How I cherish the words from Luke 2, when the angel proclaims to the shepherds: "Do
not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the
people..."
These words make we want to respond with singing "Joy to the world." But
don't worry, I'll wait until we get there in the program.
Humanly speaking things weren't really that joyful on that first Christmas Eve. Nor
were things going well leading up to that first Christmas. In fact, the entire Christmas
story is one of human dilemma. We have a tendency to romanticize the Christmas story--but
being in Joseph or Mary's shoes, I'm sure was anything but romantic. In fact, the
world was in pretty bad shape not just for Joseph and Mary, but in general.
2000 years later, we are celebrating Christmas once again--God's display of grace and
love, peace on earth and good-will to men, and things are still pretty bad in the world.
We find ourselves surrounded by war and shootings, bombings and hate crimes in a world
that seems doomed to unrest. And in the midst of all this uncertainty, we're supposed to
celebrate Christmas and sing "Joy to the world" like we really mean it.
Reminds me of Cathy, an inmate of our local county prison. When our little church
ministry group went to minister to the prison women last week, we thought it would be a
great idea to sing carols with them. Turns out that Cathy didn't think so. We were getting
ready to sing Joy to the World" when Cathy blared out: "I ain't singing 'Joy to
the World.' I don't feel joyful and I won't the h pretend that I am! What kind of
Christmas is that if I can't be with my family?"
Needless to say that we were all dumb-founded. But, you know, Cathy is speaking for a
lot of people who are similarly saying: "How can we possibly sing "Joy to the
World" and really mean it?" How can anybody keep up their faith in times like
this?
As I mentioned in the beginning, things weren't exactly rosy in the days of Mary and
Joseph either. In fact, circumstances couldn't have been much worse for Mary and Joseph.
There was no medical care for the Mary or her baby. They could not even find a decent
place to have the baby. Furthermore, there was a question surrounding the birth of her
baby, being out of wedlock. They weren't even married on the day of Jesus's birth. Humanly
speaking, there was really nothing positive to be expected for Mary, Joseph, and the baby.
And all of this was happening amidst a great political crisis in which an unwanted census
was forced upon the already rebellious Jewish people by then super-power Rome.
And yet, somehow, in spite of all that was against them, Mary held fast to the promise
given to her by the angel Gabriel. Somehow, she kept the faith, pushed on, never giving up
hope, determined to give birth to this holy child, no matter what.
And what would have happened to Mary had Joseph not had faith in the son of God? How
would an unwed mother have fared in first-century Galilee? Would her parents have thrown
her out? Could Mary and Jesus have wound up as street beggars? Speaking in human terms,
God's wondrous Son comes to us as an illegitimate child. Think about it.
Yet, in the midst of the stable, giving birth to what this world would consider an
illegitimate baby, there was true joy. It seems that God's joy is not dependent on
external things. God's joy is an inner state of happiness you can only get if you are at
harmony with God. If we are at harmony with God, the world around us may be falling apart
and we can still experience peaceful joy in our hearts!
In this spirit, the apostle Paul writes to his flock in Philippi: "Rejoice in the
Lord always, and, again, I say, rejoice!" (Phil 4:4). What makes this
"command" to rejoice all the more remarkable is that he writes it to a
persecuted congregation. In other words he is encouraging the Philipians, suggesting: In
the midst of persecution: rejoice. When they throw you into prison for the sake of
Jesus--rejoice. When they ridicule you and treat you with disrespect--rejoice!
Joy in the midst of suffering--that is God's kind of joy!
Put yourself in the shoes of an inmate at the county prison. Imagine you had to spend
this weekend locked behind bars. When you strip all the external things away, the
traditions, the gifts, the tree, church service, decorations, the carols, even being with
your family...would you still be able to be joyful?
If our answer is no, we need to be reminded of what is really important about
Christmas, the basics, our salvation, that God is with us. I hope and pray that we may go
back to the basics on this Christmas and rejoice in the gift that God has shared with us
and the whole earth. Then, and only then, can we truly chime in with the angelic choirs of
angels: "Joy to the World, the Lord is come!" Merry Christmas everybody.
