CONSIDERING THE BUSINESS OF CHRISTMAS

 CONSIDERING THE ‘BUSINESS’ OF CHRISTMAS SEASON

By Jim Eckman, Omaha NE church advisor and teaching pastor for Steadfast Bible Fellowship Church.

 

  In Charles Dickens’ “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”, the dialogue between the ghost of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge is worth pondering. As Scrooge protests Marley’s intrusion, he declares that Marley “was always a good man of business,” to which Marley responds: “Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business: charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence were all my business.” The feverish materialism of Christmas mirrors Scrooge’s perspective, not Marley’s redeemed perspective on “business”. But what exactly is the “business” of Christmas?

  In November my wife and I saw the movie “A beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Arguably one of the best movies of 2019, it stars Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers, the host of the popular PBS program “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood,” which aired from 1968 through 2001. “Would you be mine, could you be mine, please would you be my neighbor?” That threefold question was the recurring theme song Fred Rogers sang as he entered the front door.

  Incredibly gracious and compassionate, Rogers’ passion was serving children. Since play is the language of childhood, he used puppets and make-believe to help children work through conflicts and resolve fears. He loved to tell stories. Fred Rogers once said: “I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar ways the story begins, with anticipation of the familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense and the familiar climax and ending.” Since it is so familiar, let’s review the Christmas story. The scene is the backwater town of Bethlehem. The innkeeper., Herod and other political leaders all missed the magnitude of what was occurring. But the shepherds and the Magi didn’t.

  The shepherds were tending their flocks in the fields near Bethlehem, keeping watch against thieves and predatory animals. In all likelihood, those very sheep would be offered as sacrifices on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, less than 5 miles away. Shepherds were despised and distrusted and were not even permitted to give testimony in a court of law. They were poor and most likely uneducated, perhaps even unable to read the Hebrew Scriptures. On that first Christmas night, Luke 2:8-20 reminds us, an angel, joined by a host of angels singing praises to God, announced Christ’s birth. The shepherds immediately went to Bethlehem, but, because they were poor, they offered no gifts to the Child; instead they gave themselves. [I believe that in abandoning their flocks they did so at some risk. EBB4]

  The magi (Mt.2:1-12) were likely from Persia and members of a religious caste devoted to astrology and divination. Therefore they quickly discerned the importance of the star, which guided them to the Christ child. Their journey was over 800 miles and would have taken about 40 days. Arriving at Bethlehem, they worshipped the child and gave him the most extravagant, valuable and marketable gifts imaginable in the ancient world – gold, frankincense and myrrh. Perhaps that is how Mary and Joseph financed their sojourn in Egypt These potentates from the East were rich, powerful men of leisure who could afford a long, expensive journey. What a contrast with the lowly shepherds.

  However, the shepherds and the magi were united in their joy, exhilaration and worship – a Savior had come. They knew the same truth that historic, Biblical Christianity has always embraced: This child was Immanuel, the world’s Savior, the Messiah and coming king of kings and lord of lords. That is why we sing the carols and give our gifts – all in remembrance of God’s gift in Jesus. Unmerited. Undeserved. We simply trust in His completed work that began with the cradle and led to the cross. That is the “business” of Christmas.