The Gospel of Xmas 1 - Rudolph
A few years ago I was working at another church and had some signs printed up for our Christmas Eve services. One of them said “Keep X in XMAS” — it was meant to be a funny and thought provoking way to remind people to make sure and focus on Jesus during the Christmas season. It worked on two levels: If you think XMAS is a way to X-out Christ from the word “Christmas” then having that sign in front of a church would make you go “hmmm.” Like, why would a church be trying to remove Jesus from Christmas?
I only got one angry phone call about the sign, and it was from a pastor at another church. He left me a message basically saying, “How dare you!”
Which brings us to the other level that it worked on.
Χριστός This is how you write the word “Christ” in Greek. Every time the word “Christ” is written in your Bible, this is how it would have looked in the original manuscript. That first letter, the one that looks like an “X” is called a “Chi.” The second letter, the one that looks like a “P” is called a “Rho.” For thousands of years the Chi or the Chi Rho have been shorthand for “Christ.” So, there’s a very real sense that XMAS is closer to the original spelling of Christmas—instead of removing Christ, it actually draws attention to Him in a historical sense. Sometimes I write Christmas like this XPmas Chi Rho Mas.
I don’t know why the angry pastor didn’t know all this.
I know, people do think they’re secularizing Christmas by calling it XMAS. But the joke’s on them. Just like when they say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” because “Holiday” is just an Old English contraction for “Holy Day.” If they really want to go full pagan, they’re gonna have to say something like, “I greet you with all the cold meaninglessness of the Winter Solstice.” Put that on your Season’s greeting card.
But people love Christmas. Bart Simpson says, “"Christmas is the time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ."
So I thought I would do a Christmas series leading up to Christmas Day that looks for ways that this cultural phenomenon, almost everyone’s favorite holiday, the most anticipated day of the year—look at some of the ways even the secular, commercialized Christmas industrial beast points us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My hope is that we’ll never look at those things the same way again—just like we should never be able to see XMAS without thinking of Christ from now on.
Prayer: Father in heaven, thank You for this time of year that tends to bring out the best in us—well, and the worst. Help us to see with fresh eyes so that we can understand what You have for us to do in this world. Help us to do everything in the name of Jesus, so that the things we do will have eternal value. AMEN
So, in this series we’re gonna look at Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch, Buddy the Elf and Santa—which are characters from some of my favorite Christmas movies. Top runners up would be Clarence the Angel from it’s a wonderful life, Scrooge, and John McClane from the original Die Hard—which is totally a Christmas movie, I don’t care what anyone says.
First up is Rudolph. Poor little misfit. Son of Santa’s Alpha Deer, Donner. Rejected by his father because of a birth defect that caused his nose to glow in a blinding burst of red light—probably due to a mutation caused by Russian experiments with nuclear science. Rather than seeing his son as a super-reindeer, like an X-Deer, he forces him to hide his defect—his superpower—and try to fit in with all the normal kids. But it all goes horribly wrong when the rubber nose comes off during the reindeer games and when they see his glowing, radioactive nose, they’re all afraid and banish him. On the road he’s joined by Hermie, the elf who wants to be a dentist, Yukon Cornelius, a prospector who can’t decide what he’s looking for, and the Abominable Snowman A.K.A. The Bumble—who wants to eat them. They end up at the Isle of Misfit Toys where they meet a bunch of toys that don’t believe anyone wants them: a Charlie in the Box, a polka dotted elephant, a bird that swims, and Sally, a doll with an insecurity complex. They are ruled by King Moonracer, a lion with eagle’s wings.
The story is all about how we all have things that make us different from other people, and rather than allowing those things to make us feel marginalized and like a misfit—we need to realize that those are the things that make us unique and special.
Hermie uses his obsession with dental tools to remove all of the Bumble’s teeth, then Yukon tames him and teaches him how to hang the star on the Christmas tree. Of course the big moment is when Rudolph returns to the village to face the mob, but when a big storm threatens to cancel Christmas—Santa has the idea to use Rudolph’s super-powered nose to cut through the lack of visibility. “Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight.” The crowd that once feared him and mocked him, called on him to save them. That should sound like a familiar theme.
