Lynn Jones: I’m dreaming of a ‘right’ Christmas
By Lynn Jones
Each year at Christmas time, we hear Bing Crosby crooning his Christmas classic, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” A friend of mine said one year, “I’m not dreaming of a “white Christmas. I’m dreaming of a “right Christmas.” To tell you the truth, I have never seen a “white Christmas” in our part of the country, and neither have I seen a completely “right Christmas.”
What would it take to make a “right” Christmas? At a bare minimum it would be for us to go to Bethlehem for the birth of a baby. That’s what brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to enroll for the Roman taxation, but he brought with him Mary from their home in Nazareth for the birth of her child which they both knew was very close. Luke 2:6-7 records, “And so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6-7). Most of the folks in Bethlehem missed seeing Jesus that first Christmas. We must not repeat their errors this season.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, outside the village the angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds in a field who were keeping watch over their flocks by night. When the angel told them of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, they said, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem” (Luke 2:15).
There was also Another who went to Bethlehem that first Christmas. God was at Bethlehem. He had always intended to go. Ever since Adam and Eve had walked away from Him in the Garden of Eden, He had been making plans to send His Son to bring their straying children back to Him.
And so, “in the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4), His Son came down from His glory, down from His position at the right hand of God, to, of all places, Bethlehem. Not to the finest inn in the village, but to a stable and to a manger.
A little girl stood with her father looking at the baby lying on the straw in their church’s nativity scene. As she looked, the girl asked her dad, “Did the straw scratch him?” Her dad responded, “Yes, the straw scratched him—and that wasn’t all. The straw scratched him. The rejection grieved Him. The lack of understanding pained Him. The walking tired him. The whip hurt Him. And the cross killed Him.”
Yes, the straw scratched Him because the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Let us go to Bethlehem and see Him this Christmas! It may not be a “white Christmas” here this year, but a “right Christmas” begins when we go to Bethlehem!
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
