Christmas at the Movies: Elf

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all thing things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” – Luke 2:20

This month, our church has been going to “Christmas at the Movies”–taking a look at some of the most-loved Christmas films of all time, based on a vote from our attenders. Our second-place vote-getter tells the story of a baby boy named Buddy who is raised at the North Pole by one of Santa’s elves. That movie, of course, is “Elf.”

Buddy the Elf didn’t really fit in. He was twice as tall as all the other elves, so the chairs he sat in were too small, the doorways and ceilings were too short, and when it came to making toys … he was A LOT slower than the other elves. Now, Santa’s elves liked Buddy. They thought he was a nice guy. But at the same time, they thought he was a lousy elf. He was a round peg in a square hole. Have you ever felt like Buddy–like you didn’t belong?” Well, you’re not alone.

Take a look at Luke 2:8: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” But everyone else was in town, registering for the big census. What’s up with that? Well, at the time Jesus was born, shepherds had become outcasts in Jewish society. Because they worked with dirty sheep, they were considered ceremonially unclean, and they were banned from entering any Jewish synagogue. They could not testify in a court of law, because the ruling class thought that they were liars who weren’t trustworthy. They were basically considered to be less than human, so why count them in the census?

Jewish society looked at the shepherds and decided that they just didn’t measure up. In a similar way, the North Pole elves looked at Buddy and decided that he didn’t measure up. And, honestly, many of us have had our families, friends, teachers bosses look us over and decide WE don’t measure up either.

Finally, at the age of 30, Buddy learns the truth: He’s a human in an elf world. He decides to leave and search for acceptance somewhere else. So, he sets out on a bold adventure to New York City to find his biological dad. Buddy dreams of being accepted with open arms. He envisions days filled with sipping hot cocoa, eating spaghetti with syrup, ice skating and snuggling with his dad. But when he gets to New York City and find his father’s office in the Empire State Building, Dad has him thrown out of the building. Poor Buddy! He doesn’t fit in at the North Pole, and he doesn’t seem to fit in with his dad either.

But instead of sulking, Buddy takes the security guards up on their snarky suggestion and walks across the street to Gimbel’s department store. He finds the toy department—labeled “The North Pole”—and that’s where Buddy the Elf really stands out. Surrounded by bored, grumpy store employees who have absolutely NO Christmas spirit, Buddy’s childlike enthusiasm and joy are off the charts. But when their fake Santa arrives the next day, Buddy confronts him … and ends up getting assaulted and slapped with a restraining order.

 

Do you know who the workers at Gimbel’s remind me of? They remind me of some Christians on a Sunday morning. The manager, the fake Santa and all the other elves weren’t really excited about Christmas. They were just going through the motions to get their paycheck. But for Buddy, Santa’s visit was personal. And in a worship service, far too often, we aren’t really excited about Jesus, are we? We may go through the motions with very little enthusiasm for singing to our awesome God, for communion, prayer or studying God’s word. Imagine if we were as excited for Jesus as Buddy the Elf is for Santa. Let me encourage you, church, to be a little bit more like Buddy as you worship and serve Jesus Christ.

In Luke 2:8, the Bethlehem shepherds were a few miles outside of town watching their smelly, dirty sheep. It was a normal night. Until suddenly “an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” And the angel made those shepherds the first messengers of the ultimate good news: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (v. 11). Then hundreds of angels filled the night sky and sang praises to God. The angels announced “good news of great joy,” and the shepherds embraced that “good news” and that “great joy” and they ran with it.

They couldn’t believe it! They were nobodies in society. But evidently, God thought they were somebodies. No matter what people thought of the shepherds, they mattered to God. And so do you! What matters most is not whether or not people think you matter, but whether or not God thinks you matter. And here’s some good news: God thinks you matter.

