Day Nine: A Day of Christmas Conviction

It's funny because, sure, even though a good part of the canon of Christmas songs are faith-based ones like "O Holy Night," "Silent Night," and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (lots of nights in there too), you never quite think about them as songs of conviction.  Yeah, they're pretty and many may even leave you with some hair raising goosebumps if performed right (for such an example, head here, just wait for the song and you'll see) or certainly some warm smiles and nostalgic feelings.  But conviction, not usually.

Yet, when I popped in Superstar Christmas, that's exactly what greeted me once again this year.  The album is a collection of various artists, showcasing everyone from Mariah and Cyndi Lauper to Pavarotti and Barbara Steisand and has been one of my favorites of the years.  I picked it today because, after listening to full albums by one artist at a time, I was in need of some diversity.

But, alas, the conviction.  The first bit of that came with the very first track, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's legendary "Happy Xmas (War is Over)."  That song has haunted me for the past several years and, in my here and there blogging days, I've blogged about it before.  There's something haunting and terribly challenging about the line, "So this is Christmas/And what have you done? Another year's over/A new one's just begun." 

That's a powerful point of assessment in what is otherwise a happy and joyous song.  That challenge resonates within me, "What have I done?", and I frankly wrestle with the answer.  What have I done this year?  Certainly, I've grown in some areas, accomplished some things (being a part of Third Option Men and having some great friendships there has helped), and have learned a lot.  But, if I'm honest with myself, there are a lot of things that have gone undone as well.  There are things that have been thought about but shelved, points of laziness given into, and sins allowed to fester.  It's a strangely powerful question and is one I think I'll continue to wrestle with.

But the album's convicting presence doesn't end there.  Because, just a bit further down the tracklist, we run into country star Collin Raye's "What If Jesus Comes Back Like That?"  It's a song that I've heard tons of times and have stuck on mix discs for friends around the holidays but, on this day, the lyric really hit home.  Raye sings:

"What if Jesus comes back like that
On an old freight train in a hobo hat
Will we let him in or turn our back
What if Jesus comes back like that
Oh what if Jesus comes back like that"

He develops the imagery further:

"What if Jesus comes back like that

Two months early and hooked on crack
Will we let him in or turn our back
What if Jesus comes back like that
Oh what if Jesus comes back like that"

Eventually, he concludes:

"What if Jesus comes back like that

Where will he find out hearts are at
Will he let us in or turn his back
What if Jesus comes back like that
Will he cry when he sees where our hearts are at
Will he let us in or turn his back
What if Jesus comes back like that"

These are questions that haunt me because, ultimately, I believe that God, in some ways, has come back like that.  Jesus said that as we do unto the least of these, we have done unto Him.  As we drive down the street and look into the eyes of the homeless man, we see Jesus.  When we engage the sickly child, we see Jesus.  Likewise, as we engage our next door neighbor, our local shop clerk, and our spouse, we look into the eyes of Jesus.

The question for us is, what do we do?  How do we act? 

How do I act?