In the animated Christmas classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the viewing audience is introduced to the Island of Misfit Toys. The toys living on this island are ostracized from the other toys in the world because they are functionally or cosmetically flawed. On this island, for example, there lives a squirt gun that only shoots jelly; a toy train with square wheels; a stuffed elephant with spots; even a Charlie in the Box who laments that he was not given the name “Jack.”
The mood on the Island of Misfit toys is understandably somber. The misfit toys long to be played with, but no one ever comes to the island to claim them. Each Christmas Eve brings about a particular sadness on the island as the inhabitants realize that other “normal” toys will be joyfully embraced by eager children the next morning. The misfit toys, on the other hand, can only dream of such an embrace. After all, in the words of one of the misfit toys, “no one wants to play with a Charlie in the Box!”
As a child, when I watched Rudolph for the first time, the Island of Misfit Toys inspired me to believe that all of my toys were imbued with a personality and a network of emotions. As soon as the show was over, I literally ran to my toy box and pulled out some of the toys with which I had not played for months–the Magic 8 Ball, the Weebles, the Etch a Sketch, the Rock’em Sock’em Robots, the G.I. Joe doll (who was missing an arm due to a grueling struggle with the family dog). When all of these toys were scattered before me, I proceeded to whisper to all of them the sentiments that were emerging from my 5-year-old heart. My whispers that evening sounded something like this: “None of you are misfit toys! I promise! You’re still special, even though you might not be as new as my other toys. Don’t be sad, ’cause I’ll never throw you away!” It was a memorable manifestation of the beautiful innocence of childhood.
It occurs to me that the birth of Jesus some two-thousand years ago was God’s mysterious and glorious way of whispering precisely that same message to all of humankind: “None of you are misfit toys, I promise! I’ll never throw you away!” Part of the good news of Christmas, in other words, is that each one of us matters to the One who created us, regardless of our size, shape, temperament, or situation in life. In fact, we matter to God so deeply that God would settle for nothing less than pouring the very best of divinity into a Bethlehem feeding trough for the sake of our salvation and redemption.
It comes down to this, I suppose: Christ came even for the Charlies in the Box and the spotted elephants. Because, in the Kingdom of God, there is no such thing as a misfit toy. Thanks be to God!