'White Christmas,' the title track from the 1953 film by the same name, communicates such a simple sentiment. To my way of thinking, if we would sing it, we have everything else we need to celebrate Christmas. The only thing left is a fresh blanket of snow.
But how else might we have a white Christmas?
"Come now, let us reason together, says Yahweh: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
So writes Isaiah early on in the Old Testament book that bears his name, speaking as he does the word of the Lord to His people. And the fulfillment of this is found in Christ, whose birth we celebrate this time of the year.
Yes, on this podcast, Christmas or no, we will talk and think also of current events, and what is in the news, and what is happening in the wider world. But again and again, wherever we look, the problem of man's sin and what to do about it confronts us.
For many, this is a hard time of the year. In no small part, this is because of unresolved conflict between them and friends or family who they once held dear. Only now there is a rift. Someone sinned against someone else, and it was never resolved. Forgiveness was either not asked for or not given, or both.
The thought occurs to me that with inflation dissuading so many this year to buy gifts at all, or to spend as much as they normally would on presents for others, perhaps the most expensive, rarest, and most precious we could give or receive would be peace with God and one another.
Here is the catch, though. To have that peace, we must look to the Prince of Peace. Only in the God who took on flesh is meaningful reconciliation possible. To give or receive it is too high for man alone, but he can have it with God's help.
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