It is the Christmas season, which means that several radio stations in my community have switched their formats to play only Christmas music until December 26, when they resume their regular programming. Many people look forward to the month of chestnuts roasting on an open fire and longing to be home for Christmas. It can be fun singing along to well-known songs, soaking in the nostalgia of the season, and enjoying a little goodwill accompanying the holiday. And there is nothing wrong with some fun.
I wrestle
with our culture’s celebration of Christmas. It often has nothing to do with
Christ and is far from the reverence of the Mass which make up that word. I
find some of it to be trite and foolish.[1]
It’s not that I don’t like Christmas music. Nor is it that I insist on
Christmas music being focused on Christ. I enjoy Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas
albums. Moreover, there are thoughtful, modern Christmas songs like King and
Country’s Baby Boy or Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant. However, I
would be pleased never to hear Mariah Carey sing a Christmas carol, and I would
be grateful never to be subjected to Last Christmas or Do They Know
It’s Christmas? again.
That said,
I confess that one ridiculous Christmas song holds a special place in my heart
and has since I was a child. It is The Little Drummer Boy. As a pastor,
I know these events never happened. As a theologian, I am confident that the
message of Christmas is not about what we can give Jesus but what He has given
us. As a parent, I would testify that I would not want anyone with a drum near
my sleeping child. Nevertheless, I love it! To make it worse, I have developed
a particular preference for King and Country’s raucously percussive rock
version of the song in the last couple of years. I’m not sure they could have
made the song any louder or added more drums to their performance, and I love
it.
The Little Drummer Boy is
set parallel to the visit of the magi. We imagine the drummer boy being invited
to come along as the wise men go to visit the newborn king.[2]
While they have their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the poor drummer
boy has no gift to bring. The drummer boy longs to give a gift, too, so, with
Mary’s approval, he offers the rhythms he plays upon His drum. Then, to the
boy’s wonder and joy, baby Jesus smiles.
The song is based on a flawed notion
that Jesus’ birth at Christmas is primarily about His coming as the type of king
who rules with might and power. The miracle of Jesus’ incarnation and birth is that
He is the eternal king who comes humbly to seek and save His wayward subjects. The
message of Christ’s birth is that God condescends to dwell among His creatures,
to become truly human, and to be our Savior. The heart of Christmas is that the
Lord saves. Indeed, that is the meaning of Jesus’ name and His purpose for
living, dying, rising, and returning. He is the Lord who saves. The gift He
gives is Himself coming to us as the Father promised in Genesis to defeat sin
and death.
The song assumes we know that Jesus
was born in poverty. The king lies in the manger. The drummer boy is moved and
says, “I am a poor boy, too. I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give our
king.” There is a ring of truth in those lyrics.
Perhaps it is this confession that
turns the song for me from a bit of pious foolishness to a message with
profound truth. Jesus has come. From His impoverishment and lowliness, He has
given us His gifts: forgiveness, new life, and salvation. How would we not
offer our Lord Jesus our very lives in response to His incarnation, ministry,
sacrifice, and resurrection? Romans 12 says, “In view of the mercies of God, I
urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to
God; this is your true worship.” So we do.
We are people who have experienced
the mercy of God. His gifts are ours. The heart of Christmas is that Christ
comes to us. We did not seek Him, but He sought us and saved us! We do well to
keep that truth central in our observation and celebration of Christmas. It is
also true, however, that one of the great joys of Christmas is that Jesus
welcomes us to offer ourselves as gifts to Him. These are not gifts to gain
Jesus’ satisfaction or approval, as though we could bribe the divine. These gifts
flow from gratitude and joy because we have received grace upon grace from God
in Christ.
Perhaps the most profound truth of The
Little Drummer Boy’s lyrics is here. The poor boy offers a gift that no one
wants, is of no use, and has no worldly value, and Jesus receives it with a
smile.
Why?
Because it is offered in love.
We love
because God first loved us, says 1 John 4:19. God is love, says 1 John 4:16.
The hymn says that Love came down at Christmas. We are recipients of that Love,
for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever
believes in Him shall be saved.
We are
saved. We are loved. So we love and give our gifts to the Lord. For the most
part, what we give back to the Lord is done in service to our neighbors. For
the most part, it is in relationships with people that we get to share Jesus’
salvation and love in service and witness. But we also offer our joyful, pious
feelings to the Lord in our worship. Do we think that this displeases Him?
Isn’t it more likely that we, like the drummer boy, find to our wonder that He
smiles at our gifts?
In Romans
14, Paul deals with behaviors that are neither commanded nor condemned by God
but are passionately pursued or shunned by believers. While the passages deal
with weighty matters of eating food offered in sacrifices to false gods, there
is also valuable wisdom for Christmas music lovers and haters here. We know
that some things in this world can be detrimental to the life of faith and
respond accordingly. However, Christians can enjoy the good things of this
world when we receive them from God in faith.[3]
Perhaps in
that spirit, we can enjoy White Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, and
other secular songs that are part of the world’s observation of a holy day. We
can also watch movies like Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas
Carol.[4] These
songs and movies may not recognize Christ’s birth as holy or even real, but
something about Christmas leads them to long for some of the best parts of
life. Do these songs miss the true meaning of Christmas? Sure. That doesn’t
mean they miss the cry of the human heart, seeking things like love, joy,
welcome, acceptance, hope, and peace.
In those
desires, we see a thinning of the self-imposed barriers between the sacred and
the secular. People may seek to satisfy those longings in ways that ultimately
lead to disappointment. Tinsel, wrapping paper, gifts, and sweets will only
take us so far. Even the carols’ recognition of a more profound need leaves
many with hearts aching for something better than they are experiencing now. Christmas
reminds us that God knows our hearts. He made us to desire these good things,
whether we recognize it or not. The message of Christ’s birth is that God has
come to meet us with true love and joy, eternal welcome, divine acceptance, and
blessed hope and peace.
This time of year gives us unique
opportunities to share the love of God in Christ. He entered into our humanity.
Perhaps we would do well to know our humanity better and to do so through the
songs of the season. We are not too high or mighty to identify the foolishness
within ourselves. There is an opportunity here to revel in Jesus’ absolutely
unconditional love and to extend it to people who may have never experienced,
never even imagined, that the Son of God might smile at them.
[1] I do not mean to be rude
or insensitive to other’s likes and dislikes. I am also trying to avoid being
the Grinch who tries to ruin people’s Christmas fun. That being said, when did My
Favorite Things from The Sound of Music become a Christmas
song?
[2] Yes, I know the magi came
a year or two after Jesus’ birth. Remember, I am a pastor.
[3] So, the song Last
Christmas is still out. Just kidding. Mostly.
[4] My daughter has proclaimed
the Jim Carrey version to be the best.
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