Tommy's Unusual First Christmas

Tommy’s Unusual First Christmas
By Joshua D. Vesper


“Great.” Tommy sighed as he looked at the storefront Christmas display. All the eleven year old boy could think of was now Christmas vacation had started. And that meant he had to be around a drunken, abusive father and a schizophrenic mother for the two weeks he was out of school. He felt as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders.

“Who came up with this stupid holiday, anyway?” He mumbled as he turned to walk away. He had walked for about a half a block before he noticed the old man with a scraggly white beard and disheveled white hair keeping pace with him. The old man smiled at Tommy and kept walking beside him. At first this frightened the boy, but after a while he became annoyed from the mysterious man walking beside him. He began to try and out pace him, but the old man was able to match the boy step for step.

“This guy is as annoying as this retarded holiday.” Tommy thought to himself as he began to get winded from trying to out pace the oldman.

“Whats so retarded about the Lord’s Birthday?” The old man inquired. The question startled Tommy. He didn’t know there was a Lord who was born on Christmas. In fact, He didn’t know there was a Lord period.

“Who is this Lord you say we’re celebrating?” He asked the old man. The old man looked at Tommy in surprise.

“You mean you’ve never heard of Jesus, the Son of God? This is his birthday.” The old man replied. Tommy rolled his eyes at the old man’s response. He had heard all about the Jesus from his dad, the drunk. His Father had told him that Jesus was a figment of peoples imagination that was egged on by the hypocritical church. He had also told the boy there is no God.

“Oh good. So one of those church losers that try to push God on the unsuspecting.” Tommy spoke cynically. The mysterious old man looked at him with sorrowful eyes. Tommy immediately felt remorseful for what he said.

“Look mister, I didn’t mean to upset you...” he began to apologize. The old man stretched forth his hand as if he wanted to shake the boy’s hand. Tommy felt compelled to extend his own. The old man’s hand and Tommy’s converged in a friendly handshake. Tommy felt his stomach growl in hunger. The old man heard the noise it produced and smiled.

“Come young man.” The old man told him, “How about I buy you some lunch and maybe you’ll let me talk to you about the real reason for this season.” Tommy winced. He didn’t really want to preached at. But then, free food was free food. He hesitantly agreed to the old man’s proposal. The two walked down the street to nearby diner. It was Tommy’s first time to the diner. As they walked in and took their seat, a pretty young woman walked over to them.

“What can I get you two to drink?” she asked politely. The old man looked up.

“I’ll have iced tea, ma’am.” he responded to the woman’s inquiry. The young lady turned to Tommy.

“And what about you, cutie?” She asked with a smile that slightly wrinkled her nose. Tommy turned a rosy color.

“I’ll have a pepsi, ma’am.” he shyly replied. The woman wrote it down on a little pad and walked away.

“So young man,” the old man then stated, “ Why do you think that Jesus is not real?” Tommy looked down. He began to twiddle his thumbs.

“My pa told me so.” Tommy answered. Slowly he began to look at the old man’s face. The old man sat there silently. He had a sad look upon his face.

“Would you like to know the reason behind this season?” The old man then asked. The question suddenly made Tommy very curious. He quietly nodded his head in approval.

“Well then,” the old man began, “Listen up. It all happened around two thousand years ago.”

“You mean this Jesus is two thousand years old?” Tommy asked skeptically.

“Actually, he always has been always is and always will be.” The old man responded. The answer puzzled Tommy. The old man noticed the puzzled look on the boy’s face and broke it down into simpler terms.

“Tommy, my boy. Jesus is immortal. He has been around since time began. In fact, He started time.” The old man declared with a slight smile. This statement made Tommy even more curious.

“If He is immortal, how can you celebrate his birthday? And why is it only two thousand years old?” Tommy inquired. He was fully interested now.

“Well, I’ll tell you.” The old man then said, “At the beginning of time, God created the everything. The earth, the sky, the stars, all the animals and plants throughout the universe. Even man.”

“Even us?” The boy queried in wide eyed wonder. The old man chuckled.

“Even us.” He assured Tommy. The boy was enraptured in the old man’s story.

“Well, man used to walk and talk with God, just as you and I are now.” The old man continued, “But one day, man sinned against God. And this saddened God, Because that meant man, his own creation was turning against him.” The mention of this saddened Tommy.

“So what did God do?” Tommy replied somberly. The old man smiled at the boy.

“Well, with sin, God did what he told man he would do. He made us mortal. And he made us work for a living.” The old man explained, “He didn’t walk with us the same way we used to. But also in that moment He had a plan. A way for man to be redeemed, to be made like they were in the beginning, before they sinned. That is where this holiday comes in.”

“This Holiday was planned by God? Are you yankin’ my chain?” Tommy retorted. The spark of hope had left his eye and he had once again become the skeptical downtrodden kid he had been.

“Yes.” the old man simply replied. The kid was about to walk away.

