Hello,
Merry Christmas.
I went on Google searching for the origins of “Merry
Christmas”. One site says it goes
back to the pen of an English admiral and then expanded by Charles Dickens in
his story, “A Christmas Carol”.
Although no one seems to
know for sure how it happened from there, but the phrase took off and
became a pretty universal greeting between those celebrating the Christmas
holiday.
Now, I realize that I am dwarfed by Charles Dickens as a
literary trend setter, but today I would like to humbly propose changing the
word that we connect to “Christmas” when we pass on our Christmas greetings.
Why the change?
Well….to me, “merry” just
falls a bit short of the impact
that I hope the story of Christmas makes in people’s lives. “Merry” just seems , to me, to be too
shallow and saccharine a word to connect with the events of the Christmas
story. “Merry”, to me, invokes
“glee” and “happy”….neither of which a necessarily bad, but it seems that God’s intent in the
incarnation was meant to take hold of our lives with something far more
profound. Besides that, to wish
someone “merriment” when they are in the darkest shadows of life does seem to
be a bit hollow and empty.
So if not “merry”, what?
How about “wonder-full”….or how we usually spell it, “wonderful”? When I consider the universal majesty
of God, and the microscopic place that I hold in the universe, I, like the
writer of the 8th Psalm, am struck with nothing less than awesome
wonder that God would deign to enflesh himself in the life that I live. When I consider the fickleness of the
faith that I hold and the defaming that my life brings to the name of God, I am
struck with awesome wonder that God would go to such an extent to embrace me in
his love. When I consider that
instead of hanging me over the fires of hell to deal with the toxicity of my
life, God came to hang on the cross and make his blood the alkaline for the
acid that runs through my life I am struck with nothing less than awesome
wonder. To me, the message of
Christmas is far more than merry-making.
It is absolutely wonder-full.
And so, no matter how you find yourself in life…cruising along,
stumbling through it, battling it every day…let me offer my Christmas greeting
to you. May the one who is the
light that no darkness can overcome so shine in your life that your eyes see
with unobstructed vision the grace, the mercy, and the love of God for you in
this Christmas season such that you are struck with nothing less than awesome
wonder.
Have a Wonder-full Christmas.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
No comments:
Post a Comment