Off the Editor’s Spike: Emmanuel!

Driving around town to look at the Christmas lights is a tradition for many families. Perhaps this year more folks than usual will break COVID confinement with a holiday trek. It’s an activity perfectly within the pandemic social distancing guidelines, assuming you don’t rent a van or a bus to rub elbows with too many people while you ride around.

It seems to me that there doesn’t seem to be any more or less home decorations on display this year than in years past. I suspect light bulb replacement on holiday strings has more to do with that than COVID. Many households decorate outdoors, some don’t. Since our family time is split between Gallatin, Cameron, and Warrensburg, we’ve taken the opportunity to enjoy those home decorations displayed in these towns.

One particular neighborhood stands out. It’s a small lake community, located east of Warrensburg, with one main entrance and the homes are mostly arranged in cul-de-sac turnarounds. But my, oh my, it must be challenging to “keep up with the Joneses” living there. Many Christmas light displays house after house were simply outstanding!

Our family’s matriarch rode quietly while soaking in the scenery. No one younger than 65 was riding in the car at the time and it struck me as perhaps silly to think the trip was worth the effort even though the only other recent outings were restricted to doctor visits and the grocery store. Then we paused in front of a home particularly ablaze. Strings and strings of lights were artistically arranged by color code to outline the entire home and lawn. A huge air-blown snowman in the back overlooked a variety of illuminated figures in the forefront all colorfully decked in Yuletide glow, ranging from Snoopy of Peanuts comic strip fame to Santa wearing a Chiefs jersey while leaning back to throw a football. Within eyesight was another home where light strings pulsated, each glitz timed to burst into view in such a way to command your attention. Home after home, street after street …it was quite the spectacle.

And she softly said, “Where’s the nativity?”

Good question. So, we started paying closer attention as we drove along. Yes, there were nativity scenes sometimes even positioned in the forefront on some lawns. But few if any really had the manger scene predominant. There’s a message here with many, many details captured in just one word.

Over 2,000 years ago, God could have chosen to arrive on this earth in any fashion. It is wonderful how fabulously the Creator revealed Himself beginning on Christmas Day. He arrived by miracle, a virgin birth in an humble setting to signal how His arrival was for us all but also with the splendor of the brightest light amidst the vast canvas of stars, blazing across the sky on that holy night — a light so bright that wise men journeyed from afar seeking to anoint Him. Can you see what the shepherds saw, a light so fearfully bright that you break down in fearful awe, then jump up to run to see the Lord for yourself?

The manger scene needs no manmade glitz. If someone asks what Christmas means to you, consider these parts of the manger.

Mary. God could have chosen anyone but, surprisingly, it was a teenage girl engaged to be married. Having a child out of wedlock carries serious consequences. She was pure and she realized and believed in what she was told to do. She would put God first ahead of herself, and so she was chosen. Mary was available.

Joseph. Few men would accept the circumstances. The law in his day gave him the right to stone to death his betrothed for her betrayal and shame. When he was told God’s plan, Joseph didn’t understand but he did what God told him to do. He was obedient.

The shepherds. The most socially disliked were first to witness Christ’s birth. Due to the nature of their smelly work, lowly shepherds were among the least by human standards. Yet they were chosen for the honor of seeing Christ first and telling others because Christ came for everyone. The shepherds were chosen because they were humble.

Wise men. These were men with financial and worldly means and with intellect who sought what is spiritually pure and Godly above all else. Wise men today still seek Jesus.

Jesus. Emmanuel, which means God is with us. Christmas means Emmanuel.

So, as you take your drive to see this year’s Christmas lights, notice how so many households in this world stand in darkness this Christmas season and consider this darkness. The real meaning of Christmas has little to do with decorative strings of lights or the number of presents under a tree. It was on a tree, after all, that He was crucified for our sins. It’s the tree, not the ribbon-wrapped presents underneath the tree, we should focus upon. On Christmas Day, the tree in use is an evergreen symbolizing everlasting life.

No twinkling string of lightbulbs or any Christmas cookie can match sound of “Away in the Manger” voiced in the wholesome goodness of a small child. Nothing in this world compares to Jesus. The entirety of the Bible — no, the entirety of all time — is about God’s plan to redeem us through Jesus … the tree of life.

What’s Christmas all about? It is not about shiny decorations, nor a steaming hot turkey or sugar-glazed ham amidst abundance on the dinner table, not any ball games on TV nor all the gifts under a Christmas tree …and certainly not about an ageless elf that returns to the North Pole flying a sleigh guided by a reindeer with a bright, shining nose. In my view, there is nothing wrong with these Christmas traditions. But they can confuse things. Christmas and God’s love have always been hard to understand. Only a few witnesses understood that first Christmas morning; all mankind has pursued its meaning ever since.

Christmas is captured in one word. Matthew’s birth announcement in the Bible proclaims “God is with us!” One word, written in Hebrew, transcends all languages and all barriers to celebrate the world’s greatest event which happened on Christmas Day: Emmanuel!
Peace and joy be with you and yours this Christmas … and from this day forward every day. Emmanuel!