By Bob Terry
This Christmas would be different, the man decided. This Christmas he was going to treat himself to a special Christmas feast. Not a home-cooked meal like he had done for the past few years or one of those all-you-can-eat buffets where you get elbowed by people breaking in line to get a particular dish. This year he was going to give himself the gift of an elegant Christmas dinner at one of the city’s finest restaurants.
Preparations began early. He read reviews of each of the restaurants offering Christmas Day dinners. He looked at advertisements and visited the restaurants’ Facebook pages. Finally he decided on one offering Christmas dishes from around the world and made his reservation. The event began to sound almost exotic.
The restaurant was one of the city’s best. If a guest did not have a jacket, one was provided. But wearing a house jacket would not do for this occasion. The gentleman bought himself a new white shirt and a tie to go with his favorite suit. He even shined his shoes. He was going to look like he belonged there and enjoy every moment of the experience.
Impatiently he waited for Christmas Day and then for the Christmas feast and at last the time came. He was greeted by a valet who parked his car and by a young hostess who greeted him warmly, asked his name and then introduced him to the maître d’. As he walked across the lobby he was impressed by the tasteful Christmas decorations.
Better than imagined
He was more impressed by the dining room — white linen table cloths, perfectly set table placements, candles and flowers on each table in a room bathed in soft light. His table was perfect, next to a window overlooking the downtown area so he could see the lights emerge as the early darkness of winter settled over the area. It was even better than he imagined.
The maître d’ pulled out the padded chair
for the man and then pushed it forward as he sat down and handed him a leather-bound menu.
Reading a menu can be exciting, especially when the menu describes the available choices. His imagination ran wild as he changed his mind a hundred times. Every choice seemed to stimulate his taste buds.
The man read about appetizers from Scandinavia, salads from the Orient. He lingered over the descriptions of a cornucopia of vegetables from South America and decadent desserts from Europe. Entrees were from different parts of the United States. His eyes settled on a pork roast with a special sweet potato and golden raisin sauce. Then he saw something he had not had since boyhood — a baked Christmas goose.
When the waiter came the man asked about each dish — about seasonings, about preparations, about compatibility with other dishes. He even asked about presentations. The informed responses of the waiter only added to his excitement and anticipation.
At last the fateful moment came when it was time to order. That is when the most bizarre thing happened. The man handed the leather bound menu back to the waiter, thanked him profusely for all his helpful information, even told the confused waiter how delightful the evening had been. Then he rose from the table and walked out of the restaurant. The last thing the startled staff heard him say was that this had been the best Christmas dinner ever.
In the days that followed the man remembered how lovely the restaurant had appeared and how exciting it had been to read the menu and talk with the waiter. He even told his friends to be sure and go to that restaurant next Christmas. It was an experience not to be missed.
But the man never ate a single bite of the Christmas feast. His taste buds never knew the joy of the long-anticipated satisfaction. He never saw the beauty of the plate, never gained the nourishment of the available dishes.
“How foolish,” we say. No matter how enticing the descriptions, a menu can never satisfy like the meal itself. The two are entirely different.
More than blinking lights
But is that any more foolish than the one who is satisfied by the social and cultural trappings of Christmas but never knows the One Christmas celebrates?
How many people glory in the toys and tinsel of Christmas, in the goodies and goodwill, in the stories of Frosty the snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and Santa Claus? How many people think of Christmas as blinking lights, office parties and sentimental music about “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”?
These are no more Christmas than a menu is a meal.
Only as one knows Bethlehem’s Babe as personal Lord and Savior can the cravings of the soul be satisfied. Only then can the life-giving nourishment of Christmas become real.
Yet many people are as foolish as the man in the restaurant. They are content with the trappings of Christmas and never partake of the true Christmas feast.
Psalm 34:8 urges us to, “Taste the Lord and see that He is good.” That is possible only through faith in Jesus of Nazareth, the One the Bible describes as “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
This Christmas may we all be excited by the trappings and anticipation of Christmas and may we all enjoy the true Christmas feast as we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).
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