CHRISTMAS: A Holiday for Outsiders
There are three versions of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. As a fanatic of all things Christmas, I appreciate each one—the version featuring Jim Carrey as the Grinch seems to have the most quotable quotes. For example – part of the Grinch’s daily routine is going name by name through the Whoville phone book, declaring his dislike for each person. ‘Hate, hate, hate, hate. Double hate. LOATHE ENTIRELY!’
Why is the Grinch so Grinchy?
Because he’s an outsider, and being an outsider hurts. We all want to be included – we want to be insiders. CS Lewis writes extensively about this in his essay on The Inner Ring, calling it one of the ‘great permanent mainsprings of human action.’ Lewis describes it as ‘a passion most skillful in making people do bad things.’ If he is right, why is the desire to be an insider so powerful?
Because we weren’t created to be outsiders
We were created to be insiders – to be in harmony with our Creator. Our sin puts us outside the relationship we were created to have with Him. Genesis 3:23-24 tells us sin broke humankind’s relationship with God. Isaiah 59:2 says our sin has made a separation between us and God. Romans 3:23 describes our sin as the cause of falling short in our relationship with God. We spend an untold amount of energy struggling against the sense of being an outsider in ways big and small.
But then Christmas happened.
Angels burst into the Middle Eastern sky 2000 years ago and declared the arrival of God in human flesh. A baby solved humanity’s outsider problem in a manger in Bethlehem. Peace was now available to the angst of our outsider status. ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:14) And in a subtle nod towards our outsider status, the angels delivered that message to the cultural outsiders of the time – lowly shepherds.
Puzzle till your puzzler is sore
‘He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming. Somehow or other, it came just the same. And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: How could it be so? He puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.’
Here are three things you should puzzle on this Christmas
- Have you gone from an outsider to an insider? Have you accepted the gift of God’s son, Jesus, to restore your broken relationship with Him?
- Will you intentionally direct your children’s attention to the great puzzle solver, Jesus, who was born this Christmas? I would encourage you to attend a Christmas Eve service and read Luke chapter 2 before opening presents to help your entire family focus on the true meaning of the Christmas season.
- Who could you invite to a Christmas Eve church service so they can puzzle on the same decision? *You can join me and my family here at Indian Rocks!
We are all outsiders, but because of the gift of Jesus on Christmas, we don’t have to stay that way!
