December 7th, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Truly Celebrate Christmas
He was so much bigger than they, but he never bullied them. In fact, he was the ever-present defender of the smaller boys. Wally wanted very much to be in the Christmas play that year. He hoped he could be a shepherd. But the teacher had a larger part in mind. Wally was big enough to be the innkeeper, she reasoned. And so it was that Wallace Purling got the part of the innkeeper. He was given the part. Oh, how he practiced. The night of the play everything went beautifully. No one even missed a line. At last the play came to the part where Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn. "What do you want?’ Wallace asked, opening the door with a brusque gesture. "We seek lodging," came the response. "Seek it elsewhere, the inn is filled," "But sir, we have tried elsewhere, we have come a long way, and we are very tired," they responded. "Go away," Wally properly commanded. "There is no room in my inn for you." "But sir, my wife is with child. Don’t you have a corner where we can get out of the cold?" For the first time the innkeeper broke his icy stare and looked at Mary. There was a long silence. The audience was tense with embarrassment because they thought Wallace had forgotten his lines. "No, be gone," the prompter whispered. "No, be gone," Wally said halfheartedly. Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary as they began to move off the stage. Suddenly, this Christmas program became different from all the others. Wallace Purling could stand it no longer. Big he was – cruel he could never be. With big tears welling up in his eyes he gave a performance others would never forget. "Wait, don’t go Joseph!" Wally called. "Bring Mary back." Wallace Purling’s face grew into a bright smile. "You can have my room and I’ll sleep out in the cold." Some said the pageant was ruined. Others knew better. Wallace Purling caught the real spirit of Christmas – that of giving and sacrifice.
When we look at the characters in the original Christmas Story, we find several instances of generosity, kindness and sacrifice. While Mary was in early stages of pregnancy, her family sent her to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth where the elderly and formerly barren couple were dealing with the 6 month miraculous pregnancy of Elizabeth. When Mary arrived, her cousin’s baby (to be named John, later called John the Baptist) kicked in recognition of the presence of the Messiah. Scripture teaches that, although Mary was pregnant herself, she was there to minister to and assist the elderly Elizabeth in the remainder of her pregnancy and in giving birth. Through his mother, Jesus was already serving others.
Joseph risked the sacrifice of his own reputation by accepting the call of the angel to go ahead and take the already pregnant Mary (his fiancée’) to be his wife. He risked his very business because of the appearance of scandal. But, hey! If a big angel appears to you and tells you God wants you to do something, you must give obedience some serious consideration.
Mary and Joseph demonstrated incredible faith by making the 70 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem most likely on foot (there is no mention of a donkey in the biblical account). And, Mary was already late in the third trimester of her pregnancy. You know that Mary considered this a great sacrifice for the glory of God.
The greatest sacrifice of all was God’s offering to mankind of the Emmanuel Child (God with us). To allow his only Son to let go of his untouchable position in heaven where he had no pain, no temptation and no vulnerability to become the smallest, weakest, most vulnerable form of humanity, a baby was a tremendous sacrifice. To top it off, he was not born in a sterile environment at a modern hospital or even a normal Judean home. He was birthed in a place that would be the nightmare of every neat freak who ever lived; a barn with the smelly livestock, straw, manure and all that goes with such an environment. But God’s plan for this was perfect as always.
I’ve said all of that to tell you this; Christmas is so much more than the modern world makes it. It has been trivialized down to shopping, gifts, parties and the like. Some people even think they are supposed to get drunk at office parties. That is their tradition. Really, their tradition? I know that Christmas is not celebrated on, or even near the actual birth of Christ. Most scholars believe he was born sometime in the spring. However, the idea of Christmas came from the actual biblical account of the incarnation (or, coming in flesh) of the Son of God. I love the Christmas pageants, live nativities, nativity decorations, and the carols that are sung around the season. They all have their place. However, what is most important is to realize that Christmas is really about God changing the world. Before Christ came there was no such thing as Christianity. He came to change the world one life at a time. When we reach out in love to people around us who do not have the joy and peace of Christ in their lives and show them that God loves them, Christmas becomes real. When we begin to forgive the people who have hurt us and embrace our enemies, Christmas becomes real. When we give sacrificially to the Lord’s work or to people who are in need, we truly celebrate Christmas. When we become more like the Christ Child, we truly celebrate Christmas within. By the way, did you know that you could truly celebrate Christmas all year long?
Merry Christmas!