Why did God choose to announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds? Why didn’t he choose priests or rabbis? Why didn’t he choose some other prominent citizens? I believe God chose shepherds, in part, because He knew they wouldn’t just get the message right—they would get the enthusiasm and joy right. Verse 20 tells us, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all thing things they had heard and seen.”

Let’s take a lesson from the shepherds, from Buddy the Elf and from our own kids. Let’s get excited about Christmas! God has brought us good news of great joy. Are you going to celebrate and share that good news with enthusiasm? God has chosen to bring this good news of great joy to YOU! Don’t squander it. Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with enthusiasm and joy!

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us for church every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the new Dr. Ralph Baker School in Victorville. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Christmas in September

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” - Luke 2:19

It was one of my favorite Christmas presents of all time: the Little Tikes football toybox that my parents gave me when I was just two or three years old. I LOVED that toybox. It didn’t take me very long to figure out that if I didn’t have many toys in it, I could crawl inside, put the lid back on top and hide from my parents. Little Tikes must have suspected that there would be some mischievous boys who would do just this, so fortunately they designed it with a big round hole in the back of the football.

I would sit inside that toybox and peek through the hole, watching my mom walk back and forth through the house looking for me. Finally, when my mom’s voice sounded like I was about 10 seconds away from a spanking, I would slowly stand up in the toy box with the lid on my head. And I was so darn cute I didn’t get in trouble.

Well, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered that a Little Tykes toybox isn’t the best Christmas present of all time. Neither is a dollhouse or a new bike or a game system or a trip to Disneyland or even a new car. I’ve learned that the best Christmas present of all time was a baby boy who—it turns out—was the Son of God, born to save the world.  

Of course, the Christmas story in the second chapter of Luke is one of the most famous parts of the Bible. The details in the first 20 verses are so familiar to us, from the decree of Caesar Augustus to the “No Vacancy” sign at the inn. Maybe you read it with your families on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning as you’re gathered around the Christmas tree. Chances are, you don’t usually read it in September. But by taking a closer look, we still take some lessons from this story that are new to us, and that apply to our lives any time of year.

We know that while Joseph was in Bethlehem registering to be taxed, Mary gave birth to Jesus. We also know that since the little town of Bethlehem was bustling with people who had come into town for the census, there were no vacancies in any of the homes or inns. And since Jesus’ first crib was an animal’s feeding trough (a manger), our best guess is that Jesus was born in a stable. It could have been a cave. It could have been an open corral without a roof. But whatever it was … it was not a nice place for a baby to be born.

In the insightful words from Bible scholar William Barclay, “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus. The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He sought an entry to the overcrowded hearts of men; he could not find it; and still his search—and his rejection—go on.” Think about that. Jesus Christ has sought entry to your over-crowded heart and my over-crowded heart; our parents’ and kids’ and neighbors’ and co-workers’ overcrowded hearts. And in most cases, there is no room for him. So, the Christmas story carries this important lesson to carry with you all year long: Make sure there is room in your life for Jesus.

Now, we all remember what happened next. In verses 8-20, we read about the shepherds who were out in the fields watching their sheep and the angels who announced Jesus’ birth to them. Since Bethlehem was just about six miles outside of Jerusalem, these shepherds were likely tending the lambs that were used for temple sacrifices. It’s a touching thought to consider the strong likelihood that the first outsiders to lay their eyes on the Lamb of God were the same ones who cared for the little sacrificial lambs.

After the shepherds visited baby Jesus, we’re told that they spread the word about what they had seen, “and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (verse 18). And I want you to notice what is said about Mary in verse 19: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” I like the wording of this verse in New Living Translation: “But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” Even though Mary had been visited by one of God’s most important angels … even though Elizabeth had prophesied about Jesus nine months earlier … even though she had just given birth without ever having had sexual relations … Mary was still blown away by the story the shepherds told her. She hung on their every word, and she treasured their words in her heart. And she thought about them often.

