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Good Morning,
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in
cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:8-15
This will date me a bit, but often times when I read this passage, the voice of Charlie Brown’s friend Linus is the voice I hear in my mind.
I’m sure many of you have seen it. In ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, Charlie is exasperated by all the things going wrong as he and his gang are preparing for a Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown finally yells out, “Can anyone tell me what Christmas is really all about?”
Linus calls for the lights, and there on a near-empty stage, he delivers the King James version of
this passage. Plain and simple…Christmas is about Jesus!
We can fill it with so many other things. Some of them are really good things, like family, lights, decorations, fellowship, and gifts. And, if we do not have Christ at the center of all these things, are we really celebrating Christmas?
Leave it to the wisdom of Charlie Brown and his friend Linus (and of course the always-present security blanket), to remind us, yet again, that we can always go to Jesus and the Gospels when searching for the true meaning of Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
-Pat Byers
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