In 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas made its Television Debut on CBS. I was five years old and my mom and I watched it together every year until I left home for College. (Yes, as I became older, I did not want to sit with my mom and watch a cartoon show, but I’m glad I did!) It was a wonderful Tradition for us, and it never got old. To this day, I make sure to watch it at least once during the Christmas Season. I think of my mom and the joy our little tradition brought her and really the joy it still brings to me.
My mom was very wise and very smart. She saw something in the TV Special that took me a couple of years to understand. She saw the story of Love being born and she wanted to make sure I knew the story and understood it.
The producers tried to persuade Charles Schultz to not include this scene in the Special. They were convinced that it would be a failure and lose money for them. Schultz won the disagreement and the scene remains in the show. It’s now one of the most often quoted events from the show. Let’s walk through this together.
Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
Neat to me that the first thing the angels said to the Shepherds and really to us is “Do not be afraid.”
AND, notice if you watch "It's a Charlie Brown Christmas" Linus recites this passage and drops his "security" blanket when he comes to this verse...
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more.”
Of course, Linus is correct, Christmas is a lot more. It’s the Birth of Love.
It’s the Birth of a Baby that separates us from our fears.
The Birth frees us from what we are unable to break free from ourselves.
The Birth of Jesus allows us to open our clinched hands and drop our false “security blankets.” It allows us to open our hands to real and eternal security.
The Birth brings us peace.
He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. (Ephesians 2:17 NLT)
Peace to you and your families this Christmas Day!
David Massey