Good News Sense

Perhaps Not Happy, But Joyful

In many hearts, the burdens weigh the soul down in despair;

No glad refrain, no happy words will take their pain away.

Except the very love of God has come that weight to bear;

X-static voices sing their joy to Babe on bed of hay.

Problems steal vitality, leave emptiness inside;

Routine becomes passivity and listless, lifeless mind,

Enduring not enjoying life, hearts hopeless do abide.

Suddenly, our Deliv’rer comes, a King of humble kind.

Savior of the world is he, this tiny infant King

Incarnate God, true human man, he knows our frailty,

Brokenness, and suffering; his death will healing bring,

Life, abundant life, and more, true joy eternally.

Each of us must walk this earth, endure it for a time;

Joyfulness and liberty will lighten heavy loads.

O‘er shepherds’ fields the angels sang of coming peace sublime;

You, too, in hope may sing with joy of coming blessed abodes.

No doubt, people going through hard times will not easily embrace the festive spirit that is common around Christmas time. Grief, loneliness, critical illness, and financial troubles, to name a few, can easily take the fun out of Christmas, and often current circumstances cannot possibly measure up to Christmas memories from happier times.

Such are the failings of the popular Christmas traditions, for they are based on earthly hopes—happy families, prosperous lives, and generous, loving relationships. All of these represent a Christian vision of a life blessed by Christ, as long as one ignores the counter-balancing awareness that “In this world you will have troubles.”

The true joy of Christmas is not what the best of that this fallen world offers to lost, guilty sinners. The authentic promise of Christmas lies in deliverance from this world and from the justice due sinners; it comes in the birth of Jesus, the one who will save his people from their sins. The genuine hope of Christmas is peace available through his grace, not some idealistic dream of a peaceful earth where sinners still rule.

This joy, hope, and peace can lift the heart of the most burdened soul, heal the brokenhearted, rescue the guilty from sin, and draw the eyes away from this world’s sorrow to the future’s unending joy.

It’s Christmas! Should I Be Happy?

Ordinary shepherds watched their flocks on Judah’s hill;

Hard-working men with mouths to feed, they toiled like you and me.

With struggles, doubts, and fears they lived, with little hope until…

Hark! The herald angels came with peace to set them free.

Every little girl, it seems, dreams to have a child;

“Round, yon virgin,” voices sing, so sweet, but was it so?

Every girl who bears a babe is often seen defiled;

In Mary’s anguish, Jesus came, our joy amidst her woe.

Solemn Joseph, pregnant wife, and child not his—what pain!

Mary’s shame, his burden too, no angel’s words forestall,

Yes, he heard the bitter words, yet faithful did remain;

Jesus, child of God he was, the one to save us all.

Our hurts are theirs; no plastic saints, all humans wonder why;

Yet grace through trials conquers all, and Christmas joys supply.

Is Christmas really about childish glee and sappy sentimentalism? Harsh words, I know, and they don’t reflect my true feelings because I really don’t mind such things. I do oppose them becoming the primary spirit of Christmas. For all their emphasis in our present day, feelings do not hold us up when things are tough, and life is often difficult for most of us—lost jobs, desperately sick loved ones, broken hearts, and shattered dreams! Colorful lights and beautiful music don’t make grief, sadness, or despair go away. By all means, enjoy the sweet moments, for the bitter do come.

So what is all this business of “Joy?” Jesus coming in the incarnation was an awesome event, but it was a costly miracle for Mary and Joseph. Our easy acceptance of the virgin birth doesn’t remove the stigma of illegitimacy for them. Did the lives of the shepherds suddenly become lives of comfort and ease after the angels’ visit and a visit to the stable? Their hearts may have been lifted by the knowledge of the Savior’s birth, but their struggles remained the next morning. As remarkable as the accounts make them seem to us—the purposes of God notwithstanding—our lives are no different than theirs.

God used them to fulfill his plan and change the world, but God uses us in much the same way if we, like they, are willing to accept his direction. Where’s the joy? Joy comes to us in serving him through the difficulties of life. Joy comes to others through the fruit that our lives produce, even as we struggle and suffer. Through us and our pain, the Lord comes, again and again. Joy to the world! The Lord has come.

As someone who has lived through numerous Christmases, I ponder every year two different things. One is how to make the celebration appropriately meaningful, and the other is to wonder at how the increasingly hostile world will try to steal and secularize our holy day. I don’t know which side of the issue concerns me more

One the Christian side, we have an opportunity to reverently reflect on the miracle of the invisible God becoming a flesh and blood man, not just in appearance, but in his very essence. We call this miracle incarnation, yet this amazing occurrence defied expectations. The most remarkable birth occurred in a barn, a cave used for the sheltering of animals. Coming from a farm family, I have seen smelly, messy barns and clean, rather pleasant ones. We don’t know which kind this may have been, but it certainly wasn’t a sterile hospital atmosphere. God had planned and predicted this incredible event, starting with the distressing failure of the first humans in Eden, and even before, and its theological meaning has been the subject of many profound discussions.

On the other side, we see a progressive—and not in a good way—effort to turn Christmas into a empty, largely meaningless party, bereft of any holiness whatever. Oh, many attempt to find new meanings—generosity, family, kindness—but none possess the life-changing quality of the true, original purpose. Not just the word “Christmas” but even “Santa Claus” (a distortion, over the years, of Saint Nicholas) are too “religious” to be spoken, though schools freely teach about witches and Ramadan. School’s have “holiday parties” and communities erect “holiday trees.” Stores have taken to avoiding the words “Merry Christmas,” because they supposedly offend a few hostile unbelievers. Admittedly, other religions have their own holy days, but none of them have been appropriated and emptied of meaning like Christmas, nor do most of their adherents object to Christmas. My own sense is that the enemy seeks to prevent people from hearing the awesome, true story of Jesus’ birth and its ultimate purpose, the salvation of sinners, because they are true.

This latter assault understandably upsets many of us Christians. In recent years, however, I have begun to realize that the strategy is destined for failure. Perhaps the greatest party seen on the planet is one associated inseparably, despite every effort, with Jesus Christ. The word “Christmas”, regardless of its origins, will not go away. I noted, just a few days ago, that some stores like Walmart are going back to saying “Merry Christmas,” because the alternative offended far more people. Can Jesus mind that this day commemorating his birth, even though no one actually knows his birth date, has become a day for giving gifts, being generous, helping the needy, and generating positive feelings? Somehow, I doubt it. Let the schools stop singing sacred carols, some of the most beautiful music ever written; others will sing them, play them, and enjoy them, thanks to all the recordings, broadcasts, church programs, and Internet sources where they can be heard.

What about us? What should we believers do? In the end, I think our positive Christmas spirit of love and worship are far more important and influential than negative protests, and I have written a few of them myself. If, as I believe, we worship the true and the living God come to earth as a man and whose final purpose was to die for sinners, then our sincere adherence to these truths will have more impact than any protest. As citizens, we have every right to work to achieve what we believe is right under our U.S. Constitution, to support candidates who agree with us, and vote with our dollars both in politics and commerce, as long as we always do them in a Christ-like manner. We are also free to worship and serve our God as we choose, as guaranteed by that same Constitution. Should the interpretation or neglect of that ultimate law be ignored, we also have the obligation never to cease to do what our first allegiance demands, even to our death as martyrs, should such an occasion require. Even then, our manner should bring honor to the Savior who birth we celebrate, every year at this season.

Above all, do not be discouraged.  In this, as in all things in God’s economy, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”