The Little Drummer Boy first came into my life when I was six years old.  A cousin had a record player with a red 45 RPM single of that song.  I stood perfectly still and all alone in the playroom and listened to that song again and again.  The music and the words touched something deep inside my young soul.  

            That Christmas was also when I stood next to an enormous cedar Christmas tree and sang carols with the other children at the little Baptist church we attended.  My allergies turned my nose red and stuffy.  I understood the meaning of Silent Night for the first time as we sang.  The redness in my cheeks had nothing to do with allergic reactions and everything to do with the shock of awareness. 

            Christmas came alive that year.  I wanted to bring an offering to Jesus like the little drummer boy.  I wanted to adore Jesus like those gathered in that manger so long ago. 

            The other children in my Sunday School class received Bibles as gifts the Sunday before Christmas.  This was my first Sunday at the church and they didn’t have a Bible for me.  The sight of the other children tearing the wrapping paper and finding the Bibles with the multi-colored covers lingers after all these years. 

            I wanted a Bible even though I couldn’t read.  I wanted a gift and to be included.  I received a hug and an apology instead. 

            Christmas is a time of awakening.  Men, women, and children experience eye-opening and life-changing encounters with our amazing God when they consider the meaning of Christmas.  Christmas is so simple a child can understand it and so profound theologians puzzle over it.  Christmas is the gift of inclusion for all who will simply receive it. 

            Some of the best preaching advice I ever received came through Proclaim magazine.  The topic was preaching on the holidays.  The writer said, “Relax and tell the story.”  Tell it simply.  Watch the truth open eyes and change lives. 

            Acts 20:35 records the lost beatitude: It is more blessed to give than to receive.  Give the gift of the story.  As the old hymn says,

            I love to tell the story;

               For those who know it best

            Seem hungering and thirsting

               To hear it, like the rest

            Relax and tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love this Christmas. 

Merry Christmas!