"Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.
Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, Creation so torn."
These are the first two lines of 'A Night Before Christmas,' written by Brandon Heath and the epitome of why I love Christmas.
For the first time in years I was actually able to turn on Christmas music before Thanksgiving rolled around (I know that's still hard for some people and I understand why).
In my 2 1/2 years at college I've grown immensely in my understanding of the gospel and my relationship with Jesus. Before I got here I was stuck in the coma that many people in the Bible Belt still live in.
That is, I knew all about this Jesus and the stories from the Bible. I grew up in a Presbyterian church from the day I was born, but my personal relationship with Jesus was quite small.
One of the greatest and most disappointing things about college is a month long Christmas break. There is usually only a week or so after Thanksgiving break and it is a small window to get myself into the Christmas spirit. By the time I do get into the Christmas spirit my friends have all gone their separate ways.
So this year I vowed to get in the Spirit before Thanksgiving even rolled around. I had my Spotify Christmas playlist full of Michael Buble, Pentatonix and Ariana Grande ready mid-November.
While listening to my plethora of Christmas songs I asked myself the question. What exactly is Christmas spirit?
Here's what the Pentatonix say in their song, "That's Christmas to Me."
"The fireplace is burning bright, shining all on me,
I See the presents underneath the good ole Christmas tree,
And I wait all night till Santa comes to wake me from my dreams,
Oh why? Cause that's Christmas to me."
And thats definitely part of it.
Singer/Songwriter Francesca Battistelli describes Christmas as a time where heaven is everywhere.
Now I know you've heard the story a thousand times. Mary travels to Bethlehem, the inn is full and Jesus is born out back in a manger. The Nativity scene is reenacted every Christmas by numerous churches and schools.
Luke 2:10-11 "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you this day is born, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord."
Just let it soak in and think about what this actually means. The savior, the messiah who God's people prayed for throughout the Old Testament, the one who would come to make everything wrong with us right has arrived, born into a world of sin.
This innocent child was sent into this world for one purpose and that was to die on the cross to bear the sin that we could not. He gave up his freedom, so we could be free.
This is the beginning of the story of Jesus. The beginning (birth) of the end (crucifixion) of the beginning (resurrection). This is the beginning of my story and your story.
A little more than a week ago Mockingjay Part 1 was released in theaters. The movie is a great setup for the second movie set to release next year. It is a setup for something bigger yet to come. That's what is going on with the birth of Jesus. It's the perfect to setup for what is to come.
"Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.
Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, Creation so torn."
How else would the man who came to make broken things beautiful be born? He was born into a sinful world, there was no room in the inn. If you read through the story of Jesus everything that could go wrong went wrong and it is still one of the greatest individual stories in the Bible.
And that's what the Christmas Spirit is. It's understanding how great this story is and how the good news pertains to us.
So I hope I was able to add to your Christmas spirit in this advent. It's just that time of year.
