One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the music. I don’t listen to it all day but I do enjoy all the charming vintage classics and also the high and holy anthems that sound other-worldly when sung by a large choir in a cathedral. I get lost in the childlike wonder of listening and singing along. Last week I was in the car listening to a CD of a large choir singing Once in Royal David’s City and I started to weep. I wept in part because I was thinking of my dad who passed away this year but also because I was caught up in the majesty of the King.

Just this week I was listening to The Little Drummer Boy. It is such a familiar tune and I love to belt out the “rum pa pum pums”. Sometimes when things are very familiar to us we don’t really listen any more (I don’t like to pray the Lord’s Prayer very often for the same reason). On this particular listening I actually listened to the words and it struck me….we are little drummer boys. The words begin, “Come, they told me. A newborn king to see. Our finest gifts we bring. To lay before the king. So to honor him when we come.” At some point someone told us about Jesus and told us to come (in this case it was a “they” that did the telling. If the song ended there and if our invitation to Jesus ended there we might be in better shape. After all, it is the encounter with Jesus Himself and the audacity to approach that transforms. Sigh. Unfortunately “they” – the church, a person, a book, a spiritual leader, etc., adds on instructions (earthly, distorted ones) before we can go to Jesus. In the song the drummer boy is told that he must bring a gift and it has to be the best one or Jesus won’t be honored. Hmmm, I cringe and wonder just how many little drummer boys have walked away because they didn’t feel good enough or clean enough or talented enough to go to Jesus. Perhaps you have stood in line or attended a church service with full intentions of visiting Jesus and then you compared yourself with other people waiting to see Jesus and found yourself lacking. Or perhaps part of they/the church only spoke of and pointed out your wretchedness and made you feel worthless. That is not the Gospel story! And that isn’t our story!

Fortunately, there is another verse to this song. After a whole bunch of rum pa pum pumming the clouds part and these words come….”Little baby, I am a poor boy too. I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give our king. Shall I play for you?” My goodness, there is such deep and profound wisdom in those few words. The boy comes to Jesus and brings his truth, “I am a poor boy too. I have no gift to bring.” If you want a heart encounter with your Messiah, that is how you must come. You must bring Him the truth of your poverty. We don’t have gifts to bring. We don’t have service and talents and money and shiny objects and blah, blah, blah. We just go. With all of our vulnerabilities and questions and quirks and fears and pieces and awkwardness, we go. There is no “they” with us. It’s just a little drummer boy and Jesus.

In the final verse, the little drummer boy shares the encounter….”I played my drum for him. I played my best for him. Then he smiled at me.” Can you see it? Can you hear it? He is telling us that he gave himself to Jesus. He did his best. We are never told if the boy could play very well or not. It could have been awful. We just know he gave his transparent self to and for Jesus. No one from the heavenly kingdom ever asked you to be perfect or get yourself all cleaned up and shiny before you encounter your Lord. What you have is all He ever wanted in the first place.

Every time we approach Him we can walk right up to Him with full transparency and all of our pieces and we can be assured that no matter what “they” said, He will smile at us!