Happy Mark's Birthday!

Ahhh, Christmas time, when all the neighborhoods are decked out in pretty lights. Everything sparkles and shines, all in celebration of … well, it’s hard to tell.

For several years I have not put up Christmas lights outside my home. This is due in part to the time crunch that happens every December in the church and in part to not finding the yard art that I really wanted. This year I decided to search till I found something close to what I wanted. My quest began several days ago as I went to several stores, not finding a thing. As I arrived at the fourth store, a giant chain store, I was greeted by their Christmas section of yard art: a flying Santa, a tropical Santa, the Grinch, Snoopy, Sponge Bob, and a snowman village, to name a few. I stood back, changing my focus from pinpointing the perfect find to looking at the wide-shot of the whole department there. From edge to edge it was full of almost every decoration you could imagine, … almost.

In one little section, I could find wise men and a Santa “advent calendar”, but where was the Holy family? The next store had a similar section, but DID have a nativity, which was relegated to the back row and consisted of a few nativity snow-globes for you to shake up. The last store was same story, that is until I made it to the back row there, where (ta-dah!) I found it! In the far corner (the ACTUAL far corner) of the store, there was a box of Mary, Joseph and Jesus- not the size or style I wanted, not the beautifully made set I hoped for, but it only took me a second to wrestle the box onto my cart.

My heart grieves at this picture of how our society views the celebration of the birth of Christ and keeps Him far away in the back corner. Looking around each store at the abundance of lights and holiday decorations, I watched the holiday crowd who was seemingly oblivious to the reason for the season. I am usually a glass-half-full person, but in those moments I was struck by the sadness of the message that was lost.

Our houses glow with the strings of lights, but do we daily reflect the message of The Light of the world? We display and spotlight fun characters we think suitable for presentation, but do we remember The One who was displayed upon the cross in all his agony for the entire world to see? We quickly move from destination to destination, focused on completing our holiday tasks, but do we set aside time to sit silently in the presence of The One for whom the holiday is named? When I saw the video (above) I was amused by the premise, but as I saw Mark’s face change to dismay, and saw him being pushed away I was given a picture of God’s disappointment at the many times we push Him away.

But, like the good and perfect Father that He is, I know that this picture is meant to convict our hearts so we will be changed. I know I am not supposed to linger in an arena of sadness, but to persevere with proclaiming God’s good news and to be His witness in the world. JOY TO THE WORLD! In Mark 16:15, the risen Christ tells his disciples to "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” This year when you say, "Merry Christmas" let your words and actions point to Christ and reflect the joy of your salvation. I hope that you will allow the Holy Spirit to convict you and make you a bold and joyful witness for Christ this Christmas and all through the year.