New light through old friends

Peace

John 14:27

Every year, at least one of the Peanuts characters made a bold statement of not wanting any gifts for Christmas from Santa Claus. One year, it was Linus who answered sister Lucy’s bafflement over such weird letter to Santa with, “I hope he’ll find it particularly refreshing.” Another Christmas, it was Charlie Brown’s sister Sally who swore off Christmas presents. She did confess, though, that she thought she had finally lost her mind, and before Christmas arrived she had a nuclear emotional meltdown, ending with the scream—

I WANT ALL I CAN GET WHILE THE GETTING’S GOOD! I WANT EVERYTHING THAT’S COMING TO ME 

       BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE, BEFORE THE SUN HAS DIMMED, THE STARS HAVE FALLEN, AND THE WHEAT 

       IS EATEN!

We are left with a completely befuddled Charlie Brown pondering, “Before the wheat is eaten?”

Charles Schulz was an absolute master of bringing Christmas to ground, centering it on the story at its core—the birth of the Prince of Peace—but always in such a way that everyone could actually hear it and take it in—hence, fifty years later, A Charlie Brown Christmas gathers millions in front of their TV sets each December. His point is always the same—the real meaning of Christmas is the entrance of God’s redeeming grace into a world hungry for it with a desperate need. But he also knows how hard it is for any of us to truly express and embody our ideals. He gives us all the benefit of a doubt that we actually do know the real meaning of Christmas, but struggle to make it real. So, Sally goes hysterical over a potentially empty Christmas tree even as the blanket-toting theologian, Linus, can write a visionary letter to Santa. That’s us in total microcosm—ideals mixed with inescapable realism.

But it also points us to a deeper truth that has nothing to do with us—the real gift of Christmas is nothing you or I wrap, exchange, or present to somebody-the real gift of Christmas comes only and solely from God. 

Only God can offer the child of Bethlehem. 

Let’s look at something—the angel Gabriel made two visitations before Christmas happened, one to Mary and one to Joseph. Look at key statements within his messages. First, he says to Mary—

…behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be 

       great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father 

       David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end…

—and then to Joseph—

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy 

       Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

—and Matthew reminds us—

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

  and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

Note clearly what is happening—God is coming to be with us because we cannot seem to be with God. A quick glance at the world as it is should confirm this for us without question—there is so much happening contrary to the Peaceable Kingdom; there are so many millions suffering who need not be so; there are so many households darkened by grief, worry, and angst all around us; there is so much stress fired by commercialism and materialism—on goes the litany—we know there must be—has to be—an alternative. There is—God chooses to be emmanuel—God chooses to be with us as we are, where we are, and how we are. 

God does so through the tremendous gift of grace of entrusting the fullness of his being to Mary and Joseph. We often slide past that tremendous revelation. One of the startling miracles of Christmas is this message—God believes in us and our ability to bring to fruition the promises held and embodied in Jesus of Nazareth. Never lose sight of that miracle—God trusts us. God sees promise in all of us. God will never, ever give up on any of us—ever! 

That becomes the source of peace Christ is—Christ is the sure and certain sign that all is forgiven between us and God. God believes is us—who are we to question God’s trust? Maybe there is hope we are more than we imagine. 

That is the answer to Sally’s hysteria as her idealism crumbles under the weight of her very human want to be included in a moment of justified self-gratification—It’s okay, says God, live a little! Enjoy! But it is also affirmation of the insight Linus finds—Christmas really doesn’t come in a box or a stocking hung by the fire—its deepest gift comes through the heart. The key is to realize we are always and forever a mix and a muddle of the two. That is the genius of Charles Schulz’s Christmas panels, but more profoundly, it is the genius of God choosing to meet us in the child Jesus, the Prince of Peace who reconciles all people to God and to one another, no matter how muddled we are.