8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
It's hard not to hear Linus recite this. However, it's not just a touching end to a great Christmas cartoon, it's the Gospel in miniature.
Let's dwell on verse 10. This good news is for "all the people." Not just people we like. I don't buy fully into Catholic doctrine here, but this piece on Dear Leader's eternal destination is worth considering-
God’s ways, however, are not our ways. Does this mean that God holds open the possibility of salvation for a man like Kim Jong-Il? Our Catholic faith would say “yes.” The church professes that hell does exist. And Kim would be a perfect candidate for damnation. But the church does not profess certain knowledge that anyone is actually damned. It only professes certain knowledge of those who have entered into communion with God.
The odds of Kim making the cut are fairly slim given his track record. That being said, you had mass murderers like Dahmer and Bundy and Son of Sam who came to the Lord in prison. One can only hope that enough of the Gospel got into Kim's skull even as he tried to shut it down in his turf; Christmas is one time where the Gospel gets into pop culture, and Kim did like Western culture even if he suppressed it at home.
As much as Christmas gets commercialized and Santaized, there is still a bit of the Gospel of that Emanuel making it to the mortal plane. I remember hearing some boy-band do a rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful while I was eating lunch out the other day. You're normally not going to get the Gospel into a secular eatery; we may have to pair it with I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, but it at least gets Jesus partly into view.
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