A Christmas Story Worth Hearing (and reading). . .in July

Christmas has a way of slowing us down. For a few days each December, we make room for things we often rush past the rest of the year—wonder, generosity, family, and the incredible story of God coming near.

By July, that feeling can seem far away. Life is full again, calendars are busy, financial decisions compete for our attention.  With all of that, the message of Christmas can quietly become something we remember instead of something we continue to live.

That's one reason we love celebrating a little Christmas in July. It's an opportunity to pause, revisit the hope and promise that first arrived in Bethlehem, and allow its truth to shape our hearts in the middle of the year..

One of the stories that has captured that hope for generations is The Man and the Birds, made famous by the legendary Paul Harvey. Though its original author remains unknown, its message has endured because it illustrates something deeply personal about the heart of God.

Before you read it, don't think of it as simply another Christmas story. Read it as an invitation to see the Gospel and God's love for you with fresh eyes.

The Man and the Birds - author unknown

The man I’m going to tell you about was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family and upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe in all of that incarnation stuff that the churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

He told his wife I’m truly sorry to distress you, but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve. He said he would feel like a hypocrite and that he would much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. So he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then he went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper.

Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another ... and then another. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against the living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled outside miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter they had tried to fly through his large landscape window. That is what had been making the sound.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures just lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter. All he would have to do is to direct the birds into the shelter.

Quickly, he put on a coat and galoshes and he tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light so the birds would know the way in. But the birds did not come in.

So, he figured that food would entice them. He hurried back to the house and fetched some bread crumbs. He sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail of bread crumbs to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs.

The birds continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them but could not. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction ... every direction except into the warm lighted barn.

And that’s when he realized they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me. That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Any move he made tended to frighten them and confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

He thought to himself, if only I could be a bird and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe warm ... to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see ... and hear ... and understand.

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells, Adeste Fidelis, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas...and he sank to his knees in the snow .

The Man and the Birds reminds us that Christmas is more than a holiday, it’s an invitation. It's an invitation to draw near to the God who first drew near to us—and that invitation is just as real in the middle of summer as it is in December.

Maybe someone in your life needs that reminder- a friend, a neighbor, a family member, someone carrying questions, burdens, or simply searching for hope.  Perhaps your own "Christmas in July" isn't only about remembering the story yourself, perhaps it's about sharing it with a simple conversation, a kind word, or an invitation to someone to sit with you at church. You could share this story with someone who needs to know that God understands, He cares, and He came near and He IS near today.

That's the miracle of Christmas- the hope, peace, and love we celebrate in Bethlehem are available every day of the year. May this familiar story help you refocus upon the wonder of Christmas with fresh eyes and may it encourage you to share that hope with someone else! 

Next Steps

Listen to Money Made Faithful podcast Episode #165: A Short Christmas Eve Story (8 minutes)

Apple: #165- A Short Christmas Eve Story 

Spotify: #165 - A Short Christmas Eve Story