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"Joseph, son of David," the
angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For
the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will
have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins."
(Matthew 1:18-20 NLT).
Christmas music abounds these days. All of the stores and many of the
radio stations have begun to play Christmas music. I really enjoy this
time of the year. It brought me back to a book, A Room Called
Remember, by Fredrick Buechner. In it he tells about the great
snowfall in New York City in the winter of 1947. At first it seemed no
different from any other snowstorm. The flakes gently floated down without
any wind to drive them. All day they fell. Gradually the sidewalks, parked
cars and buildings were covered with a blanket of white. Streets became
slushy. Shopkeepers were out with their shovels trying to keep clear a
path to their doors. And the snow kept falling. The plows couldn't keep
ahead of it. Consequently, the traffic nearly came to a standstill.
Businesses closed early and people did their best to get home before
nightfall.
By the next morning bustling New York was a totally different city.
Abandoned cars were buried. Nothing on wheels could move. Skiers glided
gracefully down Park Avenue. The most striking transformation, however,
was the silence. The only sounds were muffled voices and the ringing
church bells. He made the point that people listened because they couldn't
help themselves. In our world people rarely listen, whether in New York or
Toronto, London or Los Angeles, Sidney or Singapore, unless a crisis of
sufficient magnitude thrusts a wrench into the wheels of our high-speed,
technological society and forces us to a standstill.
The exception to that may be, as Buechner points
out, at Christmas time when it's hard not to stop and listen. Business
increases to a frenzied pace. Canned carols blast out over the din of
traffic. Bells jingle. Red-robed Santas freeze in Chicago, while their
counterparts fry in Melbourne. Then, suddenly, night falls on Christmas
Eve. The last shop closes. All the hullabaloo stops. Everything is silent
for one brief day.
We are one month away from Christmas Day. This year don't miss the
silence. Take time to listen. Be still and hear the true message of
Christmas, which, above all, is a call to remember that God has not
forgotten us, but is vitally involved in the affairs of mankind. Two
thousand years ago he came to earth in person to save us from our sins.
So as Christmas day arrives, may I encourage you to pause for just a
moment and listen—listen with your heart—to God's Word: "The virgin will
be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel—which means, 'God with us.'"
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