Last night I enjoyed a wonderful adaptation of “Scrooge” at my church. There was this one particular scene, Christmas morning, where all the people were gathered outside singing. Scrooge was finally seeing Christmas in a whole new light.
As I watched that scene, I thought about the simplicity of Christmas…or at least how it used to be. Today it has become so complicated.
People argue about whether or not Christmas is a religious holiday. Cities and towns disagree on what to call the tree—a “holiday” tree or a Christmas tree. Some businesses won’t allow their employers to say “Merry Christmas.”
We have lost the simplicity of Christmas. We have lost the simplicity of why we celebrate.
The story of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus is not exactly a dynamic story. It is the simple story of a baby born in a manger. It takes just a few verses in the Bible to tell it.
I think the reason the story of his birth is so simple is because God never meant the “religious” life to be complicated. Even the story of his death on the cross is simple. Like his birth, it can be told in just a few words.
Just as Christmas was never meant to be complicated, neither is the Christian life. Yet we muddy it up with disagreements on things that we place importance on…yet really don’t matter in the long run.
Peace cannot be experienced in chaos and confusion. It is found in the simple pleasures of life. It is found in the simple, yet incredible message of a baby who came to this earth.
I don’t want to make Christmas any more complicated than it needs to be. I want to bask in the simple story of our Savior who humbly came to earth. So simple, yet so profound.
Photo by rightee on Flickr
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