Dakota Beacon

“It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old....”

What’s in a story? Feeling? Nostalgia? A message?

For 2000 years, in countless countries and cultures, the ageless Christmas story is told again this year. Despite the not-so-subtle efforts over the years to suppress that old, old story, the narrative continues as fresh as ever. Century after century the timeless theme is heard by young and old alike.

Through the years, poets and hymn writers tried their best to capture the essence of the story. Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, Felix Mendelssohn and George Frederick Handel, among others, delivered the theme of the Christmas story. Select any Christmas carol celebrating the birth of Jesus, read all the stanzas and see the message unfold.

Why is the Christmas story still so fresh and popular? For one thing, the Christmas story is simple. It is not complicated. Like any good story, it contains a sympathetic character (a Savior come as a babe) who ultimately encounters a challenge (human race gone astray) that, in the fullness of time, he confronts and reconciles.

The Christmas story carries universal themes identifying the fundamental human condition: love, hate, fear, pain, anger, grief. Everyone identifies with the story at some point in their life.

The Christmas story inspires many listeners with the unchanging truth of the angelic realm. This is the story of God the Creator who entered into the finite realm of time and space to reconcile a wayward and rebellious human race. In this respect, Christianity distinguishes itself from all other major religions. In all other religions, fallible humans strive to justify themselves before their god. Only in Christianity does a benevolent and loving God reach down to a bankrupt people to do what people can never do for themselves--absolve them of their unrighteousness. This is the marvelous reality beginning with the Christmas story and a babe in a manger.

“...Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail the Incarnate Deity,

Pleased as man with man to dwell;

Jesus, our Emmanuel:...”

Moreover, the story is a true, non-fiction story. It is historically verifiable. If critics wish to remain intellectually honest, then they must apply the same evaluation criteria to the events of the Christmas story as they apply to the evaluation of any other historical event. First, there are the multitude of witnesses that place the nativity event beyond question. Second, the tangible records, both Biblical and extra Biblical, established so close to the events, insure for all time the credibility of the story.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Look at the stories that emulate or parallel the Christmas story. “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens or “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry or “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore all tell of grace and mercy and goodness. But none can compare to the most eternal of all Christmas stories--the arrival of the incarnate God.

“...This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:

Haste, haste to bring Him laud, the Babe, the Son of Mary.”

For believing Christians, the Christmas story serves as a reminder of our neediness and the provision of a gracious God to meet those needs. Of Bethlehem, at the birth of the new-born King-in-residence, the refrain puts it succinctly:

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

The message prevails as clear today as it did two thousand years ago. The alluring revelation continues to inspire many with the hope of a brighter future. Herein lies the Good News available to anyone willing to receive it: That we do not have to walk life’s journey alone; that help and reconciliation has already arrived; that with this help we can have a new birth and a fresh start; that beyond our errors and transgressions there is yet a more excellent way.

”O  ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way, With painful steps and slow;

Look now for glad and golden hours, Come swiftly on the wing;

O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!”

Yes, the Christmas story remains the same old story, the eternal story of a caring God seeking out all who will receive Him. Glad hearts still sing out the old refrain:

“Yea, Lord, we greet Thee; born this happy morning,

Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing:...”

Yes, it is the same old story told again this year to anxious ears and open hearts. May the joy and truth of the Christmas celebration be yours this year.

Merry Christmas to everyone!