so I am flipping through channels last night and come across Will Ferrell’s “The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”, his humorous foray into NASCAR culture. He affected a southern drawl and perfectly blended into the character. I loved Elf, and hoped this would be a similar experience. Well, it was different.
But the highlight for me was the scene where the family sits down to a lunch of domino’s pizza, Taco Bell and KFC. The wife insists that Ricky say grace. He proceeds to pray, seeking blessing and further racing wins from “sweet baby Jesus”, which when challenged, said that he preferred the baby Jesus. His wife and father-in-law both insisted that Jesus had grown up, even had a beard. Ricky would have none of it. He said that baby Jesus was his favorite version of Jesus.
Wow.
And that is Christmas in a nutshell, isn’t it? How many songs have been written, sung, even performed about the baby Jesus versus the risen Jesus? Do we decorate, celebrate, and dedicate so much time and effort to the risen Lord as we do the baby Jesus? Who is your favorite Jesus? Though I’ve seen it addressed here and there, here it is in a secular movie that the issue is brought out, the ridiculousness of it. Yes, come, let us adore Him, let us acknowledge that God’s plan included sending His own Son into the world as a helpless child, so that that child would grow up, live a sinless life, and be executed in the most cruel and humiliating fashion ever devised.
Come, let us adore the One who took the punishment for sin, who endured the wrath of a righteous God for the sins of the world. Let us adore One who loved so much that He died to save us. Let us adore One who loved us more than life.
The angels sang over Him. The shepherds and wise men came to adore Him. His mother marveled over Him. The teachers and scribes were astonished at Him. The Sadducees and Pharisees feared Him. His disciples followed Him. His Father was well-pleased with Him. The Greeks sought Him. Tax Collectors and Prostitutes welcomed Him. His apostles worshipped Him, for “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” What will you do?
O come let us adore Him, Jesus Christ the Lord.
Meritt Musings 