By Shane Bennett
As the door swings open, warm light spills out into the dark, chill night and outstretched arms welcome you to the party. Handshake to handshake, hug to hug, you’re gathered into the house. Familiar songs from holidays of your childhood compete with football on TV, the running footsteps of a dozen children, and the happy din of catch-up conversations. The earthy bouquet of pine-scented candles gives way to the rich and steamy aroma of the feast that awaits you. A sigh comes unbidden to your lips. The food makes the day, doesn’t it?
To your feeble and false protests a plate is pressed into your hands and Aunt Somebody leads you down the table laden with food that says, “Life is good. God is good. Our family that we celebrate and celebrate with is good.” As you step away bearing what looks for all the world like a tenth scale model of Pikes Peak, you hear Aunt Somebody admonish, “Eat that, then you get right back here for more.” Tucking into your personal buffet, you watch family and guests arrive and depart, sharing greetings and giving and receiving gifts. Deep in the back of your mind, Louis Armstrong’s gravelly voice begins to rise, “I said to myself, ‘What a wonderful world.’”
Later, when the children begin to drift to sleep in upstairs rooms, downstairs chairs, and relatives’ arms, the family patriarch takes a seat toward the head of the room. The TV is turned off, conversations drop to whispers then cease, and he begins to speak. Of course you can’t understand the resonant Arabic flowing from his lips, but Aunt Somebody, now sitting next to you, helps out by telling you he’s reciting from the Qur’an, recounting the story behind this celebration, the sacrifice that Abraham was willing to make but that God, at the last moment, prevented.
In your heart you know the ram God gave Abraham foreshadows the sin-quenching sacrifice of Jesus, whose birth you’ll celebrate soon. But your dear friends, now warming the room with their breath and bodies, warming your heart with their love, do not see it so. Your warm heart aches, “When will they see it so?”
Can I give you a word for Christmas this year? Please celebrate with gusto, and encourage your family and friends to do likewise. We have good reason to celebrate: We’ve been given an astounding gift. And if conscience allows, raise a glass and toast the happy situation that finds you a child of God Most High. Then, perhaps in some quiet moment, whisper a prayer that next Christmas finds many more gathered around the table, counted as your sisters and brothers, wholly devoted to this great king Jesus.
Image: Matthew Hurst, Flikr/Creative Commons.
My mom gave me a book recently that her book club read and enjoyed. It’s called 