December 3
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Created in 1964, the animated film Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a favoritefrom my childhood. It suggested a new twist on the Santa legend, leading a generation of children to stare out their bedroom window on Christmas eve, sure they’d located Rudolph’s red nose in the empty sky. The kindly voice of Burl Ives narrated the story and gave us “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and Ives’ famous ballad that tells of a glowing nose (like a lightbulb), reindeer games (like Monopoly), and a saving presence on Christmas Eve.
In its simplicity of plot, it is a powerfully redemptive message for those who struggle to belong – and to believe. Consider this dialogue between the head elf and Herney, who has befriended Rudolph. Herney was making toys in Santa’s workshop but really wanted to be a dentist. In trouble with the head elf, Herney tried to explain, saying, “I just thought I’d find a way to fit in.” In response, the Head Elf told him: “You’ll never fit in. Now you come to elf practice, learn how to wiggle your ears, and chuckle warmly and go hee hee and ho ho and important stuff like that. A dentist. Good grief.”
Like Rudolph and Herney, we’ve probably experienced a time or two when our ears won’t wiggle, and we feel like misfits. Yet the gospel speaks of a different truth: All can belong. All can believe. There is room for elf-dentists and red-nosed sleigh navigators – and there is room in the Kingdom for you and me.
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son.
And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed;
by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
John 3: 16, The Message
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