Rudolph remembers his friends on the Isle of Misfit Toys and just like he had promised King Moonracer, he led Santa to rescue all the outcast toys and find them a loving home.
There’s so many Gospel themes going on here. Christ was rejected by His people but saved them anyway, then sent them to rescue others.
But I want to concentrate on the idea of spiritual gifts and vocation.
God has chosen you to do something that only you can do in this world. Never believe your part isn’t significant.
St Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, he says,
“All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:27-31
You are the body of Christ. If you are a baptized believer then you are in Christ. In the church. He saved you so you would do something important with your life—something that matters. Something with eternal impact. And everyone is different, none of us play exactly the same part. Not everyone is an apostle, or a prophet or a pastor or a teacher—Not everyone is Santa or the Bumble, there are also radioactive reindeer and elves who have the strange internal desire to remove teeth. It takes all kinds, as they say.
In 1st Peter he really drills down on this idea. Peter says,
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10–11
Whatever it is that makes you unique in this world—it might even be something you don’t like about yourself, like Rudolph’s nose, he just wanted to fit in and be like the others—whatever it is that makes you unique in this world is exactly the gift God has given you to make the biggest impact. You have a superpower, and whatever it is, it’s a spiritual gift and it’s part of what God has for you to do with your life. Your calling. Your vocation. Which is Latin for calling.
St Paul says pretty much the same thing in Romans:
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Romans 12:6–8
God has chosen you to do something that only you can do in this world. Never believe your part isn’t significant. The way we use our spiritual gifts to love each other, serve the world, do our vocation, has lasting eternal value.
This is the first Sunday in Advent, New Year’s Day of the church calendar. For the next four weeks, we’re gonna be preparing our hearts for Jesus to come to earth. It has double meaning—we’re getting ready to celebrate Christmas, the incarnation, when He came the first time as a humble baby in a manger. But we’re also preparing our hearts for the day when he comes again on the last day in power and glory. Advent is a season of waiting. A time of being between the original Christmas and the Second Coming—the church exists in the mysterious place between the two. Between the manger and the cross and the resurrection of the Son of God—which forgave your sins, redeemed you from the world, the flesh and the devil, filled you with the Spirit of God, gave you new life and every spiritual blessing, adopted you as a beloved child of God (these are amazing things!) if you are a baptized believer in the Gospel then you are connected to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Which means you not only look back on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter to understand who you are—you’re no longer defined by your sins or your fears—you also look forward to the apocalypse, the last day, when death is finally defeated and you will be resurrected just like Jesus. Glorified in your body just like Jesus. Remember how He still had His scars? Remember how His life before the resurrection mattered?
Your life matters, too. Your scars matter, your pain matters, and the way you use your spiritual gifts to love people, serve the world, do your vocation—it all has lasting eternal value, too. Everything you do in Christ is eternal.
The great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, where St Paul says if we don’t only believe in Jesus’ resurrection but also in the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time, then we don’t really understand the hope of what it means to be a Christian. You will be raised to new life, in your body, not as a disembodied spirit, but as you—that’s your hope because of Jesus. And he ends that chapter with this:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore—be steadfast. God has chosen you to do something that only you can do in this world. Never believe your part isn’t significant—know that everything you do in the Lord is not in vain. The way you love people, serve the world, do your vocation—it’s all got lasting eternal value. Everything you do in Christ is eternal.
The Gospel according to XMAS, chapter one. Rudolph and all the misfits. I hope you never see that silly light bulb nose again without wondering about what your spiritual gifts are, how God has chosen you to do something wonderful and significant in this world. That if you feel like a misfit, then realize you’re in good company with all the other outcasts of society that Jesus calls to Himself. And if you’re tempted to look at someone else, thinking they’re the misfit, there’s something wrong with them, that you’re better than them—then Jesus is calling you to repent, to love them and get over yourself. Show kindness to others and do it gladly. There’s only one way the Gospel goes into the world, only one way God’s love and grace are shared with the people in your life who need it—and that’s if you do the job you’re supposed to do. Jesus wants to love people through you, through your vocation. Whatever God has for you to do in this world, do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.