“God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.”  

(Ephesians 1:9-10)

So you like movies? You’re an expert you say? A cinema connoisseur?

​Most Americans like to claim that they have an extraordinary grasp and unusual affinity when it comes to discussing actors, cinematic genre’s and eating vast quantities of salted popcorn. I have heard countless people tell me they have over their years of watching movies on the giant silver screen acquired a sophisticated understanding when it comes knowing the craft of story-telling,

Well, honestly, we all should. Heck, the average Joe you see walking down the street watches at least 4 hours of television, cable or Netflix every night. We are story obsessed! Even without knowing it we are constantly bombarded by narratives. Every commercial you see is a story that manipulative advertisers have devised with great deceitfulness to get you to buy their products. And we watch thousands of these little stories a year. “Where’s the Beef?”….”Ancient Chinese secret, huh?” These stories are forever stuck in our collective consciousness.

So naturally, with such extensive experience in the art of story-telling, we should be masters at picking out plot lines, themes, character development and of course figuring out the moral of the story. But when it comes to the actual story we currently find ourselves in, most of us can’t even see the forest from the trees. To our shame, we don’t even recognize the brilliant writer of history’s script.

In our blind ignorance, we have completely missed the plotline. We foolishly think we are the main character of our own Broadway hit. But we are not. There is so much more going on around us that we miss, and this grand story of humanity has been playing out for thousands of years before we arrived on the scene. And when it comes to our part in the story, we have been given a momentary appearance with only a few lines. 

Christmas is the climax of this grand story. Most people miss Christmas’ importance because they view the season romantically. I am using “romantic” in the philosophical sense: a time to feel things, it is the season of the year to get caught up in the moment. “Let’s go sledding, shopping, dance around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party house, and bake warm cookies with Grandma.” Christmas has become for us a time to capture that “Christmas spirit.” Whatever that means.

This view of Christmas places “me, myself and I” in the center, I become the star of the show. Chapter One begins with my birth. Chapter Two has me believing that Santa exists to serve me by delivering to my house silver-papered presents with pretty red bows. Chapter Three includes those innocent years of throwing snowballs and eating cookies with my brother and sisters. Chapter Four is growing up learning that Santa really was meant to be only a harmless metaphor leading me to trust in God’s greatest Christmas gift meant for me, Sweet Baby Jesus. Chapter Six is the adult years when we feel the need to wear a tie for midnight mass as we sing about this baby while holding a lighted candle during “Silent Night.”. And of course, the Final Chapter ends when I am able to pass on this same script to my kids and grand-kids where they once again believe in Santa and Baby Jesus. “Awww, doesn’t that warm your heart?”

But this is not the real Christmas story. Oh sure we have rightly acknowledged the importance of Jesus in Christmas – but somehow we have turned genuine faith in a real God into dead religious ritual and sentimental feeling. I know people who actually cry when the cartooned Linus from “Peanuts” reads from the gospel of Luke thinking they had a real spiritual experience. But reality is much more serious and dangerous. We must not allow the story’s plotline to be buried under the sweet tones of Bing Crosby and Josh Grobin any longer. We can’t afford to.

The truth is, from the moment we have been born, we have entered a violent war torn world. Psalm 2 paints the picture clearly when it opens up by saying, “Why do the nations rage? And the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

The world is on fire, and this fury rages in each man’s heart. This is the true story of Christmas. This is why people are being shot in San Bernardino and Baltimore. This is why people hate. Collectively mankind wants nothing to do with righteousness; the moral and relational bonds that were set up by God to live a life of peace. No, instead, his will for us is daily spurned and mocked. We don’t want his opinion, we shrug off his rule, we all are a bunch of petulant fools. People addicted to sin.

This is not a nice story. That is why you will not hear it during Christmas. It spoils all the fun.

So we drown out our collective guilt with sentimental nonsense, and try to ignore the eternal indictment that has been declared against us from the courts of heaven: “Dead in trespasses and sins.” Meanwhile, God the judge of mankind sits patiently on his throne (Psalm 2:4). It is time for us to realize he is an enormously dangerous God in his majestic holiness. Psalm 2 says he is angry, actually furious with our rebellion. 

But God is also love. Incredibly, instead of damning this world, he made a declaration, it is called his decree, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you,” (Psalm 2:7) He decided to send His Son to clean up the mess on earth. He came to be King; but first things first, he had to die for our sin. Yes, it is true he came as a baby, but he didn’t stay there. He grew up. He needed to become a grown man so he could be led to a cross to die and have his blood spilled for you and me.

This is the only thing that brings peace to the earth. 

This is the story. The real story. So many people greet this story with nice smiles, warm glasses of champagne by the fire, and focus on sweet lies about Santa so they don’t have to deal with their sin. We think exchanging diamond rings from Kay Jewelers will distract us from the truth that Jesus is no longer a baby, he is the King, the one who not only deserves our allegiance but will have no other gods before him.