sullivan Dwight. You probably never heard of him – frankly, neither had I – but he prepared and published a new translation of Cappeau’s poem into English. Dwight was especially moved by the third verse of “Cantique” –

Truly He taught us to love one another,
 His law is love, and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
 And in His Name, all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy, in grateful chorus raise we,
 Let all within us, praise His holy Name:
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever!
 His power and glory, Ever more proclaim!

There is a legend that says during the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, a French soldier on Christmas Eve stood up, exposing himself to enemy fire, and began to sing “Cantique de Noel.” The Germans held their fire, and when he was finished, a German soldier began to sing “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” a Christmas hymn by Martin Luther. Troops on both sides observed an unofficial Christmas truce.

“O Holy Night” became involved in another Christmas miracle of sorts a few years later, in 1906. Reginald Fessenden was a 33-year-old university professor and former assistant to Thomas Edison. On Christmas Eve of that year, using a new type of generator, Fessenden began to speak into a microphone: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed…”

Across the country, and far out at sea, wireless operators who were used to hearing only coded dots and dashes over their equipment heard a man’s voice, reading them the Christmas story! It was the first known radio broadcast. When he finished reading the story, Professor Fessenden did something even more remarkable. He picked up his violin and began to play a Christmas hymn – “O Holy Night.” And so it became the first song ever heard on the radio.

I love this carol, and it often moves me to tears, in part because of its soaring melody, but also in part because it answers the “So What?” question of Christmas. Jesus came to Earth – so what? He taught us about the love of God – so what? This song reminds us that we must live out the meaning of Christmas in the way that we treat others, to love God by loving our neighbors, and to join the work of Jesus in breaking the chains of sin and injustice. And not just on December 25, but throughout the year.

That really is the best way of “keeping Christ in Christmas.”

Forgotten Christmas Movies x5

I love classic movies. So now that it’s Christmastime, I’d like to talk about some favorite classic Christmas movies. And by classic, I mean movies made before 1990.

I’m a sucker for a good Christmas movie, and there have been some really good ones produced in the last few years. The Polar Express is a favorite, along with Home Alone, The Grinch, Elf, and A Christmas Story. And there have been many, MANY, adaptations of Dicken’s classic A Christmas Carol, starring everyone from the Muppets to George C. Scott, and others featuring Alastair Sim, Donald Duck, Bill Murray, Patrick Stewart, and many more. Take your pick.

For this list, I’m going to stay away from better known Christmas classics – so, no White Christmas, no It’s a Wonderful Life, and no Miracle on 34^th Street. Those are all great films that are among my favorites, but I want to focus on some that are not as familiar. All of these listed here are family-friendly and very watchable Christmas films.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

This movie has been remade a couple of times, most recently as 1998’s You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but the original is still the best. Jimmie Stewart and Margaret Sullavan star as co-workers at a luggage shop who can’t stand each other in person but who have unknowingly fallen in love with each other as anonymous pen pals. Don’t miss Frank Morgan as their boss – as an actor, he’s better known as the title character in The Wizard of Oz (1939). I just love this little movie, though. It’s really wonderful.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck gives a fine performance as a Martha Stewart-type homemaker and magazine writer who is an awesome cook, a loving wife, and a devoted mother, living on her family’s farm in Connecticut. Except she’s really a terrible cook, never married, not a mom, and lives in a high-rise New York apartment. But then her boss at the magazine (Sydney Greenstreet), who doesn’t know that she’s been making up the whole thing, has the idea to have a war hero spend Christmas with the writer and her family at the farm, and she has to scramble to keep everything going. Also with S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall as her friend, Chef Felix.

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Every year, the world’s second richest man (Charles Ruggles) leaves his mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York and heads south to warmer weather, and every year, as soon as he is gone, a homeless guy (Victor Moore) moves into the vacated manor for the winter. He meets an Army veteran (Don DeFore), just out of the service, who has lost his apartment, and invites him to stay with him in the absent guy’s mansion. Soon, there are more homeless vets, a displaced heiress, and even the homeowner and his estranged wife all living there and trying to hide their true identities and motives. It’s a terrific farce comedy that also takes a serious look at some of the problems returning GIs faced in trying to find their place in post-war America.

The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

A very cool angel (Cary Grant) comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian priest (David Niven), who is so obsessed with raising money to build a new cathedral that he neglects not only his family and wife (Loretta Young), but also his true calling as a minister. Grant and Niven were originally cast to play each other’s roles in the film, but when the original director was fired, the producer, Samuel Goldwyn, made them swap roles to create this wonderful film.

Holiday Affair (1949)

Robert Mitchum and a very young Janet Leigh (only 22 at the time) star: she is a war widow with a young son, he is a department store clerk. Through a series of interactions, she causes him to lose his job. Even though she is already engaged to one man, when she meets Mitchum, she can’t deny the attraction she feels. He is sensational in a break from his usual tough guy roles. It’s a terrific story with a strong supporting cast; look for a young Harry Morgan (Col. Potter on M*A*S*H) as an exasperated police lieutenant trying to sort things out at one point.

There’s a great book that I would highly recommend for any classic movie fan on your Christmas gift list: Christmas in the Movies – 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season, by Jeremy Arnold, published by Turner Classic Movies. It’s a great look at some terrific holiday films.

Merry Christmas! And please save me some popcorn.