Skipping Christmas
Christmas Day
December 25, 2022
One of my friends asked what I was going to preach on for Christmas Day and I told him, the birth story of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. In all honesty, Mark really doesn’t have a birth story. So, this should be really short! Right?! Nah!
As I was thinking about Mark, I wanted to clue you in on one of my favorite Christmas movies. There’s a purpose here. Trust me . . . .
One of my favorites is Christmas with the Kranks. The movie actually comes from a John Grisham book, called, Skipping Christmas.
Luther and Nora Krank were sad their daughter wouldn’t be home for Christmas, so Luther suggested they totally skip Christmas and go on a 10 day cruise. It takes a while, but Nora gradually warms up to the idea.
But, their neighbors aren’t happy!! It’s going to cost them the prize for the best decorated block in the city. Everyone decorates in their neighborhood. The local charities aren’t happy, either.
The Kranks don’t buy a tree from the Boy Scouts, a calendar from the Police Department, a fruit cake from the Firemen; and the guy who sells stationery is upset when he loses their annual order of engraved greeting cards. Everyone’s angry, as the kids are yelling FREE FROSTY! They can’t wait to get out of town
And in some ways, and I’m stretching this a bit, Christmas with the Kranks reminds me of the Gospel stories.
If you were to drive down Gospel boulevard in Alexandria and you drove down the block which contained the houses of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - -
You’d see amazing displays in Matthew’s lawn. Of course there would be Mary and Joseph. We’d learn how many wise men there really were. There’d be a dazzling star in the sky, Bible characters and more.
Across the street lives Luke and you’d see John the Baptist and his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Mary and Joseph traveling into Bethlehem; Angels in the sky singing and shepherds with their sheep.
Speaking of breathtaking, just look across the street at John’s house. How does one even begin to put into words the display that he’s put up? It’s like he’s replaying the creation story. There’s light and there’s life. It’s like a laser light show. The sky is illuminated as John showers us with images of Jesus being the light of the world. All you can do is stand their in silent awe.
Then you get to Mark’s house. The lawn is bare. No lights, no stories told, just blank. Mark simply tells us in verse 1 - - -
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
That’s it. That’s the Christmas story. Nothing more. And when Jesus makes His first appearance in verse 9, He’s already a full-grown adult!
Maybe Mark kind of identified with the Kranks. Leaving out the birth story is certainly the reason nobody reads Mark’s gospel at this time of year.
But, there’s something else going on with Mark. Let’s look inside Mark’s home. Let’s walk up to his windows and look inside.
As we look into his home, we see tons of framed pictures everywhere. Pictures are all over his living room wall. As we look closer they’re pictures from Jesus’ life. It’s the story of Jesus’ life, especially from Mark 1. Mark’s Christmas story is a life history.
Look at what we see - - -
pictures of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River,
Jesus being tempted in the wilderness,
Jesus preaching His first sermon,
Jesus calling His first disciples,
Jesus healing a man with an unclean spirit at the synagogue in Capernaum,
Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law,
Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons from all the people that showed up outside the doors of Peter’s house,
Jesus preaching in Galilee, and
Jesus healing a leper.
It’s Jesus . . . everywhere! And that’s just in chapter 1!
As you stand and stare at all those pictures, you’re awe struck at what He was doing. It’s the anticipated and hoped for, but not expected Messiah.
The people wanted a mighty ruler to defeat the Romans and the persecution they were under. They looked forward to the coming of their long promised Messiah. A “mighty” Messiah sounded great!
They didn’t realize their Messiah was coming to them first as prophet and priest before returning as their conquering king. Jesus wasn’t the kind of Messiah most of them expected.
In Mark’s story, Jesus is mysterious but not unknowable. The heavens opened when He was baptized, the Spirit descends and God’s voice is heard. Then Jesus enters the wilderness and is tempted by the demons, He’d take off by Himself to spend time with the Father. He invited fisherman to follow Him, He healed the sick, even touching the untouchable.
He was mysterious, but available and knowable.
There was power exuding from Jesus. Yet, He had compassion on the people. The crowds marveled at His authority, demons departed, diseases disappeared, people followed and He touched lepers.
Studying these pictures on Mark’s living room walls, it’s obvious that he was far more concerned with why Jesus came than how. And yet, there are a couple snapshots on the mantle you shouldn’t overlook.
The first one may answer the skeptic who takes Mark’s bare front lawn, his silence on the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, as evidence of his disbelief.
There’s a picture on the wall which shows Jesus talking to His disciples on His way to Jerusalem where He’ll soon be arrested, beaten and crucified.
There’s a caption on that one saying, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
The only way Jesus could suffer for us was to become one of us. So, while Mark doesn’t go into the details of how Jesus became one of us, he spends a third of his Gospel detailing how Jesus suffered for us. Mark skipped Christmas, but he didn’t skip why Christ came.
This year’s Christmas celebrations may have gotten changed because of the weather. Life may be harder than hoped for this year, and we may feel like skipping Christmas.
We may be alone this year, and Christmas just doesn’t feel the same as it once did. We’ve struggled with health issues, job issues, school, family, and whatever has gone on . . . and it becomes easy to want to skip Christmas - - - -
But you’re here or you’re worshiping online . . . so, there’s something pulling at you, tugging at your heart, spirit, mind and body.
You could, like Nora Krank, look wistfully to the past and get nostalgic over all those Christmases from years gone by, making yourself feel guilty and miserable in the process.
Or, you could try taking a page from Luther’s playbook and forget about Christmas. Engage in a little escapism, indulge yourself, and don’t worry about anyone but you.
Or, you could go for a walk past Mark’s home with its bare front yard. But if you look into his house, you’ll be reminded of why Jesus came. When you celebrate Christmas with Mark, he’ll teach you that you dare not skip Christ.
You can skip Elizabeth, Zechariah, and their baby John.
You can skip Mary, Joseph, and the inn-keeper.
You can skip the shepherds, the angels, and the manger.
You can skip the star and the wise men.
You can skip the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh.
You can skip it all.
Even the songs, you can skip it all.
You can skip Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty too.
Sometimes we focus on all of the external things surrounding Christmas. And we lose sight of the why. If you must, you can skip the how, but don’t skip the why!
Sometimes we want it to be all glamorous, kind of like Charlie Brown’s friends, and we can easily lose the meaning of Christmas.
Because we can’t skip Jesus!
Thankfully, Charlie had a friend who knew the story, and we can’t hear it enough - - - - -
VIDEO from Charlie Brown Christmas
