Do you ever repeat a good story? As I listen to the students rehearse for their program tonight, I started wondering how many times I have heard the story of the birth of our Savior. I’m thinking in my lifetime I’ve heard it hundreds of times, have taught it hundreds of times, and still look forward to the story. It’s a story I heard first as a young child. It’s the same story I hear as an adult. My favorite movie for many years was “The Sound of Music.” However, after seeing it about ten times, I tired of it, and haven’t seen it for years.
Not long ago it was on TV, but I switched channels because I didn’t want to see it again. I’ve lost interest. My favorite book was, “Huckleberry Finn.” I read it and taught it many times. I doubt that I ever read it again, however. I’ve grown tired of the same characters, the same setting, the same story line, conversations, and themes.
I’ve seen it as a stage production, as a movie, and if I have the chance to see it again, I probably won’t go. I want to see something new and different. I certainly would not listen to the stories of “The Sound of Music” and “Huckleberry Finn” hundreds of times. And yet, every year when I hear the christmas story over and over again, told by children, pastors, friends, family members...........it strikes me as wonderful, refreshing, comforting, exciting, even after hearing it hundreds of times!
The setting is the same, the characters the same, the plot the same...........NOTHING about the story has changed for over 2000 years, and yet we all listen to it multiple times, every year. It must be quite a story!
However, it isn’t just a story, is it? It is a true account of our Savior’s birth. In it lies a promise for each of us, one that never gets old or boring.
It’s the fact that God loved us so much He sent His only Son to be our Savior! The story bears the best gift of all, one that will never break or get outdated. It’s a gift we can share and still keep for ourselves!
In many public schools, Christmas can’t even be mentioned or celebrated. It’s the “holiday” they celebrate.
Thank God for Lutheran schools, and particularly Martin Luther Academy, where the real meaning of Christmas can be told over and over again. If you have a chance to see our program tonight, or a children’s program at your church, you know this story is told over and over again, by children and by adults. You can be assured that your children here at MLA know the story well. They, too, have heard the story multiple times every year, and they’ve old it every year. But, every year they tell it with renewed enthusiasm.
I can’t wait to hear it again!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY JESUS!