Christmas Joy
“If you think you can bring your people back into the fold by making them suffer, then I, Leib, son of Rachel, swear to you that you will not succeed. So why try? Save your children by giving them joy, by delivering. By doing it that way, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Even in the last days of Advent, I am already imagining our family gathering for the candlelight service, singing the much-loved Christmas hymn:
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king.
Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing.”
I believe that one of the greatest gifts we both give and receive at Christmas is joy. I always look forward to the Christmas Eve service. Even in those years when our family has experienced difficulty or great loss, gathering in the sanctuary to celebrate the birth of Jesus, singing the simple carols of God’s promise and redemption, hearing the familiar story of Jesus’ birth proclaimed, and lighting the candles in the darkness, fills me with joy. It is God’s promise of hope and peace and joy.
Especially this year, which has been such a difficult year for millions of Americans and tens of millions of people around the world, we long to hear words of comfort and joy. God’s gift of joy is embodied in the birth of a tiny baby long ago. “To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given.” Even the angels sang words of joy and peace — songs we long to hear today. Imagine: God loved humanity enough to take on our flesh in the birth of a child. That reality is simply extraordinary.
This joy that comes from outside ourselves makes us act differently in this season. WE feel more keenly the impulse to think of others, to show love to others, to be there for others, and to give to others. We exult in the certainty of God’s love. For at least an evening, we become better persons than we were. We become more like the people that God created us to be. For the rest of the day, the year, and maybe our lifetime, we learn that living that way means we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
My prayer for you this Christmas season is that somewhere, somehow, you will experience the joy of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace,
Janice Riggle Huie