Frosty, Hallmark, & a Baby

We all love Christmas movies. There are classics that persist through the ages like Rudolph, Frosty, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. My kids are finally old enough to enjoy those movies and it has been fun this year to watch those movies with them and see the joy in their eyes as Frosty comes back to life or Rudolph leads Santa’s sleigh. There are also those less classic options such as anything that Hallmark (and now Netflix and Amazon and everyone else) churns out from its Christmas movie mill. One of the things that we all love about a good Christmas movie is the hopeful nature of the movie. All of these movies are filled with hope. Hope that a snowman can come to life. Hope that a down and out reindeer can in fact overcome his challenges and lead Santa’s sleigh. Hope that the big city lawyer/executive/ad agency account director can find love in the small town/hometown/ski resort she’s stuck in for Christmas. Hope is a perpetual theme at Christmas. But what is hope and is the hope we see in these movies the same as the hope of Christmas? 
 
The hope that we see in a good Christmas movie is a nebulous one. It is an uncertain desire for a future positive outcome. Will Frosty stay melted? We don’t know. Maybe he will or maybe he’ll be reformed by Santa’s Christmas magic. Will the powerful woman find love with the humble working man? We don’t know. Maybe she will and maybe she won’t. It is an uncertain hope. But the true hope of the Christmas story is one that is assured. Christ came as a baby. He entered the world the same way you and I did. He lived a life in a body just like yours and mine. Yet at the same time he was fully God. That is a mystery beyond my understanding. But what I do know and understand is that we worship the One True God who loves us so much that he was willing to come and live with us as one of us and ultimately die for us and be the first born from the dead. The hope of Christmas is the arrival of the one who would ultimately redeem us. 
 
As we enjoy the Christmas season and everything it brings (including those less than stellar Hallmark movies) let’s remember that the baby who was born that day came to redeem us. He came to set us free! He came to fulfill the hope of the Old Testament and to assure the hope we have for his future return and redemption of the world.

I am going to take a page from Pastor Dan's blog writing book and leave you with a song called "Gather' Round, Ye Children, Come" by Andrew Peterson. This has become one of my favorite Christmas time songs. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do and it brings you as much hope as it brings me. Merry Christmas!