Get the Tree
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the highest holiday season for most Americans. And rightly so. We remember the great God who gave us this free country in which to worship Him. At Thanksgiving it is appropriate to express our thankfulness for the bountiful goodness of our Lord to us. Christmas is a wonderful time to publicly, as well as privately, express our praise to God for the coming of our Lord Jesus. It is also a fine time to exchange gifts with one another in the theme of giving which was initiated in God giving His sinless Son to a sinful world.
This season is also marked by a high rise of depression. In fact, it is the time of the year when the suicide rate increases. One of the main reasons is that people are remembering this time of the year when they were gathered together with loved ones and friends who are no longer in their company. For many, the pain is almost unbearable.
Just this week I was talking to one of
our fine ladies who was remorseful over the loss of her beloved husband who
departed the earth and is now with our Lord. I was also talking to another
church member who is about to go through her first Thanksgiving and Christmas
without the company of her husband. Whether by death or desertion, the happiest
time of our year yields the equal possibility of becoming the loneliest time of
the year. I need to point out, it does not have to be the loneliest time of the
year, even for those hurting over the loss of earthly love. As I stood in the
back of the auditorium this week greeting our people, one of our finest church
members seemed a little confused but intent with going on in the spirit of
Christmas. She asked me in the light of recent heart-breaking events, “I am not
sure if I am going to get a tree this year, since….” I interrupted and quickly
enjoined, “Yes, by all means, get a tree.” So I say to all the hurting out
there, get a tree! "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18). Now some despondent
soul may be asking, “Why get a tree?” If you will lend me a few more minutes of
your time, I shall, with God’s help, give your three good reasons:
1. Do it for you.
This is not the time to break tradition.
I am thinking about Mrs. Cliff Frink who has just said good-bye to her beloved
forty-year-old husband. We all had hopes that God was going to spare this
fantastic young preacher; God had other plans. She now faces the future with a
ten-year-old, seven-year-old, and a sixteen-month-old. Three little boys loved
dearly by their dad now face their first Christmas without him. I gave their
mom a call a few days ago, and asked, “Yvonna, how are you doing?” She answered
with a clear voice, “Well, I’m out of bed, both of my shoes are on and I’ve
brushed my teeth,” then she added with a brightness to her voice, “I’m having a
good day today!”
Do you hear what this pastor’s wife is
saying? She is not able to bring him back, but she must go on. It is always a
good day when we can go on in spite of our pain. Sometimes it is the ordinary
things we do in the course of our day-to-day life that encourage us. We cannot
change the events that break our hearts, but with God’s help we do what we need
to do today. The pre-occupying of our mind with the task on hand can become
cathartic. King David lost his precious little baby and his servants were
surprised when he went on with the ordinary requirements of life. "Then said
his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast
and weep for the child, while it
was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he
said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell
whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead,
wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he
shall not return to me" (II Samuel
12:21). How touching - David was rejoicing that although he will not see his
little son on this earthly scene, he will see him again in heaven. He was also
saying it is out of his hands and he must go on. So I say to you, get the tree
for you!
2. Do it for those who remain.
There was an interesting phrase that came
right after David expressed his determination to go on beyond the death of his
son, "And David comforted Bathsheba his wife..." (II Samuel 12:24). When
a child sees a parent go through uninterrupted and constant grieving of a lost
child, they many times develop a complex that the parent had been better off had
they been the one who died rather than the other. I have never known the case
where this was in fact on the parents mind. But when the child cannot see his
mom and dad going on, they, too, have a difficult time going on and will be
tempted to draw the wrong conclusions. Although it may not be real to you, it
is their reality.
Don’t turn your house into a museum of
mourning of what shall never be again. It is time to take off the dark crepe and
pull out the garland! Go ahead; get the tree for those who are still here.
Celebrate their existence and, in some cases, their faithfulness. Say to those
who remain, "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together"
(Psalm 34:3).
3. Do it for Jesus!
It is not a mere cliché to say, “Jesus is
the reason for the season.” Christmas really and truly is first of all about
Jesus who came to take away our sins. How can we not be celebratory in
recognizing the coming of Christ as the main event of this season? The first
Christmas was full of miracles. A virgin gives birth to the King of Kings. The
angels appear overhead. Shepherds come and later the wise men from over five
hundred miles come to see the Christ-child who was born in the manger. Christ
escapes the slaughter of the innocents. Even as we approach our Christmas
season, 2006, may I remind you that the God who performed miracles in the past
is still able to perform miracles today. As we come out of our present miseries
to the celebration of Christmas, maybe God will perform a Christmas miracle for
you. Observe our literature, our plays and our movies that surround this time
of the year. In Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge totally
transformed after the visitation of the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and
Yet-To-Come. O’Henry gives us a time honored treat in his Gift of the Magi
as love conquers all in the spirit of giving. We can never forget George Bailey
who is given a second chance on Christmas Eve. His life is saved, Clarence the
angel wins his wings, and his family and friends become more precious than ever
as he re-discovers It’s a Wonderful Life. And the greatest original
Christmas story has the capacity to still become the seed-bed for a fresh new
Christmas miracle that you may need.
So turn on the Christmas music, make some
hot chocolate, light the candles, put up the tree and turn on the Christmas
lights. And in the soft haze, remember that God placed His only begotten Son
upon a tree to give us the greatest gift of all, eternal life. Keep Christ in
Christmas. One way to do this is maintain your traditions. Get the tree!
- Pastor Pope -