A Christmas Message from Our Minister
Dear friends,
I’m sure you’re all familiar the song “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?”
It tells us that:
“He’s making a list and checking it twice,
gonna find out who’s naughty and nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town.”
I can remember when I was younger I worried which of Santa’s lists my name could be found on. Would I be on the “Naughty” list or the “Nice” list? And I’m sure I wasn’t the only child who tried to act and live better as October became November, and November became early December (at least while adult were watching). Well, children today don’t have to wonder (or worry) about that anymore. With our modern internet culture you can go to Santa’s web site at www.claus.com and, along with a number of activities, you can find out which list you are on. It works for adults as well as children, and as I began to prepare this letter I decided I would go and check it out to see which list I was on this year and this is what I found out:
Gray Fletcher – “Nice” and getting better all the time! Has shown great improvement with manners and cleaning up the bedroom. A good friend who usually gives good advice. Still has a naughty tendency to leave socks on the floor. Could clean better behind ears and between toes. Is that lint in that belly button? Let's keep working hard!
I was happy to be on the ‘nice’ list, but I’m not entirely happy with some of what was said about me. I also thought about checking up on some of you, but you’ll be glad to hear that I’ll keep the answers to myself.
Each year, as we move through December that question, “have you been naughty or nice?” is heard in any number of different places. We all heard it when we were children, almost as a threat, or an “encouragement” to behave better. And as adults, we have all asked it of the children we come into contact with. “Have you been naughty or nice?” “Will you get a present or a lump of coal?” These are the questions we ask our children at this time of year.
You know, it seems to me that a lot of people think God is like this picture of Santa Claus. They think He sits on his throne up in heaven and looks down at us to see if we are being naughty or nice, and if we do more nice things than naughty things, we’re on his good side and we will receive “good gifts” from Him. And that his gifts are only given to those who have done something special to deserve them.
But, the glorious message of Christmas is that God came to everyone, and for everyone. None of us deserve the gift God gives us at Christmas, none of us can be ‘nice’ enough for that. That is the glory of the Christmas message. And in the end that isn’t just why we celebrate Christmas, but it’s what makes Christmas worth celebrating. And that is the real meaning of Christmas!
Merry Christmas,
