Invasion of the Body Snatchers - December 13, 2015

By Pastor Greg

          As some of you know, I enjoy the old classic Science Fiction movies.  You know, the kind that were designed to make you think instead of merely scaring you - like most Sci-Fi movies nowadays. 

Not long ago I re-watched “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (thank you Netflix).  In this film, aliens from another world plan to take over the earth by replacing real humans with almost exact duplicates.  They looked like regular humans and appeared to be the same person they’ve replaced on the outside.  But if you would look closely, there was something absent in their behavior.  They had no emotion - no anxiety, no sadness, but neither any faith, hope, or love.  This invasion process took place when a person fell asleep.  Of course, like most of the classic tales, there were a few people who knew the truth.  And, as the rest of the world marched on in oblivion, this handful of hero’s seemed to be the only one’s who noticed.

          Picture it, a society of loveless conformist without personality or emotion; a society of people that looked human but had no heart; no passion.  At the end of the movie, our hero runs through the streets trying to warn people of the coming menace, yet no one listened; they turned a deaf ear to the warning of one shouting in the streets.  The movie sadly ends leaving the viewer without any hope.

          In a way, I too feel a bit like the hero in this movie.  It happens every December.  I keep talking about Jesus during the Christmas Season, yet it seems very few actually listen.  Christmas is about Jesus, not the tinsel covered retail sales event it has become.  In a land that continues to shop for hope, peace, joy, and love, it feels I am a voice crying in the wilderness.

          One of the forgotten players in the Christmas story is John the Baptist.  Luke believes that John’s story is so important that he starts his Gospel account with John’s birth, not the birth of Jesus. “Now it was time for Elizabeth's baby to be born, and it was a boy.  The word spread quickly to her neighbors and relatives that the Lord had been very kind to her, and everyone rejoiced with her.  When the baby was eight days old, all the relatives and friends came for the circumcision ceremony.  They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.  But Elizabeth said, ‘No! His name is John!’  ‘What?’ they exclaimed. ‘There is no one in all your family by that name.’  So they asked the baby's father, communicating to him by making gestures.  He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone's surprise he wrote, ‘His name is John!’  Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.  Wonder fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.  Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, ‘I wonder what this child will turn out to be?  For the hand of the Lord is surely upon him in a special way" (Luke 1:57-66).

John’s own father says that he will “Prepare the way for the Lord” (Luke 1:76).  Isaiah described him as “A voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Isaiah 40:3).  In a land that had forgotten what it meant to be a Child of God, one lone voice cries out in the desert.  What difference would one man make in a nation filled with empty, meaningless, ritual?  And yet, crowds flocked to John.  Many people in the land traveled to the little town of Bethany where John pointed them to Jesus (John 1:29).

John’s story becomes our story.  As he pointed people to Jesus, so must you and I.  Yet in a land that has allowed Christmas to become empty and meaningless -where the people rush madly in an attempt to purchase hope, peace, joy, and love - what difference will one voice make?  Our society will continue to move about this Holiday as it has for decades now, completely oblivious to what the Christmas celebration is really about.  It appears that the dirt and straw of a manger will continue to be invaded by the red velvet of a Jolly Elf riding a Sleigh.  What difference will our voice make this year during the Christmas season?  More than you could possibly know.

          Once, while walking through a store during the height of the Holiday shopping season, I was overwhelmed by all the packages, boxes, and bags.  Christmas, it seemed, had become a retail extravaganza.  Just as I was about to become completely disgusted, I overheard a young child peacefully singing as she rode in a shopping cart.  Among the craziness, a child came along and broke through the madness.  To me, it was one of the most incredible scenes I have ever witnessed.  Although it appeared that everyone around her had forgotten what Christmas was really about, she was singing “Away in a Manger.”  God love that little girl.  A voice crying out in the wilderness.

          Although it seems that Christmas is being invaded by the sounds of cash registers ringing and sleigh bells jingling, we must continue to be a voice crying in the wilderness.  And, not unlike the Sci-Fi movie, all it takes for evil to overcome this world is for good people to fall asleep; to give up all hope and allow the truth of this season to be invaded by the sounds carolers singing “ho, ho, ho.”  The real message of Christmas will be lost if Christians refuse to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  The truth of Christmas will be invaded by the retail industry if we Christians fall asleep.  That’s all it takes.  While we are sleeping, the birth of Jesus will be replaced with a holiday that offers no hope, peace, joy, or love.  While we are sleeping, Christmas will slowly become nothing more than a holiday.

The people who move about this holiday season might look like regular people, but their life is empty and meaningless.  They have no passion or hope.  They’ve been led to believe that the emptiness in their heart can be filled with coupons for a special Black Friday sale.  This is why it is so important that Christians never sleep.  We, like the small girl in the shopping cart, must become a voice crying out in the wilderness.  You never know whose heart or soul you might awaken this Christmas season.