December 2nd, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Trapped in the Trappings!
Senator John McCain of Arizona was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. He was shot down and held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for 5 ½ years, 1967-1973, spending much of it in solitary confinement. John McCain said this, “When I was being mistreated by the North Vietnamese, many times I found myself asking to live just one more minute rather than one more hour or one more day. And I know I was able to hang on longer as a prisoner of war because of the spiritual help that I received through prayer.”“At Christmas, I was the room chaplain, not because of my excessive virtue, but because I knew all the prayers that went with a church service, since I had been in a boarding school and was an Episcopalian. We asked for a Bible, and the Vietnamese said they didn’t have any. Later we learned that thousands of Bibles had been sent to us.”“Four days before Christmas, I was told that I could copy prayers and stories from the only Bible the Vietnamese had available…Our service consisted of a biblical passage read by me, followed by an appropriate song by the choir. I talked about the birth of Christ and the choir sang, ‘Silent Night.’”“I looked around the room and there were tears in those men’s eyes. They weren’t tears of anger or fright or sorrow or bitterness or even longing for home. They were tears of joy that, for the first time in seven years for some of them there was a celebration of Christmas together as Americans.”
This powerful story of a Christmas Celebration in the “Hanoi Hilton” (aka, Vietcong prison camp) reminds us more of what it means to “HAVE YOURSELF A REAL CHRISTMAS.” Most of us today think that, in order to have a REAL Christmas we must have lights, decorations, magnificent trees, and beautiful music in the background, overwhelming meals, cookies, candy and other treats. We must have wonderful Christmas clothes and more gifts under the tree than we can count!
However, as illustrated in our story, REAL Christmas is much more than exorbitant trappings! It is really about a personal connection with God through Christ. On the first Christmas there was controversy, rejection, poverty, exhaustion, dictatorship, scandal, dirt, and uninvited guests. Nothing could be further from the perfect modern Christmas, yet there was amazing worship and joy!
The trappings of Christmas tend to deflect the true focus of the season away from the realization that God sent his perfect Son into a dirty, corrupt world to live an exemplary life for all and to die a miserable, painful death in order to bring undeserved forgiveness for our cold blooded sins. Sometimes we find ourselves “Trapped in the Trappings” of Christmas.
As we enjoy the trappings of Christmas, let’s make sure we take the time to focus on the REAL side of the season; the side that really matters.
This Sunday, Josh McVey will deliver the sermon for our second Sunday of Advent, titled Firm Ground in a Dark World and based on Isaiah 9:2. I look forward to hearing it and I know you will too.
Getting Real,
Jon
Trapped in the Trappings!
Senator John McCain of Arizona was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. He was shot down and held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for 5 ½ years, 1967-1973, spending much of it in solitary confinement. John McCain said this, “When I was being mistreated by the North Vietnamese, many times I found myself asking to live just one more minute rather than one more hour or one more day. And I know I was able to hang on longer as a prisoner of war because of the spiritual help that I received through prayer.”“At Christmas, I was the room chaplain, not because of my excessive virtue, but because I knew all the prayers that went with a church service, since I had been in a boarding school and was an Episcopalian. We asked for a Bible, and the Vietnamese said they didn’t have any. Later we learned that thousands of Bibles had been sent to us.”“Four days before Christmas, I was told that I could copy prayers and stories from the only Bible the Vietnamese had available…Our service consisted of a biblical passage read by me, followed by an appropriate song by the choir. I talked about the birth of Christ and the choir sang, ‘Silent Night.’”“I looked around the room and there were tears in those men’s eyes. They weren’t tears of anger or fright or sorrow or bitterness or even longing for home. They were tears of joy that, for the first time in seven years for some of them there was a celebration of Christmas together as Americans.”
This powerful story of a Christmas Celebration in the “Hanoi Hilton” (aka, Vietcong prison camp) reminds us more of what it means to “HAVE YOURSELF A REAL CHRISTMAS.” Most of us today think that, in order to have a REAL Christmas we must have lights, decorations, magnificent trees, and beautiful music in the background, overwhelming meals, cookies, candy and other treats. We must have wonderful Christmas clothes and more gifts under the tree than we can count!
However, as illustrated in our story, REAL Christmas is much more than exorbitant trappings! It is really about a personal connection with God through Christ. On the first Christmas there was controversy, rejection, poverty, exhaustion, dictatorship, scandal, dirt, and uninvited guests. Nothing could be further from the perfect modern Christmas, yet there was amazing worship and joy!
The trappings of Christmas tend to deflect the true focus of the season away from the realization that God sent his perfect Son into a dirty, corrupt world to live an exemplary life for all and to die a miserable, painful death in order to bring undeserved forgiveness for our cold blooded sins. Sometimes we find ourselves “Trapped in the Trappings” of Christmas.
As we enjoy the trappings of Christmas, let’s make sure we take the time to focus on the REAL side of the season; the side that really matters.
This Sunday, Josh McVey will deliver the sermon for our second Sunday of Advent, titled Firm Ground in a Dark World and based on Isaiah 9:2. I look forward to hearing it and I know you will too.
Getting Real,
Jon
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