Spider Man, Buddy-Man, and Christmas Christians

He was about the same height as Gabe. He sounded like Gabe, as he ran down the stairs at Emma's birthday party this week. His gait matched my little boy's. His intensity equaled Gabe's. Unfortunately, he even smelled like Gabe! But he was not Gabe. Instead, he was none other than that famous web slinger, Spider Man! Imagine that! Spider Man was in my house. He showed up to wish Emma a happy birthday and to maybe even stop a little crime along the way.

Eventually, the spandex got too hot for him. He had to shed his superhero costume and transform back into my little Buddy-Man, Gabriel Jackson Kale.

As Gabe undressed, many of us will undress our homes during the next two weeks, taking off the Christmas costumes that have decorated our houses. We will take the Christmas albums out of our compact disc players, then we will either drag out the dried up "real" tree or pack up the artificial one. The wreaths will go back into the boxes labeled "Christmas." Christmas will be over for about eleven months. Then the transformation will take place again.

The decorations don't make Christmas what it is any more than a costume makes Peter Parker (Or dare I say, Gabe Kale?) into Spider Man. No, Christmas is something deeper. We cannot just undress the Christmas spirit from ourselves. It beats a drum down in our souls that cannot be silenced by the realities of a new year. Christ's coming changes us. Christ has not only broken into the world, He has broken into our hearts, our lives, and thereby made us different. Christ has altered us from little disciple wannabe's into full fledged superhereos. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! We might look the same as other people, but make no mistake: We are Christmas Christians.

Will you join me in making 2006 a year for Christmas Christians? Will you keep your generous spirit of giving well fed and nurtured through the whole year? Will you welcome others with the same smile that came from giving to the Salvation Army or White Christmas Offering? Will you THINK about Christ as much as you did when you set up your nativity set? Will you be as thankful this year as you were when you bought that perfect gift for someone special? Will you be a superhero, even when it gets hot? Will you be a Christmas Christian the whole year? Let's do.