The same should be said of us as Christians. No matter how many times we’ve heard the Christmas story … no matter how many times we’ve read Luke chapter 2 … no matter how many times we’ve heard the story of the manger and the shepherds and the angels … we should never stop being blown away by that first Christmas night. Like Mary, we should still treasure these things in our hearts and think about them often.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for National Back to Church Sunday next week at 10 a.m.

Christmas for the Nobodies

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:10-11

For many of us, the Book of Luke gives our favorite account of Jesus’ birth. And if you’ve ever watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” you probably remember that it’s Linus’s favorite too.

One of the reasons that we love Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth is because he documents many extraordinary details that no other gospel writer includes. Only Luke mentions the Angel Gabriel announcing Jesus’ birth to Mary; the decree from Caesar Augustus; and all of those classic images of the manger and the shepherds and the angels in the fields. And no matter how many times we hear it, it never gets old.

Now, there are many reasons why I love Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. But one of the best is that it reveals that Jesus didn’t come for the wealthy or the famous or the most talented people of the world. He came first and foremost for the forgotten, for the helpless and for the nobodies. And that brings me hope that Jesus came for me too.

1. Jesus came for the old and washed-up. Unlike Matthew, Mark and John, Luke records the details of John the Baptist’s birth (Luke 1:5-25). And since God sent John to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming, these details are an important part of Luke’s Christmas story. But when you get down to it, John was basically born to a pair of old fogeys: Zechariah and Elizabeth. The Bible tells us in verse 7, “They had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.”

In first century Israel, being childless was frowned upon. Most Jews in those days believed that barrenness was the result of sin. But God sent an angel to Zechariah to announce that Elizabeth, despite her old age, would soon be pregnant. What’s more, she would give birth to a very special baby boy—chosen by God to bring many Israelites back to God and to prepare the way for the Messiah. How’s that for old and washed-up?

2. Jesus came for the young and unimportant. Now, let’s look at Mary: a young girl who was single, had no kids—and worse still, she lived in the podunk little town of Nazareth. The truth is, Mary had almost no social status. So imagine how shocked she must have been when the Angel Gabriel appeared and spoke to her in verse 28: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was floored. She must have started looking over her shoulder to see who the angel was really talking to. She may have even wondered if she was the butt of a cruel joke, because nobody—absolutely nobody—viewed her as “highly favored.” Nobody, that is, except for God.

Jesus came for the young and for the unimportant. That’s just as true today as it was back then. If you are a teenager or a young adult, Jesus came for you. You’re never too young or unimportant for Jesus to care about. And you’re never too young or unimportant for God to use in wonderful ways for His glory. Now don’t you forget it, you young whipper snappers!    

3. Jesus came for the dirty and despised. Think about it: Of all the people on Planet Earth that God could have announced Jesus’ birth to, he announced it first to shepherds. What a weird thing for God to do! Sheep are very dirty animals, so shepherds were considered ceremonially unclean. They weren’t allowed to be a part of any Jewish synagogue. They weren’t even counted in the census. It’s as if they weren’t even viewed as fully human. Yet God sent his angels to announce Jesus’ birth to a group of these smelly, dirty, despised shepherds. Why would God do that?

Well, the messenger angel answers that question in verses 10 and 11: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Isn’t that something? Jesus is good news for every person. Jesus is a Savior for every man and woman, even the ones the world thinks stink to high heaven. Even the ones the world considers “not worth counting.”

Luke wanted the message of Christmas to be loud and clear: Jesus Christ came for those who are at the bottom of the social pecking order. Jesus came for the nobodies. He didn’t come for those who are on mountaintops but instead for those who are in the valleys, those who are ignored, those who are overlooked, those who are broken, those who are dirty, and those who are despised. And that includes you and me. Jesus came for you and me.

THAT’S why we celebrate his birth. THAT’S simply Christmas.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information, visit www.fccvv.com.  Join us for our message series, “Simply Christmas,” Sunday at 10 a.m., and for our Christmas Eve Service Sunday night at 7 pm.