Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! He is our God; we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides.
Psalm 95:6-7
STORY
Cecil B. DeMille said the most memorable moment of his career was filming the crucifixion scene for the movie The King of Kings. During a mob sequence, the multitude of cast members and extras gathered on the side of a bare and ugly hill before three stark crosses screaming “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Suddenly, DeMille was uncomfortable with the actions before him, for the scene was being filmed on December 24. The producer was telling the story of Jesus’ death on the eve of his birth. Troubled, DeMille called for five minutes of silent prayer so all could honor the Christ.
Looking over the crowd he realized that he had just done a foolish thing; for, the actors and actresses would just use the time to drink, smoke, and engage in cheap talk. Annoyed, DeMille bowed his head in prayer. Shortly he heard a few voices, then more, soon all joined in singing one chorus: “It came upon a midnight clear, the glorious song of old,” DeMille looked up to see the entire cast and crew on their knees, bowing before the cross of Christ, singing a carol.
THOUGHTS
I am sure what DeMille imagined we have observed in the secularization of Christmas. I sometimes feel, as I have heard it for so many years, actually for decades, that we have taken Christ out of Christmas. Though, in so many ways, I think that we have. From my childhood to my late adult years, I have seen Christmas advertisements expand from only a few weeks before the holiday to embarking a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Couple this from what was once a few hundred dollars spent on gift purchases to an amount now reaching into the thousands.
The word Christmas means “Christ-feast.” In the early church, Christians celebrated weekly worship and special liturgical days with a meal. This meal was a gathering of believers in a fellowship experience in which Christ was the center of the celebration. It can only be hoped that the secularists, along with the baptized, will be able to sing together “It came upon a midnight clear, the glorious song of old.”
As a child growing up in Lorain, Ohio, which is located on the shores of Lake Erie, my mother each year kept a Christmas holiday tradition. Every Christmas morning, before we were permitted to open our gifts, which my parents made clear to us that it came from them and not Santa Cluse, I and my two brothers would be given a cupcake with a single lighted candle. It was a birthday cake for Jesus.