One of my favorite phrases in the Bible was spoken by an angel to a group of shepherds on the first Christmas. The angel came to announce “great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10b, NIV). But what about those for whom Christmas doesn’t feel like great joy? Those for whom Christmas is feels more loneliness than laughter? The following is a poem I wrote for those people.
What’s the most wonderful time of the year?
Ask any normal person and you’ll probably hear,
Why “Christmas, of course. What else could it be?
School’s out and there are a hundred gifts under my tree.”
And everyone knows that Christmas is great,
The eggnog you drank and the cookies you ate
Fun, happy words like “gingerbread” and “yuletide”
And Christmas cards with money inside
Traveling to grandma’s to spend Christmas Eve
Dreaming of wonderful gifts you’ll receive
Playing games like Uno, watching movies like Elf,
Eating brownies and cookies till you’ve bloated yourself
“Playing games like Uno, watching movies like Elf,
Eating brownies and cookies till you’ve bloated yourself”
With all the Hallmark moments and hanging lights,
Everybody’s happy at Christmas, right?
Not quite.
While lots of kids get more toys than their bedroom can hold
Some kids don’t have a decent coat as they shiver in the cold
Others live in homes of cursing and yelling
Where the talking is mean and the tears are welling
Sometimes Christmas isn’t fun.
Some houses used to burst with Christmas fun
With the voices of granddaughters and grandsons
But with the passing of time, the family’s moved on
The place is now quiet and the celebrations gone
Sometimes Christmas isn’t fun.
“Some houses used to burst with Christmas fun
With the voices of granddaughters and grandsons”
Some people miss the person they used to be
Before they made mistakes which made their friends leave
Christmas reminds them of choices they made
Which don’t feel forgiven however hard they prayed.
Sometimes Christmas isn’t fun.
But this Christmas, whether you’re happy or sad
There’s one thing for sure I need to add
There’s something for you that makes Christmas real
Whoever you are and however you feel
A long time ago, where three continents come together
A baby was born even though he had lived forever
Sounds crazy, I know. But heaven was breaking in
As the baby who was born was God in human skin
“There’s something for you that makes Christmas real
Whoever you are and however you feel”
Why did he come? Why was he born?
What was the point of that first Christmas morn?
Well, lucky for us, when Jesus was all grown
Someone asked him why he’d left his heavenly throne
And here’s what Jesus said:
“The reason I was born and came down to you
Is to tell you what is true.
If truth is something you love
Then join the kingdom I’ve brought from above”[1]
So even if you don’t have a dollar to your name
Or you’d like to be popular but you feel really lame
Or you’ve done bad things and hang your head in shame
Jesus invites you into his kingdom.
That’s why he came.
Merry Christmas!!
[1] This is a paraphrase of Jesus’ words in John 18:37.