A version of this story appeared in the Higher Ground newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Higher Ground delivered directly to your inbox each Sunday.
Max Lucado says Americans are so marinated in the commercial aspects of Christmas that we can lose its essential meaning, that of God becoming a human in the infant Jesus.
The evangelical Christian author has often reflected on Christmas in sermons and in several books.
He’s turned one of those volumes, “Because of Bethlehem: Love is Born, Hope is Here,” into a three-night concert and spoken-word presentation to hit theaters Dec. 5-7. The theme is how God is with humanity in ways we could never imagine. It features musical performances by Christian artists CeCe Winans, Matthew West, Anne Wilson, Matt Maher and Evan Craft.
The hope, Mr. Lucado said, is to guide viewers away from store-bought deals to an eternal treasure.
“Every time Christmas begins to appear on the horizon, we start to see commercials,” he said in a recent video interview. “It is a battle for us to, as the old phrase says, keep the Christ in Christmas. It’s a serious challenge to really sort out the deep and wonderful and exciting meaning of Christmas.”
It is the uniqueness of the Christmas story that fascinates hearers and commands attention, he said.
“No other philosophy, religion, no other theology has anything like the willingness of God to condescend to human nature to become a baby and then not only to become a baby but to become a crucified Savior, and to be placed in a tomb,” said Mr. Lucado, 68, who has sold an estimated 145 million copies of his books in 54 languages.
Along with the fact of the Incarnation, Mr. Lucado noted the location of Jesus’ birth and life, in what was then an obscure outpost of the Roman Empire.
Jesus “in addition to just becoming one of us, to becoming a simple one of us, the son of a carpenter, in a map-dot town, not anywhere near the main crossroads of Rome or Greece, but somewhere on the outskirts, living in such a simple village for 30 years. And anonymity, content to be unknown and then when he was known, content to be crucified and killed,” he said.
Telling the Christmas story in a theatrical presentation is something Mr. Lucado says the culture needs right now.
“I can’t bear to watch the news. And then I can’t not watch the news,” he said. “What we’re seeing in Israel, what we’re seeing in Gaza. When we see the bloodshed, the horrible attacks, the tragedy of innocent lives lost. It’s just nauseating in some ways, it breaks our heart.”
“I think we need a lot of Christmas this Christmas. I think we need the pure message of God loving the world, caring for people and doing everything necessary to redeem it for himself. … We need the message that says it’s going to be OK,” he said.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.