The “Other” Message in Christmas Movies

“Look for Christ and you will find Him. 

And with Him everything else.”

C. S. Lewis

  So, what’s your favorite Christmas movie? There are some wonderful ones. There are also some horrible ones but no one will deny that there are lots of them. Essentially, all of December is filled with Christmas movies but then it comes to a screeching halt on December 26^th.

  Though I don’t want to read something in to Christmas movies that are not there, as I was mulling this over, I do think that there’s more of a redemptive element in many of these classics than perhaps we’ve noticed, elements of the real Christmas story are there even by those who may have never intended to put them there. For example…

  We’re all sinners and really messed up. I love Home Alone, but is there any character that you’d want to be “home alone” with in that movie? They have a huge, beautiful house but they’re mean, cruel and vicious to each other. They’d be dubbed dysfunctional. That seems too kind. They illustrate that bucko bucks and a fabulous vacation to Europe won’t transform sinful people into good ones. Miracle on 34^th Street also shows the emptiness of what most consider to be success.

  The difference one person can make. It will be forever debated whether Die Hard is truly a Christmas movie. While John McClain is heroic, he has lots of serious issues and is certainly not an example of how to live. Yet, in spite of that, he’s willing to sacrifice his life and everything else for others. Wonderfully, our Savior who came and entered space and time is truly a hero, a White Knight with no chinks in His armor. Jesus is the perfect, sinless lamb of God who sacrificed Himself for us.

  All of us must be prepared for death. He’s only a snowman but every child is saddened that Frosty’s clock is ticking and he’s headed to his soon demise. Frosty shows us that the seasons of life can’t be stopped. As much as we seek to freeze ourselves in youth, death is imminent for all of us and we need to prepare for our all too soon coming end.

  Unrealistic expectations always leave us empty. Both Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation are about expectations and the frustration of unrealized ones. Clark Griswold wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife and children, as he tries to make sure everything is perfect. But it will never happen and things quickly go awry. His redneck cousin, Eddie and family show up…unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he’s planning on and desperately needs.

  You can’t judge the overall plan on your little piece of information. One of my favorites is White Christmas. Yet, what a comedy of errors and anger that’s a result of misinformation and not having the “big picture.” If we only look at today and this world, we too will become quickly disillusioned and angry. What a wonderful encouragement those words from Isaiah are, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord” (55:8). It also shows how we muck things up when we manipulate and try to force things. Often we attempt to “help” God out only to discover that we’ve created a bigger mess.

  What a dark and different world this would be if Jesus had not come. Christmas doesn’t seem like Christmas unless I’ve watched It’s a Wonderful Life and I spring a leak every time. It’s considered, not just one of the greatest Christmas movies, but one of the greatest films ever made. Frank Capra, the director, confessed that it was his personal favorite among the films he directed. He screened it for his family every Christmas season.

  George Bailey is the classic antihero. After setback after setback, he repeatedly gives up on his dreams to help others. His attempted suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence who shows George all of the lives he’s touched, and how different life in his community would be if he’d never been born.

  Think about that. Our world is so dark and evil now, but what would it be like if Jesus had never come. No churches, orphanages, hospitals. Think of how many organizations, including most Ivy League colleges, were birthed by Christians seeking to serve the Savior. What if Jesus had never come? It’s a very dark concept.  

  Hope and redemption for the seemingly unredeemable. Another longtime favorite is the original Grinch. The theme song nearly makes the movie. He’s a surly character with a heart “two sizes too small” who especially hated Christmas and determines to stop it from ever coming to Whoville. He steals Christmas from the Whos and returns to his mountain,  waiting to hear their sad cry. Instead, the Whos joyously begin to sing Christmas carols, proving that the spirit of Christmas doesn’t depend on material things. The Grinch begins to understand the true meaning of Christmas and his heart grows three sizes. He brings everything back to the Whos and even participates in their holiday feast.

  Christmas movie after Christmas movie repeats the same theme of hope and redemption from A Christmas Carol to Christmas with the Cranks and even Elf. Yet, the fictional tales are nothing compared to the real one. The real Christmas story, the one found in Scripture, is about hope, forgiveness and redemption. As the angel told Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

  How about you? Has He saved you from your sins? Is your life story His redemption story and the great plan of salvation? Because He came for you, your life can be one of the greatest Christmas stories of all time, too. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Have yourself a quiet Christmas...

