{"id":33941,"date":"2024-12-18T23:07:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T06:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2024-why-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T00:14:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T07:14:37","slug":"2024-christmas-night","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2024-christmas-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Lucado<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. The house is quiet. Even the crackle is gone from the fireplace. Warm coals issue a lighthouse glow in the darkened den. Stockings hang empty on the mantle. The tree stands naked in the corner. Christmas cards, tinsel, and memories remind Christmas night of Christmas day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. What a day it has been! Spiced tea. Santa Claus. Cranberry sauce. \u201cThank you, so much.\u201d \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have!\u201d \u201cGrandma is on the phone.\u201d Knee-deep wrapping paper. \u201cIt just fits.\u201d Flashing cameras.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. The girls are in bed. Jenna dreams of her talking Big Bird and clutches her new purse. Andrea sleeps in her new Santa pajamas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. The tree that only yesterday grew from soil made of gifts, again grows from the Christmas tree stand. Presents are now possessions. Wrapping paper is bagged and in the dumpsite. The dishes are washed and leftover turkey awaits next week\u2019s sandwiches.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. The last of the carolers appeared on the ten o\u2019clock news. The last of the apple pie was eaten by my brother-in-law. And the last of the Christmas albums have been stored away having dutifully performed their annual rendition of chestnuts, white Christmases, and red-nosed reindeer.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night.<\/p>\n

The midnight hour has chimed and I should be asleep, but I\u2019m awake. I\u2019m kept awake by one stunning thought. The world was different this week. It was temporarily transformed.<\/p>\n

The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We put away our ladders and ledgers, we hung up our stop watches and weapons. We stepped off our racetracks and roller coasters and looked<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

outward toward the star of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips.<\/p>\n

And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermesh and we become a chorus. A ragtag chorus of longshoremen, Boston lawyers, illegal immigrants, housewives, and a thousand other peculiar persons who are banking that Bethlehem\u2019s mystery is in reality, a reality. \u201cCome and behold him\u201d we sing, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child.<\/p>\n

For a few precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty. All of a sudden he\u2019s everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the grin of the policeman as he drives his paddy wagon full of presents to the orphanage.<\/p>\n

In the twinkle in the eyes of the Taiwanese waiter as he tells of his upcoming Christmas trip to see his children.<\/p>\n

In the emotion of the father who is too thankful to finish the dinner table prayer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s in the tears of the mother as she welcomes home her son from overseas.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s in the heart of the man who spent Christmas morning on skid row giving away cold baloney sandwiches and warm wishes.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s in the solemn silence of the crowd of shopping mall shoppers as the elementary school chorus sings \u201cAway in a Manger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Emmanuel. He is with us. God came near.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Christmas night. In a few hours the cleanup will begin\u2014lights will come down, trees will be thrown out. Size 36 will be exchanged for size 40, eggnog will be on sale for half-price. Soon life will be normal again.<\/p>\n

December\u2019s generosity will become January\u2019s payments and the magic will begin to fade.<\/p>\n

But for the moment, the magic is still in the air. Maybe that\u2019s why I\u2019m still awake. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. I want to pray that those who beheld him today will look for him next August. And I can\u2019t help but linger on one fanciful thought: if he can do so much with such timid prayers lamely offered in December, how much more could he do if we thought of him every day?<\/p>\n

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