Christmas Eve

Intro Story

Christmas Tree Picture:

This Christmas tree is the tree from the city of Boston. For over 100 years the city of Halifax Canada has been sending Boston their official tree at a tremendous expense. This tree is $180k

Why?

Believe it or not, the United States and Canada for 140 years were not allies.

In 1776 and in 1812 we fought against each other.

Halifax secretly supported the confederacy during the civil war in an attempt to bring down the union.

And in 1911 the speaker of the house goes on the floor of the United States congress and advocates for the annexation of Canada…His name was Champ Clark and he said "I look forward to the time when the American flag will fly over every square foot of British North America up to the North Pole."

For this he received loud cheers and a favorable write up in the Washington Post, in 1911 before the breakout of WWI all indications were that Canada and the USA were bitter enemies…

This all changed when on December 6, 1917 the French cargo ship the Mont Blanc came to America and it loaded up with explosives and something called Picric Acid…something that is far more explosive than TNT…

Well this ship was a floating bomb…But Instead of going back straight to France (because of American Neutrality in WWI) they had to go through the neutral port of Halifax.

Well when it got into this very busy port, they got into a small collision that resulted in a fire…

The crew was so scared that they immediately abandoned ship into lifeboats, got to shore and ran as far away as they could…The entire time they shouted for people not to go near, but they were shouting in French and most spoke English…

Well all of the sudden there is this ghost ship that is a time bomb on fire floating right into port.

It was 8:46 in the morning, Children were on their way to school and people were going to work…The whole town gathered at the port watching this ghost ship…every now and then a barrel of jet fuel would shoot into the air and everyone would get excited

Then the fire reached the 6 million pounds of TNT and Picric acid…

The explosion was the largest that the world would ever see at the time…It wouldn't be until the dropping of the nuclear bombs that the world would see an explosion larger than this.

There was a mushroom cloud 2 miles high

One-ton anchor flew 4 miles

A one cannon flew 3 miles the other direction

People who were nearby flew ½ a mile away

½ of Halifax is Gone

25,000 are homeless

9,000 are wounded

2,000 dead in that split second

Countless survivors went deaf from the blast, countless others went blind from glass flying into their eyes.

There had never been such a tragedy in the area of North America

So guess who stepped up to help? It was the governor of Massachusetts…The US was not an ally…just a 6 years before the nation was cheering for the idea of invading Canada…..But this Governor couldn't just sit still, he sent train loads of medical supplies and doctors and nurses

The reports are that when this train showed up…Canadians were literally weeping in the streets because of the kindness of the Americans...

Within a week The Prime Minister of Canada and Woodrow Wilson are exchanging love letters on the front pages of the New York Times…

The response to this disaster created a rock-solid relationship between the United States and Canada…

To this day the people of Halifax are so grateful that they send this Christmas tree to Boston as a lasting way to thank the city…as a reminder that in their brokenness and in their time of need…

What I love about stories like this is that they allow us to pause and remember what Christmas is all about…

In the same way that the people of Massachusetts stepped into the disaster of the Halifax explosion, Christmas is about a God who stepped into the disaster of the human condition.

Christmas is the story of God stepping out of his privileged place in heaven, to step into our disaster….

Jesus took on the disaster of the human condition, all of it, even unto death…so that we can have experience the height, the depth and the width of His great love for us.

Isaiah 9:2–7 NIV

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.