My wife and daughters love the Nutcracker. They have seen it several times and get
excited anytime a new version or rendition comes out. It is a yearly tradition in our family. Unfortunately, I find the Nutcracker to be
dreadfully boring and a waste of time. I
actually think I have made a reasonable attempt to like it. I even took Kim to New York to see the New
York Ballet Company perform it. It was
apparently well done. Kim really enjoyed
it. I experienced a good nap after
intermission. I know I ought to like and
enjoy it. I just don’t. Maybe it’s because I don’t understand it, or
don’t enjoy ballet, but for whatever reason I just can’t get into it.
I know that many people feel the same way about Christmas in
general. The reality of Christmas is
great and glorious, but our personal experience never measures up to our
expectations. Most people who struggle with Christmas treat it like I do the
Nutcracker…you know you ought to like and enjoy it, but you just don’t. So usually the solution is to avoid it as
much as possible but work to have a good attitude about it when you can’t.
I think part of the problem is that many of us have unwittingly
traded the biblical view of Christmas for a cultural one. We glamorize and sanitize Christmas to the
point that the true reality of Christmas gets lost. The coming of Jesus was neither glamorous nor
exciting. The reality was harsh and
difficult. The problems and struggles
that the participants of the Luke 2 narrative were going through did not go
away because of the events of that night. And yet, the angel claims to bring the shepherds a message of good news
that will bring them great joy. Maybe
part of our struggle to find joy at Christmas is that we have begun to focus on
personal or cultural expectations of Christmas rather than the good news that
Jesus actually came to bring. I would
encourage you to carefully read through Luke 2:1-20 prior
to Sunday, and then ask Jesus to prepare your heart to be challenged and
encouraged by the good news that is truly Christmas.
