In the classic scene from Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, Linus takes centre stage and delivers a most eloquent defense of the true meaning of Christmas.
Reciting from Luke’s gospel, Linus reminds the Peanuts gang, and all of us, that at its core, Christmas is about the birth of Christ.
If Charles Schulz were ever to have re-visited that scene, I would have loved to see Linus carry on by quoting the New Testament passage that, I believe, tells us how Jesus’ birth should impact our lives today, and every day…
“Lights please…This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loves us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4: 9-12)
And THAT’S what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
Merry Christmas to all.
Updated from December 24, 2010 post
