Christmas Is Like Baseball?

Yes, Christmas is a little bit like baseball. When it comes our turn to be at the plate, almost all of us make it to 1st base. Christmas on first base is what is known as a "holly, jolly Christmas". It is the best thing that happens to our homes all year. We each seem to get a fresh transfusion of good will. Nobody should complain about the good spirits. Perhaps we could do away with some of the so‑called "joy" at Christmas: "joy" which gets people hurt, "joy" that is wrapped up in bottles, "joy" that is office parties where people let go of decency and good behavior. But let us remember that Christmas' birth was Christianity's moment of joy. The angels sang, "Joy to the world."

But we have more bases to run! "What do you mean", you say, "I couldn't run one more step." But 2nd base is out there some place. It stands for the White Christmas, the benevolent Christmas. It stands for thankfulness. The Shopping center is not the heart of Christmas, no matter how loud the carols blare from the stores. Someone has said, "Far from the Christmas rush is the Christmas hush." It is Someone's birthday. It is a time to give, a time for worship, for praise.

But something is missing, when that Someone is missing. 3rd base means meeting a living person. Christmas is more than a performance, it calls for an encounter! "Unto you is born this day...a Savior!" the angels sang. Christianity's big moment, you see is when Christmas becomes personal...and you "talk with Him, and you walk with Him."

Christmas is coming near, and yet Home Plate is still ahead. Like the Rich Young Ruler of Scriptures, there are those who meet the honored Guest, who get to 3rd base fairly easily, but who turn sorrowfully away and the game is for nothing. "Don't die on third" is our plea. Jesus once said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?" Today, Jesus would add, "How can you come to my birthday party, and not come to me?"

Christianity's greatest moment comes when a man or a woman decides to go all the way with Christmas...beyond the tinsel, past the ceremonies, and all the way to where‑ever Christ may lead. What good is the count‑down at NASA if the rocket doesn't take off? The preparation for Christmas is all so much wasted energy, if it doesn't result in the "lift off", that dramatic moment of contact, the encounter, the fire of the Spirit, when Jesus Christ is really born into your heart and mine?

It is time for a Christmas "Home Run". You can do it. There are those on the side‑lines cheering you on. A great host of witnesses rise in the stands, on tip‑toe, holding their breath, but counting on you to make it all the way Home.