Okay, folks. When last we were together, I was just getting ready to tell you why I don't worry about the "Disney princess" syndrome anymore. (You really need to read part one first to have this make any sense at all.) I'm going to have to go way off track of where I left you at the end of part one, but I promise I do have a point.
In the early morning hours of the day, long before Sweet E and I were singing together, many hours before this idea hit me, I was reading from the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 2 to be exact. The following verses were the focus of my study today:
8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
These are familiar verses to me; maybe they are to you, as well. But this morning, something in the notes of my Bible stopped me in my tracks. In verse 10, the angel tells the shepherd that this good news of great joy was for all the people. "Of course our Savior's birth was good news of great joy for all the people," I thought. However, the notes mention that what the author (Luke) most likely meant by "all the people" was all of Israel. At first, I was a bit huffy after reading that. I pouted, "It was good news of great joy just for Israel?" Well, yes, they were God's chosen people, but gee whiz... What about us Gentiles? For a split second, that kind of put a damper on this verse that I had always loved. Then, as I thought it through some more, I realized that even though the announcement of His birth may not have brought joy to the Gentiles then (since they hadn't received the prophecies and the promises of this Savior), it certainly does now. The birth of Jesus is a wonderful thing for us to celebrate, but the joy I have didn't begin and end with his birth. The joy I have comes from His birth and life and sacrificial death and resurrection. It comes from His willingness to come here to save me, to rescue me. And so I finished my time of study, grateful for being rescued and grateful for the Rescuer.
Fast forward several hours: Sweet E and I are in the kitchen singing with the newest Disney soundtrack. I am having that creeping feeling of doubt that always comes with Disney and princesses and girls needing rescued. And suddenly it clicks...girls do need to be rescued...along with boys and men and women. All of us need it. It isn't wrong for my daughter to hear this message. It is right. It is exactly what she needs to hear; what we all need to hear. No, she doesn't need to learn that she needs a man to make her life complete, or that a man will come along to pull her out of terrible situations. But, she (along with the rest of us) do need to hear that there is a God-Man that did come. And His birth, His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection did make her complete and perfect and pulled her out of the most terrible situation she could ever be in. Jesus came and He rescued her. And now what I see in the epic stories and the valiant heroes and even the fluffiest tale of damsels in distress are echoes of Him. May you see it, too, friends.
Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment