Posted: 12/15/06
2nd Opinion:
Getting lost in Christmas
By BO Baker
Most of you know Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Of course, I know that scores and scores of you find the season harsh, upsetting, stressed and tear-stained, making it easy to get lost in Christmas.
Consider the truly poor who tuck their pride away long enough to accept a basket of Christmas love so their wide-eyed children can have a taste of what most of us have as normal daily fare. O yes, one can get lost in Christmas!
Face those who carry grownup grief into Christmas morning or watch with eyes of compassion as more and more of our young soldiers darken by their deaths the hearts of their parents, marriage partners and their little children—children too young to understand why those around them are crying, wondering who and what is in that flag-draped case. Indeed, one can get lost in Christmas!
Add the mockery of seasonal faith that has grown less dependable when tested by war and worry. We dare not forget the damaging result of borrowed trust, the kind that, when appropriated, is worn like merit badges—point makers of sorts. I insist one can get lost in Christmas!
Many of those who hold tight the rein of their denominational preference often are found hiding behind the coattail of some strong, courageous Christian believer too faithful to bow—too called to quit.
Yes, one can get lost in Christmas!
Lost, that is, if Christmas is only a holiday wrapped in a Santa suit, a selection of days set aside for feasting and gaming or a time untouched by the holy winds of the Spirit’s coming.
Be mindful you are reading the lines of an old man who refuses to retreat the battlefield, who can still hear “the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees” (2 Samuel 5:24) and who has chosen to say to the family of our spiritual land of battle: “Let us dig in the for the long haul; show courage again as in yesteryears, by building a fresh biblical readiness, and by standing tall for those things we believe to be important and right. And please, God, may we go with the capability we have until we can rest by the river, here to be caught up in the air to meet our fellow believers in the “house of many mansions.”
May God help us not to grow weary in well doing; and especially during the days of Christmas; to be loyal to the royal Son of God who has provided our one absolute hope for life everlasting—“Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.”
BO Baker, a longtime Texas Baptist pastor and evangelist, has written a Christmas reflection for the Baptist Standard for 31 consecutive years.
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