Gather Around the Hearth

Christmasy curiosities abound this time of year. Reindeer can fly and a chubby man can slide swiftly down a narrow chimney (while wearing a thick fur-lined coat and smoking a pipe). We sing about chestnuts roasting on an open fire even though most of us wouldn't recognize a chestnut if it were floating in our eggnog. In balmy southern climates, residents clad in shorts and lathered with sunscreen decorate their homes with fake snow and hum tunes about sledding in a winter wonderland. Kids who most days can't find two socks that match hang their stockings by the chimney with care.

We sing "Silent Night" but find little time in December to be quiet and pray. We talk about peace on earth but gripe about traffic and rush to cram in all the parties and family get-togethers.

I'm not really cynical about Christmas, though. It brings back childhood memories that warm my heart every time I think of them. The sweet aroma of the cedar tree my family chopped down on our farm and decorated in our living room. The big star Dad cut out of a piece of plywood, covered with aluminum foil, surrounded with a string of blue lights, and hung from the top of our old farm house. The sweet, buttery cake my mother made with nuts and orange slices once a year. Shivering in the cold with friends while singing carols to shut-ins, then warming up with a steaming bowl of chili in the church basement. On Christmas Eve, our family prayed together before we went to bed, and read the account of Jesus' birth recorded in the second chapter of Luke's Gospel (which to this day somehow still sounds best in the King James Version). Even Scrooge himself would have enjoyed those old-fashioned holidays on the farm!

Eventually, my wife and children developed traditions of our own. Homemade pizza on Christmas Eve. Cherry cheesecakes that tickle the tastebuds and pile on the pounds. And sitting around the fireplace sipping hot chocolate while logs crackle their soothing lullaby.

In the old days, the "hearth" was literally the "heart" or center of the home, especially during the cold winter months. The sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Christmas pull us gently back to those simpler times, and touch something deep inside of us that longs for warm fellowship with each other and with God.

Remember the time Jesus met with his disciples around a fire? Simon Peter was dripping wet after swimming ashore, but it didn't take him long to get warm by the burning coals where Jesus had prepared a hearty breakfast of fish and bread.

On a chilly night a few weeks earlier, Peter had denied Jesus three times while he warmed himself by a fire. Now Jesus turned their after-breakfast conversation into a time of restoration. "Do you truly love me?" Three times Jesus asked, three times Peter reaffirmed, and three times the Lord told his fickle follower to feed or tend his sheep.

Whatever else you do during this holiday season, sit by the fire with Jesus. Tell him you love him. Feed his sheep. Bring others to sit by the hearth with you. Don't just sing songs about shepherds; act like one!

Jesus' light will keep blazing long after the Christmas lights have been unplugged and the decorations have been returned to the box for another year. Warm yourself by the fire of his love.