Christmas Eve
On a December night in Chicago, Illinois, a little girl climbed onto her father's lap and asked a question. It was a simple question, asked in children's curiosity, yet it had a heart-rending effect on Robert May.
"Daddy," four-year old Barbara asked, "Why isn't my Mommy just like everybody else's mommy?"
On the couch lay his young wife, Barbara's mother, Evelyn, racked with cancer. For two years she had been bedridden; for two years, all Bob's income and savings had gone to pay for treatments and medicines.
To help his daughter understand, Bob May answered his daughter with a bedtime story. The answer he gave his daughter on his lap was also to bring him to fame and fortune. It was also to bring joy to countless thousands of children and become part of the American Christmas experience. On that December night, Bob cradled his little girl's head against his shoulder and began to tell a story...
"Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph, the only reindeer in the world that had a big red nose. Naturally people called him Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."
Bob May finished the story of how Rudolph one Christmas night solved Santa's problem of flying in the fog, sleet and snow with his red nose glowing brighter than ever. In Bob May's story Rudolph guided Santa safely to every chimney that night. Rain and fog, snow and sleet; nothing bothered Rudolph, for his bright nose penetrated the weather like a beacon.
To the question of "Daddy, why isn't my Mommy just like everybody else's mommy?" Bob May in his story about Rudolph tried to communicate to Barbara the knowledge that even though some creatures of God are perhaps different, they may enjoy the miraculous power to make others happy. And yes, their life was different that Christmas compared to others, but although different, it did not mean that it was not special.
The story goes that little Barbara laughed with glee when her father finished. As many of you may know however, the story does not end there because Bob May had a job. That job was to help a large department store, called Montgomery Ward, prepare a children's coloring book and story to be handed out to children at their stores. That was in 1938, the year his daughter came up to his lap, but also the year Bob May wrote up his story for Montgomery Ward.
Ten years later, some 6 million copies of the booklet had been given away or sold, making Rudolph one of the most widely distributed books in the world. Bob May purchased the rights back to the story from Montgomery Ward. After that, the Rudolph phenomenon really took off because May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for a Rudolph song. Marks' musical version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," recorded by Gene Autry in 1949, sold two million copies that year and went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time, second only to "White Christmas."
So why do I tell this story that is now so much part of the American Christmas season? Christmas is about a Christ who brings light and hope. And Rudolph is a wonderful story to help us remember the spirit of the season.
However, the story of Rudolph has a downside that is not part of Christmas. If you remember the story revolves around the fact that Rudolph had this unique characteristic – a shining red nose. Of course that nose is the reason Bob May created and told the story to tell his daughter; we're all a bit like Rudolph. Some of us taller than average, some us thinner than average, some of us smile more often, some of us are better at Art, or Math, or Music. We're all a bit unique like Rudolph - and that's good. But sometimes it is not so good, because like Rudolph we might get teased and bullied.
Rather do you remember what it is about that story that takes away from Christmas? Do you know what it is about that story that is not true to Christmas? According to the story one stormy night when Santa asked Rudolph to use his bright nose to guide the sleigh, --- then and only then did everyone love him. That's what is wrong about the story. Everyone thought Rudolph was special because of what he could do.
That part of the Rudolph story is also what makes the story wrong from Christmas, because all too often we think we are loved when we can achieve something useful. Everything will be ok if we either try to be the same as the other reindeer or we do something heroic. Our friends, family, and society may love and value us only because of what we can do for them. That's what is wrong about the story of Rudolph during Christmas. We can try and prove we are worthy of other people's love. We can think "If my nose glows brightly enough in the dark" we will be accepted and loved.
Our world revolves on either trying to fit in or around performance - how fast we can run, what marks we can get, what degrees we can collect, what awards we receive, how much work we can do, how much money we can earn OR how much our children can achieve.
The whole point of Christmas however is that our abilities our unique gifts, the families we belong to, the study or work we do, are only part of who we are, and not the main ingredient of Christmas. God sent Jesus to be with us, Immanuel --- God with us--- not because we may or not fit in or of what we may or may not achieve, earn or not earn, do or not do; we are loved because of whom we belong. It is for that reason why the angel said to Joseph, "Don't be afraid. Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." What is our sin? Well one of our sins is that we sometimes believe, that we do not need God and that all we need to do is perform a little harder, be a little better, save a little more, live a better life, have no problems, be tested a little less often and everything will be better.
The wonder of Christmas is that God does not choose us or love us when we are useful to God. Nor does God ignore us because we are different and considered to be useless. With God we don't have to be noticed. With God we don't have to turn to our Barbara's and tell them a story about a reindeer to help them come to terms being different. Each of us is loved by God and God sent his son to restore that relationship.
In life we too can act like silly reindeer, we can be horrible to people and ourselves. We can especially be horrible to others because by their race, sexuality, religion, or social status. Furthermore, we can be horrible to ourselves because of what we think we do not have … or should be like.
As Christians we need to be careful about how other stories become part of Christmas, but do not tell the real meaning of Christmas. No matter how appealing those others stories may be, God chose his son Jesus to be born among the poor and the meek. God came through Jesus to show us that God goes out of God's way to show us that God's way is not our way.
Because of God's passionate love and involvement with humanity, we have been delivered from futility and endless self-seeking. God loves humanity with a love that is stronger and purer than any of our loves; God has come to give us new life.
Bob May's bedtime story of Rudolph helped his daughter cope and made him a lot of money, but did not save his wife. She died that very same winter. God sent his son, not as a good bedtime story for children or to be a good moral tale. God sent his son to save us so that even death will not separate us from God. Immanuel --- God with us. Amen.
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