A World for the Rats

You probably heard or read about the story of the Sunday School teacher who had her class of four children help her tell the story of the great hope that is ours because of the star that shone brightly one day over a stable announcing the birth of or our Savior, Jesus Christ. At a given signal, each child was to flip over a large piece of cardboard spelling for the congregation to see, the word STAR. Unfortunately, the teacher forgot that the letters would be in reverse order when the cards were flipped over. Thus, the word the congregation saw was RATS. Eventually, the laughter died down and the service continued. It will probably be a moment this teacher will always remember.

As I reflected later on this young Sunday School teacher’s experience, I began to see hidden nuggets of precious truths in that revised message of RATS. I say this because for many, Christmas is not an easy time of year. There is an abundance of frustration, disappointments, stress connected with this season. In fact, just going through Christmas becomes a rat race if we are not careful. Then we realize there are those who are already hurting, grieving, prone to real hopelessness when they see everyone around them happily celebrating the holidays. Why should everyone else be so happy when I cannot because my loved one who shared my other Christmas’ is no longer here? I cannot do for my children the way I desire because I can barely make ends meet. My illness will not permit me to be with my family and so on and so forth. Christmas as the assurance of hope and joy - a star to guide us, a Savior to make us whole - seems light years away. The great assurance is turned around and it seems that our hopes are built up at this time of the year only to be squashed by the reality of our condition. RATS is almost too mild an epithet for our distress.

Yet, is it not true that Christmas has always taken place in a world that has lost its way, gotten things backwards? Jesus was born in a darkened evil world of evil kings and evil people. Nevertheless, none of this darkness, cold and loneliness could hide the star from the sky. So it is today. Even in the midst of evil rampant, mass murders, suicide bombers, espionage, suicides, dishonesty, backstabbing and oppression of every kind, nothing can hide the Star from the sky. Nothing banishes Jesus Christ.

That is why we Christians celebrate Christmas. We have seen His star through the darkness and have come to worship Him. It is hope shining like a star that can turn this world around if we can but look up and believe.

Yes, we do live in a world where grief is a reality. Perhaps you feel as Tennyson did when he wrote,

With such compelling cause to grieve
As daily vexes household peace,
And chains regret to his decease,
How dare we keep our Christmas-eve.

Can we deny the losses we have experienced this year? So many lost jobs, friendships, spouses, limbs, loved ones; pets, health, and all of us lost another year off our lives. Can we simply deny our losses? Of course not. We grieve our losses. But Christians grieve differently from non-believers. We grieve in Christ Jesus who gives us hope in the midst of loss.

A wife asked her husband to attend Christmas eve service with her but he declined. He said he did not want to be a hypocrite since he did not believe. So, he stayed home on that cold, stormy night.

His solitude was suddenly interrupted when he heard three distinct thuds coming from the living room. Three small birds, dazed by the storm, had smashed into the picture window. He threw on his coat and rushed outside to rescue the birds but they did not trust him. Each time he would get close, the birds would hop and flutter just beyond his reach. He was only trying to save them from the freezing cold, but of course, the birds could not comprehend his motives. He tried various strategies, even bread crumbs, to no avail. In frustration, the man said to himself, “I wish I was a bird for just a little while so that these dying birds would trust me and be saved.” At that precise moment, the Church bells rang announcing midnight. It was Christmas day.

This depicts in an elementary sort of way, how God worked with man. He wanted to save us but we did not trust Him. Each time He tried to get close to help and rescue us from the cold debilitating effect of sin, we would move away out of His reach. Thus, God said to Himself, “If I become one of them, then they will trust me and be saved.

God became man reconciling the world unto Himself. He became one of us and lived among us to show us the way, to turn us around, to change our minds. This is the meaning of Christmas. Without the STAR of Christmas, the world is truly for the RATS.