The Christmas Story

     While at home the other day I was watching a Christmas move that was a part of ABC’s family networks “25 Days of Christmas.”  I don’t know all the details but from everything I could tell it was all about 25 days of Christmas movies until Christmas.  I began looking through the channel guide for that day and noticed the movie line up for that day and the next.  I noticed that while most of the movies were heartwarming cultural stories about the Christmas holidays, none that I could see were about the true meaning of Christmas.
     A local church did some man on the street interviews asking people the question “What comes to mind when you think of the Christmas story?”  The number one answer was “The movie.”  You know it.  The 1983 “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid” tale from 1940’s Indiana of a nine-year old boy’s desire for a Red-Ryder Carbon-Action 200 Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB-Gun (and yes, with a compass in the stock).
     Time magazine a few years back revealed how, A Christmas Story  has become the quintessential American film for Christmas.  It shared how this movie has replaced It’s A Wonderful Life.  It seems that Americans are not so into George Bailey anymore.
     In a 2006 Harris poll, those from older generations picked Bedford Falls, along with Macy’s (Miracle on 34th Street) as their favorite Christmas movies.  But respondents a but younger, from 18-41 were all about the 14th year in a row running of A Christmas Story  marathon on TBS come December 24 -25.  They found the ratings for that marathon steadily on the rise.
     Time magazine argued the cultural shift is because we now lived in a society in which the individual is more important than the community. It’s the individual that matters at Christmas. The boy getting the BB-gun instead of protecting the local Savings and Loan for the poor, is the point.  Christmas is about kids getting their due not angels getting their wings.
    In my mind, the greatest divide between It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story is not about individualism but that one retains the idea that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, and one does not.  A Christmas Story does not have a single reference, symbol, picture or event that would suggest that Christmas is about the birth of Christ.  It’s A Wonderful Life is rich in Christian idea.  From traditional Christmas songs celebrating the birth of Christ with the moving ending in a spontaneous outburst of “Hark The Herald Angels Sing.”  While A Christmas Story, is absent of anything religious, much less Christian.
    An analysis of 48,000 hours of programming by the National Religious Broadcasters in December of 2002 found that only 3% of all Christmas programming had Jesus as its focus.
    I write this, simply to say as believers in Christ we need to be intentional in celebrating and sharing with our families and friends the real meaning of Christmas.  It is all about God’s incredible gift of grace in sending His son to be our Savior. 
    Now, I have to admit to you that A Christmas Story has become one of our families favorite Christmas movies. I am sure we will watch it at least twice during the 24 hour marathon this Christmas.  I like it because of the nostalgia of the time, and they way it shows how Christmas works in many American families.  But as we watch the movie this Christmas I will remind myself and my family that while it is a Christmas story, it is NOT THE CHRISTMAS STORY.  For that story we don’t have to return to Bedford Falls or a working class town in Indiana, we need to return to the little town of Bethlehem.  Here is the real Christmas story Luke 2: 1-20.
 

Source: James Emery White blog “Generation X-Mas” December 2010

 
Have a Merry Christmas
 
Pastor Scott