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing. It makes no noise at all. But silently gives itself away.” Eva Logue

Please don’t rat me out, but I think Buddy from Elf was wrong. One of the repeated lines from that movie was, “The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” The last thing that our world needs is more noise. There’s just so much noise already in the world today, so many voices screaming and competing for our attention. If you want to be heard, you almost have to shout or blare.

  During a typical lunch hour at the University of California at Berkeley, spokespeople for a dozen different causes can be found on the plaza, trying to outshout one another. One day though a lone figure sat down defiantly in the middle of the crowd and held up a sign that said, “SILENT PROTEST.” Finally, someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "What are you protesting?" The defiant figure held up another sign which said simply, “NOISE.”

  That experience reminds me of the Salvation Army bell ringer who was informed by a police officer that a local ordinance would prevent her from ringing her bell to invite contributions. But such a silly law couldn’t stop such a creative and determined woman. The next day she did a brisker business than ever as she would wave one sign and then another in the air. The signs simply said “ding” and “dong.” I love it!

  There’s so much noise in the world, especially in those weeks leading up to Christmas — music blaring out of every store, often in every department: impatient customers raising their voices to get the attention of weary, overworked store clerks; the blaring of horns and traffic jams, whining children, crabby parents. Because I find that all of the noise can be overwhelming, sometimes when I’m shopping in the electronics department of a department store, I’ll quietly move down the row, turning down the volume on each TV or stereo system.

  God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. As we look at His creation, it’s very apparent that God is the friend of the quiet, even silence. Look at  how nature, the trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. See the stars, the moon and the sun and how they move in silence. We need silence to hear God’s voice in the inner sanctuary of our souls.

  It’s too easy to miss the real message of Christmas and the Incarnation because it’s lost midst all of the Christmas racket. Too often at Christmas because we over pack our lives and hustle at such a frenetic pace, that when there is finally quiet, we find ourselves dozing off. The quiet, instead of a time of listening and reflection, is overwhelmed by our own weariness. Soon rather than reflecting, we’re just snoring.

  An often overlooked yet vital sidelight in that first Christmas is found in Luke 2:19, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” This morning during our Grace Family Christmas, take some time to “ponder.” If there’s any music that we’re too familiar with, it’s Christmas music. We can listen to it or sing it by heart, yet never let it touch our hearts. Or we become enamored with the beauty of the music, we miss the message. Christmas is a time for more pondering like Mary did.

  One of the best examples of that to me is George Handel’s Messiah. If you’re familiar with the Messiah, you know that every word of that oratorio composed in 1741 is from Scripture, from the King James Bible. It’s one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Every holiday season professional choirs and musicians will do beautiful renditions of it. Yet, many of those who are playing or singing aren’t even religious. Often, they’re atheists or God-deniers. Sadly, they’re so focused on the voices or the beauty of the music that they miss the power of God’s eternal Word. It’s only in God’s Word that we find forgiveness and eternal life. The Bible is God’s written Word; Jesus came in His incarnation to be the Living Word (John 1).

  Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Such a simple verse from the Bible, yet one of the most difficult to follow, particularly in our noisy world. When was the last time that you sat still—perfectly still—for any length of time? Not just your body, but your mind…your soul? Many of us find that very difficult. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, yet so much more rewarding than you could ever imagine.

  God reaches out to each one of us with that “still, small voice.” Most of the time, though, we’re so busy, so active, so preoccupied that we don’t hear what God is trying to say to us. We can’t even hear His voice in His Word. That’s why quiet and solitude are such an important part of the life of faith. Perhaps, it’s more vital during the Christmas season than even at other times of the year. Because it’s in the solitude and silence that God waits for us. The more often we practice solitude, the more often we will find the God who waits, and the more we will hear the God who speaks.

  It’s in the silence we God can give us a glimpse into our own souls. Most of us never reflect on who we really are. It’s only as we know who we are and the condition of our souls apart from Christ, that we’re sinners, that we have committed crimes against a just God – that we see our need of salvation and a Savior. Apart from reflection, we can convince ourselves that we’re nice people. Or, at least not as bad as some of the “bad” people out there. At best, we erroneously believe that like the Grinch we can re-invent ourselves and create our own new heart BUT we can’t.

  Jesus did not come to reform us, He came to resurrect us. He came to give us new life. Apart from Christ, we are all “dead in our sins” (Ephesians 2:1). That’s why over and over again, we find in the nativity account that “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Or, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

  Yet, it’s often only in the quiet that we hear the voice of the Spirit compelling us not to come to the manger but to run to the Cross. He was born to die for us. He’s God’s gift to us. Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Have you accepted God’s gift to you?