“Isn’t there anyone who can tell me what Christmas is all
about?”
Don’t you just feel for poor Charlie Brown? He’s convinced
there’s more to it than everything he sees around him, yet he can’t find a
satisfying answer to what should be a simple question. Then Linus steps up to
the microphone and reads from Luke 2: shepherds, angels, tidings of great joy,
and a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. “This is what
Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” Linus says before plucking his thumb
back in his mouth. And Charlie Brown smiles at last.
Yes, that’s what it’s all about, but it’s even simpler than
that. The true meaning of Christmas comes down to just three words: God with
us. God knew we could never be good enough, never follow enough rules, never
desire righteousness enough to make it to Him, so He came to us.
He came to a stable in Bethlehem, but it didn’t end there.
He came to all of us, everywhere. The God who is with me in Colorado Springs is
with the prisoner in Iran. He’s with the hungry child in Bangladesh and the
movie star in Hollywood. He’s with the withered old man gasping for his last
breath and the tiny newborn taking her first. He’s with the saints in heaven,
but He’s equally with the sinners on earth. He’s with us all, for all time, all
at once.
One of the things I’m eager to see in Russia is how God is
with them there. This will be my first extended look into a different culture.
I know what it looks like for God to be with me here, but what does it look
like there? What does it look like for an orphan? Or for an older person who
lived through decades of “godless” communism? I will have the opportunity to
attend worship in a Russian Orthodox church. How will I see “God with us”
there, I wonder?
If I think about it long enough, it makes me dizzy. It enlarges my view of God. He is
with us across continents, cultures, and time. He is with those who praise Him
here on earth just as He’s with my dad and my baby girl and the countless
others who worship at His throne in heaven. We are somehow all connected
because He is with all of us.
God with us. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie
Brown.
