Someone once said, “The hinge of history is found on the door of a Bethlehem stable”. Good point. As you celebrate Christmas this year, what do you think that means?

Have a Merry Christmas!

Let’s take a couple of day break from our spiritual gifts study to discuss Christmas. On Christmas Eve 1932, Robert McGimsey attended a midnight church service in New York City and then headed back to his one-room apartment. As he walked the final blocks, he passed the open doors of private clubs where people were shouting and swearing and singing. Others were so drunk they has passed out on the sidewalk.

That night McGimsey wrote his thoughts on the back of an envelope. These words, which were written luike the spirituals he had loved growing up in the southern United States, flowed out of his heart:

Sweet little Jesus Boy,
They made You be born in a manger.
Sweet little Holy Child, didn’t know who You was.
Didn’t know You’d come to save us, Lord,
To take our sins away.
Our eyes was blind, we couldn’t see,
We didn’t know who You was.

The song is an apology for those who celebrate Christmas no recognizing what the holy day really signifies. Let’s not make that same mistake.

“On the ninth day of christmas my True Love sent to me: Nine Ladies Dancing“.

The nine Ladies Dancing refer to the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are absent from the natural (or old) man but are the fruit of a spiritual life, dedicated to living for God’s glory. Fruit is the natural result of a healthy life. These fruit are not something we “preach” into a person’s life, but the natural outcropping of one who is focused upon living in a godly manner.

And fruit bear the seeds of reproduction. It is these godly mannerisms that attract non-Christians to the Savior, thus multiplying the next generation of believers. They may seem like weaknesses to the self-serving natural man, but they are the vehicle through which Christ can work. These are the nine ladies dancing.

A kindergarten Sunday School teacher was working hard to get her class to focus on the story of Jesus’ birth, and to stop thinking about Santa Claus. She read the story over and over to them, and for good measure, taught them to sing ‘Silent Night’. Finally, she asked them to draw their own designs for Christmas cards.

One youngster had done a very fine job in drawing the baby in a manger, with Mary and Joseph and the animals; but the teacher noticed with anxiety that he had drawn a little fat man right beside the manger. She asked, “Jimmy, that isn’t Santa, is it?”

Jimmy answered indignantly, “Oh no, that’s Round John Virgin.”

It was the first day back to school after Christmas vacation and the teacher was not ready for school and was not overly prepared. She used a good bit of the morning by going around the room and asking each child to tell how he or she spent Christmas.

The first boy said, “Well, we are Catholics and we went to midnight Mass and came home and went right to bed. The next morning we had a big breakfast and sat around the Christmas tree and opened all our presents.”

The second child then told her experience. “We are United Methodists but we did about the same thing. We went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and came home and went to bed We had a big Christmas breakfast and then opened all our presents.”

The third child then said, “Well, we aren’t Christians. But we did have a big breakfast and opened presents around the tree. Then we all got into the car and went downtown to my dad’s department store. He showed us all the empty shelves. He showed us all the money. Then we made a circle around the cash register, joined hands, and sang, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’.”

At dinner one evening Tommy misbehaved. His father, always the strict disciplinarian, reprimanded him saying, “Tommy, if you do not behave you will be sent to your room!” Tommy did not pay attention. Ordered from the room he heard his father’s last words, “And there will be no more food for you tonight!”

Later, in bed, Tommy’s thoughts of his behavior began to bother him. He was hungry. He couldn’t remember ever having felt more alone or alienated. He began to cry. Then he heard a noise on the stairs. Footsteps came closer to his room. His door opened and his father came in. Closing the door he came over to Tommy’s bed and said, “I love you, son, and I’ve come to spend the night with you.”

Now, isn’t that a great illustration of what Christmas is all about? God coming to spend the night with us.