“So God made a holiday on which all men can be saved, if they try?” The boy smarted. The old man looked at him with slight smirk and chuckled. About that time the young waitress returned with their drinks. She sat down the drinks in front of the two and pulled out her small ticket pad.

“You ready to order, honey?” She asked the old man.

He nodded and replied, “ Yes ma’am. I think I want a cheeseburger and fries.”

“And how about you, sweetie?” She inquired as she turned to Tommy.

Shyly he responded, “Same as the old man, ma’am.” The girl wrote the orders down and walked away again.

“Now where was I? Oh yeah. No, God didn’t make the holiday to save man. His son was born as a mortal on that day two thousand years ago.” This knowledge peaked Tommy’s interest again.

“God’s son was born as a human two thousand years ago?” The boy asked.

“Why yes.” The old man continued, “ He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. Do you want me to finish the story or would you like to eat and run as you were thinking about a few minutes ago?” The boy looked down and began to twiddle his thumbs. After an awkward minute of silence, the boy agreed to stay and hear the story.

“Well,” The old man began, “It all started two thousand years ago in Israel. The Romans had conquered most of the known world at that time, including Israel. And the emperor of the Romans, called Caesar Augustus, made a decree that everyone in his empire was to be taxed. At the time this decree came out, a man named Cyrenius was the governor of Syria. But enough about him. Since everyone was to be taxed, they were all required to travel to their ancestral hometown to be registered.” He paused as the boy soaked up every word he had spoken. The young waitress returned to the table with two plates in her hands. She sat the plates down in front of each one.

“Enjoy darlin’s!” she exclaimed and walked away. Tommy didn’t touch his food. He was somehow enthralled with the old man’s story. The old man bowed his head and said a small prayer over the food. He began to pick up his burger and take a bite when Tommy interrupted.

“Mister, aren’t you going to finish the story?” The boy asked. The old man smiled and sat the burger down.

“Alright. Now where was I?” he continued, “Oh yes. So everyone has to go home to register to be taxed. This included a man named Joseph. He left the city of Nazareth on the Sea of Galilee where he lived to go to a town called Bethlehem in the province of Judea, because he was a direct descendant of the ancient King of Israel, David. And David was originally from Bethlehem. And he took his espoused wife Mary with him, who at the time was very much pregnant.”

“So Joseph and his wife were having a child?” Tommy queried, “That doesn’t sound like anything that isn’t done today.” The old man chuckled.

“No no no.” He responded, “Mary was pregnant, but it wasn’t because she and Joseph had been together. God made her have the baby. She was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.” This answer silenced Tommy’s curiosity for the time being, so the old man continued telling him the story.

“And so,” he continued, “While they were in Bethlehem getting registered and taxed, the time for her pregnancy was completed, and she was ready to give birth. So she had her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.”

“Whats swaddling clothes and whats a manger?” Tommy interrupted.

“Well,” the old man replied, “Swaddling clothes are clothes that babies used to be wrapped in when they were born to keep their arms and legs from moving around. And a manger is a feeding trough for livestock.”

“What were they trying to feed him to the animals?” Tommy cried alarmed. The old man laughed and shook his head.

“No no. They were staying in the stable at the inn in Bethlehem because the city was so overcrowded for the tax registering, that there was no room for them in the inn.” the old man then stated, “ Well, when he was born, there were sheperds in the same area as Bethlehem, watching over their flocks of sheep through the night. Suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared before them. And God’s glory shined all around them to the point that they were scared out of their minds. But the angel told them not to be afraid. It told them that brought good tidings of great joy which will be for all the people of the world. It told them that on that very night the Savior of mankind had been born in the city of David, Bethlehem and called him Christ the Lord.” The old man paused again for the boy to absorb what had been told to him.

As for Tommy, he didn’t know why, but he was completely enraptured in the old man’s story. It for some reason was making him feel like the weight of the world wasn’t on his shoulders anymore. And he couldn’t wait to hear more of the story.

After the brief pause, the old man pushed on with his story, “The angel told where and how they would find him. It said ‘This will be how you find him. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ Just as sudden as the angel had appeared, there was now the entire Army of Heaven with him. They were all singing praise to God, saying ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men.’ Afterwards when the angels went back up to Heaven, the sheperds said to one another, ‘Lets go see the things in Bethlehem that we were told of by the Lord.’ So the sheperds ran into town and found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus lying in the manger. When they saw it all firsthand, the sheperds went out and exclaimed everywhere what had transpired and all they had heard of concerning the baby. Everyone that heard what the sheperds had to say wondered about it all. But Mary, Jesus’ mother, kept all the things said of her son and thought about them deeply in her heart. So the sheperds returned to the fields glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard. Eight days later the baby was circumcised and his name was officially known as Jesus, which was the name the angel had given for him to be called before he was even conceived in his Mama’s belly.”The old man again paused and picked up his burger to take a bite. Tommy felt his stomach growl and followed suit of the old man. After a few minutes, the two had finished their burgers.

“Now will you finish the story?” Tommy inquired eagerly.

