Malikah was sitting near me at the hospital recently when I asked her about her favorite Christmas song. She replied, “Oh, that’s a hard one. I think I’d say ‘This Christmas.’” I admitted that I had never heard that song when Judy, standing within ear shot of us, chimed in, “I like ‘the Little Drummer Boy.’” Naturally, I sat straight up in my chair in excitement and asked, “Have you seen the movie?”
The movie, “The Little Drummer Boy,” is based on a 1941 carol written by Katherine Davis, which came to television in 1968. That’s when I first saw the stop—motion animation that became popular with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer four years prior. Judy interjected, “I’ve never seen it and I was 18 years old when that show came out.”
As the story goes, Aaron, a young Jewish boy, was given a drum for his birthday from his parents. Amazingly, when he played, it made the animals dance. Orphaned when marauders killed his parents and stole their livestock, Aaron became embittered toward people and a hatred for everyone consumed the little drummer boy. Eventually, he’s kidnapped by Ben Haramed and forced to perform in a traveling carnival. Aaron’s hatred for people only deepened to such an extent that Haramed painted a fake smile on the young boy’s face to make him look happy.
If you haven’t seen the show, I don’t want to spoil it for you. But, to make a long story short, ultimately Aaron’s pet lamb, Baba, is critically injured when run over by a Roman chariot in Bethlehem. In hopes that the three kings he had met while traveling could help the lamb, Aaron searches for them only to discover that there’s a newborn baby—a mightier King—who might heal Baba. Aaron, having nothing of material value to offer baby Jesus, plays his drum. He gave what he had in worship of the swaddled babe, recognized as King, lying in a manger.
Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the king
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor him
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come
While it is absolutely an embellishment on the story of the Nativity, the point cannot escape us: Aaron gave all that he had; his very best. As much as I would like to believe, there is no doubt that a little drummer boy who played his “drum for him, pa rum pum pum pum” did not show up alongside Jesus’ manger. Nevertheless, I encouraged Malikah and Judy to give their best to Jesus this Christmas season. Judy walked away while Malikah googled “The Little Drummer Boy” and excitedly declared, “Here it is! I’m going to show this to my kids and grandkids. I love stories about Christmas.”
This time of year affords us an opportunity like none other to spread Christmas cheer. It might come in the form of striking up a conversation about a favorite Christmas carol with someone standing in line at a store’s checkout. It could be in an office around the coffee pot discussing your family’s Christmas traditions. Spreading true Christmas cheer might even be at the hospital, doctor’s office, restaurant, or wherever you might find yourself in the proximity of people in a culture that still celebrates the birth of Jesus. Could there be anything better to give a family member or colleague at work than the hope of the Christmas story?
Granted, much of Christmas in the United States does not resemble the first Christmas. Yet, something happens in December that inspires people to be good, giving, and hopeful, albeit misguided or misplaced. Christmas has become muddled with the distractions of purchasing the latest technology, searching for the trending toy of the season, or placing our hope in the joy we might feel in the desired gift under the Christmas tree. Still, there is enough of a hint of the true meaning for the season—the sundry Christmas carols declaring the arrival of the King, for example—that we can still point people to the Jesus of the 1st century Christmas story rather than the Jesus of 21st century Christmas culture.
If you’re familiar with The Little Drummer Boy, Aaron experiences what was for him the good news of great joy that is for all people. His heart of utter hatred for people because of what they had done to his parents was miraculously replaced with a heart of joy as he stood before the newborn King. And so, as the song declared,
I played my drum for him
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
Then he smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
The point of The Little Drummer Boy is not that I can give Jesus something to earn His love or salvation. Instead, we are to recognize Jesus as the King, come to Him with all we have to offer, and He changes our hearts from hatred to joy. It is recognizing Him not simply as a baby, but as Lord and Savior. If you look at the cradle this Christmas season and do not see the King who can miraculously change you into a new person, you are seeing an aberration of Jesus. But if you do see the King, the bearer of good news of great joy that is for all the people, He is worthy of all that you can give Him.
Learn More about the First Christmas
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