Jon
Truly Celebrate Christmas
He was so much bigger than they, but he never bullied them. In fact, he was the ever-present defender of the smaller boys. Wally wanted very much to be in the Christmas play that year. He hoped he could be a shepherd. But the teacher had a larger part in mind. Wally was big enough to be the innkeeper, she reasoned. And so it was that Wallace Purling got the part of the innkeeper. He was given the part. Oh, how he practiced. The night of the play everything went beautifully. No one even missed a line. At last the play came to the part where Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn. "What do you want?’ Wallace asked, opening the door with a brusque gesture. "We seek lodging," came the response. "Seek it elsewhere, the inn is filled," "But sir, we have tried elsewhere, we have come a long way, and we are very tired," they responded. "Go away," Wally properly commanded. "There is no room in my inn for you." "But sir, my wife is with child. Don’t you have a corner where we can get out of the cold?" For the first time the innkeeper broke his icy stare and looked at Mary. There was a long silence. The audience was tense with embarrassment because they thought Wallace had forgotten his lines. "No, be gone," the prompter whispered. "No, be gone," Wally said halfheartedly. Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary as they began to move off the stage. Suddenly, this Christmas program became different from all the others. Wallace Purling could stand it no longer. Big he was – cruel he could never be. With big tears welling up in his eyes he gave a performance others would never forget. "Wait, don’t go Joseph!" Wally called. "Bring Mary back." Wallace Purling’s face grew into a bright smile. "You can have my room and I’ll sleep out in the cold." Some said the pageant was ruined. Others knew better. Wallace Purling caught the real spirit of Christmas – that of giving and sacrifice.
When we look at the characters in the original Christmas Story, we find several instances of generosity, kindness and sacrifice. While Mary was in early stages of pregnancy, her family sent her to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth where the elderly and formerly barren couple were dealing with the 6 month miraculous pregnancy of Elizabeth. When Mary arrived, her cousin’s baby (to be named John, later called John the Baptist) kicked in recognition of the presence of the Messiah. Scripture teaches that, although Mary was pregnant herself, she was there to minister to and assist the elderly Elizabeth in the remainder of her pregnancy and in giving birth. Through his mother, Jesus was already serving others.
Joseph risked the sacrifice of his own reputation by accepting the call of the angel to go ahead and take the already pregnant Mary (his fiancée’) to be his wife. He risked his very business because of the appearance of scandal. But, hey! If a big angel appears to you and tells you God wants you to do something, you must give obedience some serious consideration.
Mary and Joseph demonstrated incredible faith by making the 70 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem most likely on foot (there is no mention of a donkey in the biblical account). And, Mary was already late in the third trimester of her pregnancy. You know that Mary considered this a great sacrifice for the glory of God.
The greatest sacrifice of all was God’s offering to mankind of the Emmanuel Child (God with us). To allow his only Son to let go of his untouchable position in heaven where he had no pain, no temptation and no vulnerability to become the smallest, weakest, most vulnerable form of humanity, a baby was a tremendous sacrifice. To top it off, he was not born in a sterile environment at a modern hospital or even a normal Judean home. He was birthed in a place that would be the nightmare of every neat freak who ever lived; a barn with the smelly livestock, straw, manure and all that goes with such an environment. But God’s plan for this was perfect as always.
I’ve said all of that to tell you this; Christmas is so much more than the modern world makes it. It has been trivialized down to shopping, gifts, parties and the like. Some people even think they are supposed to get drunk at office parties. That is their tradition. Really, their tradition? I know that Christmas is not celebrated on, or even near the actual birth of Christ. Most scholars believe he was born sometime in the spring. However, the idea of Christmas came from the actual biblical account of the incarnation (or, coming in flesh) of the Son of God. I love the Christmas pageants, live nativities, nativity decorations, and the carols that are sung around the season. They all have their place. However, what is most important is to realize that Christmas is really about God changing the world. Before Christ came there was no such thing as Christianity. He came to change the world one life at a time. When we reach out in love to people around us who do not have the joy and peace of Christ in their lives and show them that God loves them, Christmas becomes real. When we begin to forgive the people who have hurt us and embrace our enemies, Christmas becomes real. When we give sacrificially to the Lord’s work or to people who are in need, we truly celebrate Christmas. When we become more like the Christ Child, we truly celebrate Christmas within. By the way, did you know that you could truly celebrate Christmas all year long?
Merry Christmas!
Jon
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