One of my all-time favorite movies is High Fidelity. This should come as no surprise to those who know me well and also know this movie. Because of this movie I am periodically coming up with lists of the Top 5 songs about something. One of the characters in the movie, Laura, loses her father and Barry, played by Jack Black, proposes a Top 5 Songs About Death as a tribute to Laura’s Dad.

I have made my own list about this topic with numerous friends in the past. I always include the song Fade to Black by Metallica as a part of my list and really I think of it as the pinnacle for songs about death. The song is about someone contemplating suicide and starts with an acoustic guitar and features some minor chords to emphasize its poetic darkness before building into a wailing guitar solo and then fading away itself. If I were to ever be sent on a suicide mission knowing I wouldn’t be coming back it would be the song I would listen to as I departed.

However…I don’t believe death is a fade to black; it is a journey into marvelous light. For those of us who have a relationship with God through Jesus we know that death is not the end. Death is the enemy, but the enemy has been defeated.

Over the past month or so I have seen death become a temporary separation for some of my friends and family. I hurt with them. I hate to see it happen, especially this time of the year because I know it makes a rough time even harder.

In John 11 we see the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Jesus goes to the tomb where he had been laid and tells the people to roll away the stone. He then yells, “Lazarus, come out!” And as verse 44 states: “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” And this is what Jesus said to death regarding His children by His death and resurrection: “Unbind them, and let them go!”

The Apostle Paul quotes the Prophet Hosea in his first letter to the church at Corinth when he asks: “O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” While we are sad when our loved ones leave us we can rest assured in this hope knowing that death is indeed not the end. And that is what we celebrate this Christmas season: victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, a Savior, born in the City of David. As Linus tells Charlie Brown, it is the true meaning of Christmas.

Did you remember that this past week? In the midst of the chaos that Christmas is for so many of us did you pause and remember the true meaning of Christmas? If not I have good news for you: It’s not too late, there are 12 Days of Christmas that BEGIN on December 25! So don’t take down that tree just yet; you have from now until January 5, to continue to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. And it doesn’t have to stop then, you can celebrate Jesus all year.

As we head into a New Year, think about whom in your life needs to know or be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. Then pray for them to know and understand it. And also pray for us and for the people we will encounter as we take this message with us to Guatemala over the next couple of weeks. Prayer is God’s will for our lives. And it can change the world.