The Lonely Broken Reindeer...

Only a few of you may know this, but my husband is really Clark W. Griswold. If you don’t know who that is, you should rent the DVD of National Lampoon’s ‘Christmas Vacation’. Or, better yet, save yourself the money and just drive by our house to experience it firsthand. Each year at Christmas time, Chris decorates the yard and house with thousands of twinkling lights and all the decorations he can fit onto every tree, bush, gutter, porch, fence and empty spot on the lawn. He really does an outstanding job of spreading Christmas cheer to the neighborhood.

As we were dragging out the decorations last night, out came the metal framed reindeer, you know, the kind wired with white lights whose heads move up and down? There were three reindeer lying on the sidewalk, their lights falling off the frames and tangled up, their heads disconnected from their bodies. Clark, I mean Chris, called from across the yard “Plug them in and see if they work and see if you can get their heads on!” Then I remembered that one unfortunate buck’s head had broken several years ago. I tried unsuccessfully to fix it, gave up, and let it flop to the ground. As he was watching, Chris called “Throw it away!”

For several years we have dragged this same broken reindeer from the basement, plugged him in, remembered his head was broken, and hollered at each other “throw him away!” He was repeatedly carried back to the basement to be thrown back on a lonely shelf in a dark corner, hoping that one day I would have the time and know how to fix that deer. A cheap lawn decoration, useless in its purpose, ignored in the hope that one day it could be salvaged. I cannot bring myself to throw it away. Maybe it’s just the pack-rat in me; I prefer to think it is a symbol of Christmas hope.

We do a lot of things to celebrate Christmas each year; we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, the One who saves us. I hope that broken reindeer can be fixed – but Jesus is THE hope of the entire world. He came to fix those who are broken, to save those that have been given up on. Those who are lonely have, in Him, a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Those who are not fulfilling their purpose in life can find their purpose in Him. To those who feel forgotten or neglected, He promised that He would never leave or forsake them. For those who live in darkness, Jesus can be their light; He is THE light of the world. That broken reindeer will probably still be sitting there on that lonely, dark shelf next Christmas, waiting to be salvaged and repaired. However, those who are broken, lonely, living in darkness, tangled up in sin can turn to Jesus today. We can rejoice during this Christmas season that our Messiah came to save us: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.