Let me paint you a picture. There is a Bible laying on a table in the corner, a Nativity standing in another corner, and Silent Night is softly playing on the stereo. It is December 24th and the Jordan-St. Clair family is setting around the fireplace. The children, Karen, Keith, and Kelly, are talking about what they think they’re getting for Christmas. Mom is humming to herself while playing a game on the computer, and Dad is reading while quietly watching the children, chuckling to himself. Let’s go in closer and listen to this family’s conversations.
“I know what Kelly got you for Christmas, Keith, but I’m not gonna tell you! Ha! Ha! Ha!” says Karen. “Aw, come on, Karen. Tell me!” “Karen, don’t you dare tell him or I won’t take you shopping with me ever again” says Kelly. “Kelly, you know I promised not to tell, and you know I keep my promises. I’m not gonna tell.”
“Is it something I can wear, or is it something I can play with?” “I’m not gonna tell you, so you might as well stop asking.” “That’s alright – I know what I’m getting anyway. So there… you don’t have to tell me. And I know what Karen is getting too!”
Karen looks up and says, “Oooh! Tell me!” “I ain’t – unless you tell me what Kelly got me” “Don’t you…” “Don’t worry, I won’t. Keith, you’re just gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find out.”
“Alright kids,” says Dad. “That’s enough. Let’s sing a Christmas carol and have our Christmas Bible lesson. Now what do you want to sing? Karen?” “Aw Dad,” says Keith, “she always gets to pick what we sing.” “Well, Keith, what do you want to sing?” “I don’t know”, answers Keith, with a grimace and a shrug. Everyone laughs. “Well, since you don’t know, I guess Karen has the best choice. What do you want to sing this time, Karen?” “Let’s sing “O come All Ye Faithful.” “Mom, start us off.”
“O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”
“Dad,” says Mom, “instead of having our usual Bible reading, why don’t we each tell what Christmas means to us? Keith, why don’t we start with you?” Keith responds, “Well, it means a vacation from school and new games and lots of football on TV and lots of food.” “It means I get lots of toys to play with”, says Karen. “I get to sleep late and get new clothes”, says Kelly.
“Mom, your turn.” “Well, kids, Christmas means more than a lot of toys and gifts. Christmas is the time when people should be remembering that it is the time when the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world as a baby. Dad, why don’t you read that passage in Luke 2?”
“That’s a good idea. Hand me my tablet. This year, I’m going to read from the Message version.” Keith jumps up and gets Dad’s tablet and hands it to him. Dad quickly flips to Luke 2, and clears his throat.
“About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.”
“Hmmm,” says Karen, “then, we should not consider ourselves but think of Jesus Christ.” “That’s right”, says Keith. “I’m gonna try and remember that from now on” Kelly chimes in, “Me too. Im gonna tell all my friends about it too so they will know.”
I think that each of us should consider and remember the message that the Jordan-St. Clair family learned today and apply it to ourselves.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth