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WHY GOD PERMITS CHRISTMAS #3

LONELY NO LONGER

It's the first day of Christmas vacation, and all the boys at the boarding school are happily getting into cars and climbing aboard trains for home. Mother and father greet their sons at the front gate, their arms loaded with gifts. And of course, there's snow on the ground and you can see your breath in the air as families depart for their various holiday celebrations.

But there's always one boy who stays behind. Maybe he has no parents. Or Mother and Father weren't able to afford the train fare for the long journey to their simple home many miles away. So that one small child stays behind in the cold dormitory, where perhaps one of the school's staff members might remember to take him to their house for a bit of Christmas pie.

That's the poignant memory I have of the holiday film, Scrooge, with Albert Finney in the title role. The YOUNG Ebenezer is left behind until the very last minute, when suddenly his parents DO arrive to take him home after all. But that earlier scene of loneliness is so haunting.

You know, for many people Christmas is the most painful time of year. Everyone else has a home to go to; the rest of the world is in love. Homes are filled to overflowing with friends and relatives. The hide-a-bed is being used, the guest bedroom is full, and three of your sister's kids are sleeping on the living room floor. You wouldn't like to live that way all year long, but for those few days around December 25, the full house makes you feel special and like you belong to someone. Every airplane is filled, as people circle the globe to be with those they love.

But then there are those who punch the time clock on Christmas Eve, December 24. And they go home alone. No one remembers them; no one invites them over. They have a meal by themselves and watch a network Christmas special on NBC, which features all the other families who ARE together. And Christmas Day goes by in quiet, empty fashion.

And you know, I've not had to go through that. I come from a big Melashenko family: five of us boys and plenty of grandkids by now and nieces and nephews. I've never been alone on Christmas Day, but in my years of pastoring, I've seen many people who WERE alone. And here at The Voice of Prophecy some of our mail talks about that aloneness. "My husband died six years ago," someone writes. "I still miss him terribly. And Christmas Day is the most painful day of the year. Please pray for me."

All this week as we DO celebrate Christmas, we've been wondering why God actually permits this holiday. With all the commercialism and loneliness and selfishness associated with the Christmas season, why hasn't God sent down a message and simply told us: "Stay away from it. The world celebrates Christmas, but not My special people, not My followers." We've never gotten such a message from heaven, and sometimes we wonder why.

I think there are some very good reasons why, despite the huge potholes in the road, God still DOES permit Christmas. And one of the best ones is coming right up.

You know, the enemy of this world has sometimes done an absolutely BRILLIANT job at making it appear that HE'S the designer of all the fun stuff. Everything exciting and fun and satisfying comes from his workshop, it SEEMS. All the cleverest TV shows have his stamp of approval on them; all the glitter and bright lights are his. And on the other side of the fence, God sits with His list of ten things we're not supposed to do. No THIS, no THAT, no ANYTHING. If it's fun or tastes good, God . . . says . . . no.

That's the picture, isn't it? Have you ever felt that way?

And then we come down to this business of Christmas. And who's the actual designer of what.

Friend, let me tell you something. Christmas should be a time for joy . . . and joy is GOD'S invention. Not Satan's. Family reunions are God's domain; in fact, the Bible is FILLED with descriptions of the people of GOD getting together, to worship, to laugh, to celebrate, to party, to love each other. All of the book of Revelation is about the grandest family reunion the universe has ever witnessed, when God's lost relatives return home. The prince of darkness doesn't know ANYTHING about joy and reunions, but he makes out like he invented them.

Gift-giving . . . how about that aspect of Christmas? Again, the concept of gifts and unselfishness and giving to others is one of HEAVEN'S designs. Lucifer is a cheat and a thief; he TAKES, but he never GIVES. In Eden, he stole Eve's innocence; he tricked her out of the gift of eternal life. It's a bare little pile of DUST under the devil's Christmas tree, but he sometimes talks like he's the most generous party host in town.

Look in your Bible sometime today in Luke chapter four, where Lucifer takes Jesus to a high place and shows Him the world. And he says:

"I will GIVE you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can GIVE it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
Have you ever seen such arrogance in your life? "This is all mine, and I'll GIVE it to you." Satan tries to pass himself off as Father Christmas, giving away something he doesn't even possess to give.

And he does the same today. "I'll GIVE you financial success," he claims, "if you'll follow my advice for shaving the corners off. I'll GIVE you sexual fulfillment with a hundred willing partners." And he doesn't mention the after-effects: the AIDS and the broken hearts. "I'll GIVE you a new chemical high like you never felt before if you sample this new pill I want to GIVE you." And the list goes on.

And so let me say again, friend, GOD is the author of all the best gifts. It's GOD who creates joy and thanksgiving and the ringing of Christmas bells and the quiet warmth of feeling loved on Christmas morning. And so, rather than give the enemy one more propaganda victory, one more claim to an unwarranted generosity, God has held onto Christmas. It's still HIS gift to us; it's still His way of telling us He loves us.

Friend, if you're one of the fortunate ones for whom Christmas is a wonderful time . . . do remember that the wonderfulness comes from God. Do your parents and children love you? That's GOD'S gift. Are you healthy and happy? That's His gift as well. Does 2002 look like a good year looming ahead, with room for growth and a good job and the opportunity to mature in your spiritual walk? God is so good, isn't He . . . and those are HIS good gifts.

But let me challenge you with another thought today. Someone out there is lonely. They spent Christmas by themselves because their wife dumped them last summer. Now, divorce is the devil's invention. He LOVES divorce; he and his legions rejoice when a spouse departs for warmer climates, leaving behind a lonely and breaking heart. So when a divorced person is alone on December 25, that loneliness is the devil's creation.

But you and I can do something to defeat Lucifer at his schemes, can't we? There's something we can do to overcome that loneliness, that pain.

Or let's look into the living room window of that older person whose spouse passed away last October. Or maybe in October five years ago. Their hearts are heavy with loneliness even today, December 19. For fifty years they had a mate in life, a loving partner. And now death has separated them.

Listen to me now. Who's the author of death? We KNOW that Lucifer stands there, unseen, at the cemetery, hissing his delight. Another heart breaking . . . and he LOVES it! Another of God's vulnerable children has to face the future all by themselves, and the enemy of the human race loves to see those tears during the midnight hour. And Christmas Day is so hard, so achingly painful, for that widow, that widower.

But the people of God have a responsibility, friend. Yes, God has permitted us to keep our Christmas . . . but along with that gift comes the divine responsibility, yes, even the MANDATE to reach out to the widows and the orphans and those who are divorced or single. It's our DUTY as Christians to storm the enemy's gates and drive away the discouragement and the dark December clouds that have settled over so many homes of those who are our brothers and sisters.

Now as we close, let me say this. Maybe YOU'RE the lonely one. As you hear these words today, December 19, maybe you're one of those who lives alone, with the awful stillness of your empty apartment ringing every day and night in your ears. And Christmas is your hardest day.

Let me remind you that Someone else was lonely too. A Christmas Visitor to this planet was an awfully long ways away from His own home. Jesus, the Christ Child, came down to this alien place . . . and He was often lonely.

And maybe you say, "Lonnie, Jesus had a family. He had parents and disciples and followers and friends! Don't tell me He was lonely like I am!"

Let me share an observation from a favorite book about Jesus entitled The Desire of Ages. Here it is:

"Bearing the weakness of humanity, and burdened with its sorrow and sin, Jesus walked ALONE in the midst of men. As the darkness of the coming trial passed upon Him, He was in loneliness of spirit, in a world that knew Him not. Even His loved disciples, absorbed in their own doubt and sorrow and ambitious hopes, had not comprehended the mystery of His mission. He had dwelt amid the love and fellowship of HEAVEN; but in the world that He had created, He was in solitude."
Even Jesus' own PARENTS, the author writes, often failed to understand Him. And Jesus was lonely, so far away from His heavenly home.

But heaven provided comfort, the Bible tells us. Heaven's angels came to give Jesus encouragement, and they can do the same for us. And now, friend, Jesus Himself is IN HEAVEN again, ready and eager to be YOUR closest friend if you're lonely today. Today, December 19, 2001, He loves YOU! When you turn off your radio in a few moments, it'll be quiet there in your apartment, but friend, YOU'RE NOT ALONE . . . ANY LONGER.