“Yes, yes. I’ll finish the story for you now.” The old man replied and finished the story, “ Well, around the same time in those days, A man named Herod was the king in Judea. And he was a mean vicious tyrant who had been set up as a puppet king by the Roman Empire. And while he was king, three wise men, called the magi, came in to Jerusalem, which is the capitol of Judea. They were there to see the newborn King of the Jews and worship him after following his star from the east. Well, you can imagine that Herod wasn’t pleased when he heard the wise men say there was a newborn King of the Jews. The news troubled him because if the true King of the Jews had been born, then he was out of a job because the Jewish people would overthrow him. It worried him so much that he had all the scribes and priests of Israel gathered together and demanded they tell him where this King, This Christ would be born. They all told him the same thing. Bethlehem.

Being as sneaky as he was mean, when Herod heard from the scribes and priests where the baby was to be born, he secretly called the three wise men to him and persistently asked them when they first saw it. Then he told them to go and find the child and then send him word when they had. He said he wanted to worship the child as the newborn King, but he didn’t mean it. So off the three wise men went, following the star to the east until they found the place that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were staying at. You see it had been a while since the birth, and the three were staying in a house in Bethlehem by this time. So when they found the place, the were really happy. When the three entered the home and saw Mary with Jesus, they fell down and worshipped him, presenting him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then God the Father warned the three in a dream not to go back and tell Herod. So when they left the three went back to their home by a different route.”

The old man paused long enough to wipe the lenses of his bifocals then continued, “ After they had left, the angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee to Egypt with the child and his mother. So they left that very same night for Egypt. It was good that they did, too. When cruel king Herod heard that the three wise men had went home a different way and not came back and told him where the child was, he grew extremely angry. So he ordered the soldiers under his command to go to Bethlehem and kill all the male children two years old and younger, which was the age he had gotten out of the wise men. Well, Joseph, Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod died.

When Herod died, the angel of the Lord reappeared to Joseph in a dream and told him it was safe to go back to Israel because the one who had tried to kill the boy was dead. So they moved back to Israel. But when Joseph heard that Herod’s son was on the throne in his fathers place, he was afraid to go there, and the angel of the Lord warned him not to go there. So instead they moved to the city of Nazareth on the Sea of Galilee, and that is where he was raised.” The old man finished. Tommy was completely drawn in to the amazing story of the old man. He had never heard such an awesome adventure as the birth of Jesus.

The old man called the young waitress back over. She quietly made her way over to the table.

“Can I get you something sir?” The young lady inquired.

“Just the check, please ma’am.” The old man replied courteously. She tore a small ticket off of the pad she had and laid it on the table. She smiled at the old man and then at Tommy and walked away just as quietly as she had walked up.

“So then what happened?” Tommy turned to the old man and asked , wanting to know more about Jesus.

“Well, He grew up and died for all of our sins. But I can’t tell you the whole story now because I have to get going. But if you go out to St. Andrew’s Chapel-” The old man told Tommy.

“That’s on my block!” The boy interrupted enthusiastically. The old man smiled and laughed.

“Yes it is.” he chuckled then told the boy, “If you go there, the people will tell you all about Jesus and the great and wonderful things He’s done for us all, including you.” At that the old man stiffly stood up from the booth. He quietly pulled out and old leather wallet and placed two fresh one dollar bills on the table. The boy like wise stood up from the table. The two walked over to the cashiers booth near the door. The old man quickly paid the cashier and walked with Tommy out the door.

“Well, Tommy, I must be off.” The old man told the boy.

“But there is so much I want to know.” the kid begged, “Like how come you know all of this so good?” Curiosity had gotten to him.

“Well thats for another time, my boy!” The old man replied.

“Would you at least tell me your name before you go, mister?” Tommy then queried. The old man smiled gently at the boy.

“My name is Gabriel. And now I must be off.” He responded to the child’s request and walked away down the street. Tommy himself turned to go, but realized he hadn’t thanked the man for the food and the awesome story. He turned to say thanks, but the old man had disappeared.

“Oh well, thanks Mr. Gabriel.” He said with a sigh and walked home. That night he went out to the church the old man had told him about. The sign out in front of the church read: “Christmas Pagaent tonight at 7 p.m.” The minister of the church greeted members of the congregation as they entered the building. Tommy slowly walked toward the front door of the church.

“Hello there young man. I am Father Malcolm Harris.” The old minister saluted the boy, “Welcome to St. Andrews. Are you from the neighborhood?”

“Yes.” Tommy replied nervously.

“What can I help you with, son.” Father Malcolm then qureied.

“The old man I had lunch with today said you can tell me about Jesus.” Tommy answered.

“Why yes we can.” the Father told Tommy and led the boy into the church as the Christmas pageant began. Tommy watched in awe as the same story Mr. Gabriel had told him earlier was performed before him.

Without realizing it, He pulled one of the Bibles out of the rack on the back of the church pew in front of him. He flipped the book open and looked down. His eyes widened as he read the verses he saw over and over again:
“Luke 1:26-27= And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”

The End