A Captive Audience

We have a country bench in our dining room.
Throughout the year it has a few decorative pillows on it.
It also has a bear called, Prayer Bear, from when my children were little.
That is another story.

Many years ago, a local shopping center did something very special.
For a few weeks during the Christmas season, you were encouraged to save your receipts.
After a certain amount was spent, you took the receipts to a store.
The amount could be accumulated over time.

When the amount was reached, you could get a stuffed doll that they were offering that year.
Usually there were two dolls, a boy and a girl.
One year it was two penguins, another year it was Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
I got the sets for three consecutive years and have added other dolls to the collection.

My youngest daughter used to love to set up the dolls each Christmas.
We now have a gingerbread family, a boy and girl bear, and a snowman.
It is a place of wonder when little children stand before the bench and look at each doll.
Next to the bench is an old cheese box, on which I painted the Nativity scene.

The dolls are soft and cuddly and can easily be held.
Children are mesmerized as they look at the dolls sitting all together.
We have a large Nutcracker at the bottom of the stairs.
I used to tell the children that he was the watchman of the Christmas tree.

My younger son, a husband and soon to be a father in the spring, set the Nutcracker in place.
I smiled as I saw it standing where it always stands.
I smiled as I saw his sword turned toward the tree as it has always been.
Traditions are hard to break.

I appreciate the wonder I see in children’s faces.
However, I want that wonder to be about something more.
Dolls on a bench and a Nutcracker watchman are one thing.
The Story about baby Jesus is quite another.

Do you ever watch a child play with a Nativity set?
Every home should have one Nativity set that is just for little fingers.
One Nativity set that cannot be broken and is ready for play and imagination.
The Story is a story of wonder and it must be told.

Have you watched a child look at a Christmas tree?
The lights, the ornaments, and the star or the angel on the top all point to the Story.
Children’s innocence and wonder help us to remember.
We, who get so wrapped up in our to-do lists, must take a breath and be still.

We can see Christmas through new eyes.
We can see Christmas through the eyes of  a child.
That is how God wants us to come to Him.
Honestly with no pretenses and willing to believe.

I remember my youngest daughter standing in front of the bench when she was quite young.
She was talking to the dolls.
She was telling them a story.
She was telling them THE Story.

The captive audience of penguins, reindeer, and gingerbread men listened attentively.
A little girl who knew the Story and wanted to tell it.
It was good practice for telling it much later when she got older.
I never walked into the dining room for fear I would intrude.

I listened from the kitchen.
She told the Story simply and sweetly.
Standing in front of dolls on a bench, Jesus was at the center of her Story.
Jesus was the Story.

Jesus IS the Story.
Then and now.
The story needs to be told.
It needs to be told even in the midst of dolls, and Nutcrackers, and reindeer.

Like cream, the Story will rise to the top above all other stories.
It is the only Story that matters.
It is not the only story that will be told.
Truth can be laid down next to all sorts of stories and still be intact and unscathed.

Truth does that.
Truth is a Person.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life always was, always is, and always will be.
We can stand among the decorations of Christmas and not lose the Story.

In fact against that backdrop, Truth will shine.
Much like the lights on the Christmas Tree, it will shine.
It is the only Story that matters.
It is not the only story that is told this time of year.

We who know the Story must tell it.
We do not need to tell it louder than the rest; God will make sure it is heard.
We do not need to throw away the other stories; they pale in comparison to this one.
It is a true Story that brings Wonder.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:1-20)